When glaciers disappear

What actually is a glacier?

The scientific definition is well known: a perennial mass of ice and snow that slides slowly down a valley. But that's merely one aspect. In many indigenous cultures, such as those of the Andes, glaciers are living spirits, ancestors, deities, protectors and regulators of the cycle of life. When they disappear, this is not just a geological fact, but a collective trauma to mourn. 

Even in the Alps, glaciers are much more than a natural phenomenon. They are familiar presences, keepers of memories, sentinels of climate change. Their disappearance accelerates our awareness: it makes us vulnerable, but aware of the need to change.

What happens to Alpine identity when the white vanishes from the peaks?

The image of the Alps is changing before our eyes. The peaks that once seemed eternal are losing their white mantle. They are leaving behind dark rocks and temporary lakes. This change is a blow to the illusion of stability which is part of the mountain's identity. 

But glaciers have never been the productive heart of Alpine communities. It is in the fabric of human relationships, in the bond with the land, in work and shared care, that true identity has always been built. Perhaps, in this very loss, lies the possibility of rediscovering and strengthening these bonds.

What about the economy? What changes without glaciers?

The melting of glaciers threatens fresh water reserves, which are essential for agriculture, energy and daily life. The consequences are not confined to the high mountains: valleys and plains are also dependent on Alpine ice. 

Winter tourism, which is the mainstay of the mountain economy, is particularly vulnerable. Artificial snowmaking is very costly and has a significant environmental impact. It is clear that new ways are needed: developing renewable energies, promoting mountain agriculture, investing in slower and more sustainable tourism.

So why is it that we are having such a hard time responding to change?

We know that the glaciers are melting. Yet we continue to act as if nothing is happening. Why is that? Because climate change has a time frame and a scale that our minds find hard to grasp. And because we feel powerless in the absence of strong and collective responses.

We need to regain a sense of agency, a capacity for action, through education, participatory planning and the sharing of positive experiences that show that an alternative is possible and already underway.

Funerals for glaciers: rituals to avoid oblivion

In Iceland, Switzerland, Mexico, symbolic ceremonies are held to commemorate lost glaciers. These are not ancient traditions. They are new rituals created to visualise loss, to give form to grief, to generate empathy. Where science struggles to be heard, rituals speak to the heart.

Is a landscape without ice still beautiful?

Yes, but it will be a different beauty. It will be made up of high pastures, boulders, unstable slopes and new lakes. The absence of ice challenges us to reconsider the landscape, to rewrite our memories, to redefine what we mean by "beautiful".

How will Alpine communities change without ice?

They will not disappear: they will transform. They could become the protagonists of a new model of coexistence with nature: one that is down-to earth, resilient and rooted in cooperation. Some are already doing so: innovating, adapting, networking new energies.

Can loss inspire action?

Only if the narrative of the crisis does not paralyse us. The grief has to be transformed into a project, into a shared vision. Frontline areas can become living laboratories of climate citizenship.

Four seeds for the future

1. Building community: strengthening local networks, building global alliances.

2. Spatial innovation: sustainable technologies and practices adapted for local conditions.

3. Culture of the limits: rediscovering the mountain as a balance, not just a resource.

4. Activism and participation: creating space for young people's voices, turning awareness into action.

"We have to recognise life even where there seems to be no life. To let ourselves be inspired by different cultural models that can break out of the logic of domination. It is from here that a new future can be born." 
- Monica Ronchini