Alpine glaciers reduced by 60% in last 150 yrs

(ANSA) - ROME, DEC 10 - Italian glaciers are increasingly at risk due to the climate crisis, environmental group Legambiente said in a new report on Thursday.
    Glaciers in the Alps have been reduced by some 60% in the last 150 years, it said.
    In the eastern Alps, the shrinkage has been even worse, the report said.
    In the eastern Alps. the report said, the situation of the Marmolada Glacier is "especially concerning".
    On the basis of the latest data, it said, the famed glacier may disappear entirely in 15-20 years, the report said.
    The Marmolada is the only glacier in the Dolomites and a symbol of Italian-Austrian fighting in WWI.
    The report said the contraction of Alpine glaciers in Italy "has notably accelerated" since the the end of the 1980s.
    "The delicate balance of the high-altitude glacial environments has been overwhelmed by the progress of global warming," it said.
    Legambiente put forward 12 proposals to adequately face the dangers caused by Alpine climate change.
    It called on the government to take urgent action. (ANSA).