A year and a half ago, Italy and Switzerland redrew their borders due to climate change. Something that is going to be increasingly common

For months now, Switzerland and Italy have been working on introducing a series of changes in the layout of the border that separates both countries and that runs following different points of the Alps mountain range. The process, which is now only pending approval by the Italian authorities, was opened in the spring of last year in response to changes in the Alpine orography.

Changes caused by the loss of ice in the glaciers of the mountain range, which in turn refers us to a global problem: climate change.

Glaciers are, by their very nature, changing geographical features. However, changes that until now did not involve major problems due to the slowness of these changes and that, beyond seasonal changes, the orography of the glaciers remained stable.

The progressive increase in global average temperatures has affected many natural environments, but without a doubt the most visible face of climate change has been, for years, the disappearance of ice in environments such as the Arctic. The glaciers have not been spared of this, and in recent years we have seen how some decreased significantly, while others disappeared completely.

Border glaciers are not exclusive to the line that separates Italy and Switzerland, nor even to the Alps mountain range or Europe. Although Antarctica and Greenland share 99% of the world’s glaciers, we can find examples of border glaciers in other places both in Asia and the Americas.

We can find glaciers on the borders of Norway and Sweden, Switzerland and Austria, China and Pakistan, or Argentina and Chile. Mountains have always been useful orographic features when it comes to delimiting borders. That is why various glaciers have ended up being divided between countries.

There are even examples of subnational borders that may have to change as a result of this phenomenon. We can find one in the provinces of Canada, specifically the one that separates Alberta from British Columbia. This is the Haig Glacier, located high in the Rocky Mountains as it passes through western Canada.

It won’t always be easy

The example of the border between Switzerland and India has been exemplary, but not all countries may be so predisposed to moving their borders. Some glaciers are even located on disputed lands, such as the Kashmir region, disputed between India and Pakistan since the latter country’s independence.

The Siachen Glacier is perhaps the best example of this. Located in the border region between Pakistan, India and China. Although these last two countries recently reduced their border tensions, the possibility of friendly agreements in the face of potential changes in this environment is limited.

The case of the border between Chile and Argentina is also paradigmatic. Although relations between both countries are not particularly tense, it is precisely a region populated by glaciers such as Viedma, the southern Patagonian ice field, where both countries maintain one of their border disputes. Although Latin American countries made progress in closing an agreement that would define the border in this region, there is still an important area where the border is not clearly defined.

Transboundary glaciers pose other challenges, such as water management. Glaciers feed rivers that sometimes flow from one country to another. From the glaciers located in the south of the Himalayan mountain range, for example, one of the most important rivers in the world, the Ganges, drinks. It is estimated that more than 630 million people live in the basin of this river that runs through northern India to flow into Bangladesh.

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