The Monte Rosa Glaciers
Work in Progress - An interdisciplinary journey through the 'Verra' Glacier
Since summer 2022 but actually less consciously already before then, me and Flo have been working on a project that crossed both of our interests. Whilst completing our undergraduate courses in Physical Geography (Flo) and Anthropology and International Relations (me), Flo started to guide me into the frozen world of glaciers which existed in my region and I had previously just walked or skied on and passively witnessed disappear.
In combining our areas of interest we aimed to develop an interdisciplinary study that looks into the physical, economic and cultural impacts of glacial retreat on the Monterosa Glacier of Verra, Ayas, Aosta Valley.
We aim to investigate the relationship between human and non-human agents in a given landscape in relation to climate change in the framework of adaptation and resilience. We do so by examining the phenomena of melting glaciers as one of the most visible and easily understood consequences of climate change. We want to analyse the role of non-human actors, in this case the glacier, in the shaping of local identity. Thus, understanding how communities navigate the reshaping of their identity in relation to the surrounding changing landscapes.
Overall, we aim to highlight and uncover local understandings of climate change, as well as displaying local perceptions and cultural-economic consequences of melting glaciers in the Ayas valley, Aosta Valley, Italy. Independently from the outcome of the investigation, the project aims to bridge the gap between local and global approaches and understandings to climate change, as well as widening the record of glacial variation in the Alps.
Details of the Castor Glacier and de Perazzi Spetz (Buchan 2019;2023)
Glaciers - Icons of Climate Change
For centuries, the Alps have been at the centre of scientific research, exploration and subject of romanticisation for its visitors. In recent decades, with the acceleration of glacial retreat, the glaciers of the Alps have become protagonists of awareness campaigns on climate change. Glaciers have noticeably become icons of climate change (Inkpen, 2018) and “endangered species” (Carey, 2007). Images of retreating glaciers are used daily in multiple contexts as characters to spread awareness of the issues of climate change. Consequently, there has been an exponential rise of glacier related images in mainstream media across the world, reaching people and places which are geographically and culturally very distant from glaciers, creating first encounters with glaciers for many people.
However, as discussed by Inkpen (2018) and Carey (2007), these images come with a series of issues. They fail to include or consider the impacts and relationships between glaciers and their people. This contributes to portraying glacial retreat as a distant and masterless issue. Climate change and glacial retreat become absorbed in grand narratives which are quickly dismissed by the public.
We aim to go beyond the contemporary sterile depiction of alpine glacial environments, and to investigate the deep cultural implications of glacial retreat on mountain communities, to thus create encounters that represent the entirety of glacial systems, including both people and the environment as agents of the system. Thus, to provide a better understanding of the cultural significance of glacier loss on local identities.
Two repeated photographies of the Monte Rosa Glaciers on the Ayas side featuring the Breithorn massif and Pollux. (Buchan 2023;2024)