Chronicle of a foretold disaster. Climate change, glacier melting, and risk perception in the Alps
Abstract as pdf
Corresponding Author:
Elisabetta Dall'Ò
University of Turin Italy
elisabetta.dallo@unito.it
Author(s):
The aim of this proposal is to describe the preliminary results of an ethnographical research conducted on the Mont Blanc region, concerning the impacts of climate change and glaciers melting on the Italian Alps, and the local communities responses.
Summer 2019 was the hottest ever recorded on earth. An awful heat wave swept across Europe and then settled over Greenland, where it triggered the melting of hundreds of billions of tons of ice. Likewise, on the Alps, the impacts have been severe: a massive glaciers’ melting took place followed by a wide range of repercussions, like slope instability, rock falls and floods; phenomena that are playing an increasingly crucial role for the future of the inhabitants and the whole ecosystem.
The Alpine region is characterized by a wide variety of biodiversity, habitats, and environments, in which human and wildlife species coexist, coping with extreme natural phenomena, due to specific weather conditions and local topography. Throughout this area there is widespread and multifaceted risk. We know its different forms and we know where they are likely to occur, but we don’t know “when” these phenomena will appear, and “how” intense they will be; in fact they could appear simultaneously, amplifying the consequences the ones on the others, or they may appear in different moments or ages. What we can assume is that climatic changes make future scenarios less predictable, and therefore less manageable and more impactful.
Nowadays “climate change” and its related impacts has become a central issue for both natural and social sciences. In the anthropological field, the latest studies are focusing on how local and global communities respond to climatic changes (ORLOVE: 2019) and its related hazards, with particularly attention on land perception, memory, history (INGOLD 2018), on “preparedness” (REVET,
LANGUMIER 2015) and on “risk cultures” (BOHOLM 2015, BENADUSI 2015, OLIVER-SMITH,
HOFFMAN 2019). In the Mont Blanc area, even though the seriousness of the glaciers’ melting, we are observing a disconnection between the gravity of this phenomenon and its local perception. Cultural framing can shape the ways in which places are perceived and, in fact, perception of mountain environment does not rest on physical visibility alone but is influenced by global and political discourses. That!s why the contribution of the ethno-anthropological studies can be a key to analyze the impacts of these processes on human societies, and become a key to better understand the ongoing environmental challenges.
Deep cultures of disaster: The significance of the anthropological perspective for understanding the interstices of hazards and disaster