New Delhi, India

By Akash Rai

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French mountaineer Bryan Mestre recently discovered the alarming site of melting of glaciers at the height of 11,100 ft on the Mont Blanc mountain range, the highest mountain in the Alps.

Mestre was shocked to discover the lake at such a high altitude measuring around 100 feet-wide, in a place where temperatures are normally too cold to support liquid water. 

It is to believe that a direct impact of the recent heatwave in Europe resulting in such a large meltdown of the glacious above, forming this lake. 

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Speaking exclusively to WION, Bryam shared his experience and raised some serious concern regarding climate change.

Here are the excerpts from his conversation with WION.

WION: Tell us what did you saw when you reached the height of 11,000 ft on Mont Blanc mountain range?

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Bryan Mestre: I was going past Col de Rochefort, at the foot Dent du Géant, a deep blue lake, made from the melting of the glacier and the intense heat that struck the continent at the end of June 2019.

WION: Was this your first experience to capture such a huge lake at the height of 11,000 ft?

Bryan Mestre: Yes it was, I have been to this very place six times before.

WION: How worrying sign it is?

Bryan Mestre: It very worrying, it shouldn't be happening not at this altitude. I know that for some people, 3400 metres is low, in the Himalayas there are towns and plantations at this altitude, but every massif is different and has it's own climate and ecosystem, usually, the freezing altitude in the Alps in summer is around 2900-3000 metres.

WION: As a mountaineer what impact have you noticed in the mountain range due to climate change/global warming?

Bryan Mestre: Massive changes, all the routes have changed, some have disappeared, crumbling down in massive rockfalls, or just have ice. An article came out recently, about Rébuffat's (famous French alpinist) the Alps 100's finest climbs, today, less than 10 of the 100 are still doable.

WION: We are noticing glaciers all over the world are melting at an exponential speed, what is your stand on this, and how we can overcome this?

Bryan Mestre: I am afraid, we as single individuals cannot do much, unless we drastically change our habits like stopping our fuel consumption, stop consuming too much electricity and water. States can do a lot more, like stop coal power plants, develop hydrogen, nuclear and green energy, ban tourism cruise ship (a dozen of these ships burn more fuel than all of the world's cars in a year).

WION: Do you believe that people are not realising their responsibility towards the climate and environment?

Bryan Mestre: I believe that slowly people are realizing it, but there isn't much they can do, and since governments are not helping at all, the little they do is shadowed and becomes insignificant.

WION: Do you think the time has come to sound an alarm about global warming?

Brayan Mestre: I think the alarm has been raised long ago, AlGore, Dicaprio, the United Nations, everybody keeps talking about it, people in the mountains, forests, and coasts that are directly affected keep trying to manage something, but governing powers just don't care. It doesn't generate enough profit for them to step in. They don't care what they will leave behind when they will be gone.