France is currently subject to an extreme heat wave that puts organisms to the test … And this also applies to our mountains. The 0 ° C isotherm was recently evaluated at 5,136 meters, well beyond the summit of Mont-Blanc – An absolute record at this time of year.
An isotherm is a virtual line which represents a constant temperature-in this case 0 ° C, the threshold where the water passes from solid to liquid and vice versa. It is a concept that is often used to describe temperatures in the mountains; The higher the altitude of this 0 ° C isotherm, the greater the overall temperature. And when she goes beyond the altitude of the summit, we find ourselves in a situation where the temperature is positive on the whole relief, with all that that implies for the maintenance of the precious permafrost.
And this is precisely what is happening right now at the highest mountain in France. According to Météo-Alpes, last Saturday, the 0 ° C isothermus reached a record altitude of 5,136 meters, that is 330 meters above the summit.
It is apparently a record for a month of June, and with a significant advance. Indeed, it is the The first time he crossed the symbolic bar of 5,000 meters at this time of year.
This situation has very concrete consequences. According to meteorologists who have expressed themselves on social networks like X, we are already starting to see a start of thaw at the highest point in France, which generally does not happen before the middle of summer. Bad news for mountaineers, knowing that this destabilization of snow cover can in particular lead to potentially dangerous stone falls.
A disturbing trend
More broadly, this record is only the last emanation of a worrying trend. Indeed, the altitude of this isotherm has only increased for several years. Météo-France data show that it very rarely exceeded 4,500 meters before the 2000s; But since then, he has continued to increase year after year, flirting regularly with the 5,000 meters. And with this new monthly peak, we are now approaching the absolute record of 5,298 meters, recorded in 2023 … at the end of August.
And it is probably only a matter of time before the latter ends up falling in turn, knowing the exceptional nature of the current heat wave. As a reminder, no less than 84 departments were placed in orange heat wave on Monday – again, this is a record. More than ever, we will therefore have to learn to live with these intolerable heat, while waiting for a large world start that may reverse the trend.
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