Last chance tourism: Visiting a vanishing glacier in Chamonix

euronews (in English)

The new lift and Glaciorium are all part of major works underway at the Montenvers site to ensure access to the Mer de Glace and high mountains in France.

Transcript

00:00As France's largest glacier, the Mer de Glace in Chamonix, melts rapidly, tourists are seizing

00:07what may be their last opportunity to witness it before it disappears entirely.

00:12Over the years, the glacier has become increasingly difficult to reach, but a newly constructed

00:18cable car now provides easier access for the thousands of visitors who come each year.

00:25It's impressive because we thought we were seeing blocks, but at the end of the year

00:29it will no longer be there. So that's why we're taking the opportunity to come here

00:33because we know very well that in a few years the landscape will no longer be the same.

00:37According to glaciologist Luc Moreau, the construction of the cable car will allow people to observe

00:43the consequences of global warming at close quarters, whilst promoting local tourism.

00:49Three or four years ago, the glacier touched the rock here.

00:54So it lost in width and, of course, in thickness.

00:59It lost 40 metres in four or five years.

01:02Experts can only sound the alarm about the rapidly melting glacier, a visible indicator

01:08of climate change. They are now more committed than ever to raising awareness of the urgent

01:13need for conservation.

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