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“Have you ever heard the sound of falling rocks?” is a six-month journey that took place in 2022 across the Alps, in Italy, France, Switzerland and Austria. A visual investigation of a phenomenon that is as important as it is little known: the degradation of the permafrost. This project is a story about an ecosystem that’s changing and the work of those who’ve dedicated a significant portion of their lives to seeking possible solutions. The principal themes that emerge are resilience, a spirit of adaptability and a commitment to scientific research that highlights the human and professional qualities of those involved: important testimonies and models for future generations. Over the course of the 20th century, temperatures in the Alps increased by 2°C, twice the average for the entire planet. Shorter winters, reduced snowfall and melting glaciers are just some of the effects that global warming has had on the Alps. However, there are also a number of less visible effects, those that are more difficult to perceive but which have a dramatic impact on the health of one of the most important, and most fragile, ecosystems on Earth. Included among these is the degradation of the permafrost, the surface section of the Earth's crust that’s closest, and therefore most impacted by, all the phenomena occurring within the atmosphere. Its degradation, caused by the thawing of the ice it contains, leads to slope instability and changes in the hydrogeological balance with serious repercussions for the surrounding area.
The ice contained within rock fissures acts like cement, holding parts of the mountain together, but as temperatures rise and the frozen ground thaws the stability is reduced leading to a potential increase in landslides and collapses, events that are becoming increasingly
common throughout the Alps. The effects of these changes are not only impacting the environment, they’re also having an impact on the Alpine communities that have lived within this delicate ecosystem for centuries.
The ice contained within rock fissures acts like cement, holding parts of the mountain together, but as temperatures rise and the frozen ground thaws the stability is reduced leading to a potential increase in landslides and collapses, events that are becoming increasingly
common throughout the Alps. The effects of these changes are not only impacting the environment, they’re also having an impact on the Alpine communities that have lived within this delicate ecosystem for centuries.
“Have you ever heard the sound of falling rocks?” was developed in collaboration with various
organisations and public administrative bodies, including: ARPA Piemonte (Regional Environmental Protection Agency of Piedmont), the University of Bozen-Bolzano, the Edmund Mach Foundation, the Savoy Mont Blanc University, Provincia di Trento (Trento Provincial Council), Museo di Scienze Naturali di Verona (Verona Natural Sciences Museum), SLF Suisse (Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research), the University of Milano-Bicocca.
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“Have you ever heard the sound of falling rocks?” is a six-month journey that took place in 2022 across the Alps, in Italy, France, Switzerland and Austria. A visual investigation of a phenomenon that is as important as it is little known: the degradation of the permafrost. This project is a story about an ecosystem that’s changing and the work of those who’ve dedicated a significant portion of their lives to seeking possible solutions. The principal themes that emerge are resilience, a spirit of adaptability and a commitment to scientific research that highlights the human and professional qualities of those involved: important testimonies and models for future generations. Over the course of the 20th century, temperatures in the Alps increased by 2°C, twice the average for the entire planet. Shorter winters, reduced snowfall and melting glaciers are just some of the effects that global warming has had on the Alps. However, there are also a number of less visible effects, those that are more difficult to perceive but which have a dramatic impact on the health of one of the most important, and most fragile, ecosystems on Earth. Included among these is the degradation of the permafrost, the surface section of the Earth's crust that’s closest, and therefore most impacted by, all the phenomena occurring within the atmosphere. Its degradation, caused by the thawing of the ice it contains, leads to slope instability and changes in the hydrogeological balance with serious repercussions for the surrounding area.
The ice contained within rock fissures acts like cement, holding parts of the mountain together, but as temperatures rise and the frozen ground thaws the stability is reduced leading to a potential increase in landslides and collapses, events that are becoming increasingly
common throughout the Alps. The effects of these changes are not only impacting the environment, they’re also having an impact on the Alpine communities that have lived within this delicate ecosystem for centuries.
The ice contained within rock fissures acts like cement, holding parts of the mountain together, but as temperatures rise and the frozen ground thaws the stability is reduced leading to a potential increase in landslides and collapses, events that are becoming increasingly
common throughout the Alps. The effects of these changes are not only impacting the environment, they’re also having an impact on the Alpine communities that have lived within this delicate ecosystem for centuries.
“Have you ever heard the sound of falling rocks?” was developed in collaboration with various
organisations and public administrative bodies, including: ARPA Piemonte (Regional Environmental Protection Agency of Piedmont), the University of Bozen-Bolzano, the Edmund Mach Foundation, the Savoy Mont Blanc University, Provincia di Trento (Trento Provincial Council), Museo di Scienze Naturali di Verona (Verona Natural Sciences Museum), SLF Suisse (Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research), the University of Milano-Bicocca.