Mont-Blanc tourists invited to feed scientists’ databases by observing nature this summer

From their offices in Chamonix (Haute-Savoie), the scientists of the Mont-Blanc observatory have a breathtaking view of the snow-covered massif, its glaciers, these rocky peaks. An invaluable field of exploration, especially in the context of climate change.

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“It is the largest slope that exists in Europe since when you start from the foot of Mont Blanc, you are approximately 500 meters above sea level and you climb up to 4,800 meters above sea level.explains Irène Alvarez, co-director of the Center for Research on Altitude Ecosystems (CREA). Which in fact corresponds, in terms of climatic gradation, to the same changes as if we went from the Mediterranean to the North Pole! So we take a cable car and in seven minutes, we’ve covered 1,000 kilometres. It’s very interesting for us.”

The impact of global warming is more important in these mountainous areas. The fauna and flora must adapt and this is what scientists are analyzing in particular. “It’s as if, I told you: we raise the temperature in the room by five degreescontinues Irene Alvarez. What can you do? The fauna and flora cannot kill the heating engineer or ask him to adjust the heating, so inevitably, they will have to adapt. And so for us, what we observe is indeed an upward migration of species to find the same climatic conditions and also a large seasonal shift.

Cameras, satellites… Researchers have many means at their disposal to observe Mont-Blanc and its evolution. But this summer, tourists will also be put to work. “Everyone can participate”, assures Anaïs Ramet, participatory science project manager at the Mont-Blanc observatory. Different scientific protocols can be followed in two refuges: the Plan de l’Aiguille refuge in Chamonix and the Prés refuge in Contamines-Montjoie.

A first protocol allows tourists to observe the evolution of tadpoles in the pond. Another will monitor the flowering of certain species of plants targeted by the observatory. “It allows us to have a follow-up throughout the summer in places where we could not be every day”, rejoices Anaïs Ramet. Enough to feed the databases of scientists. But these observations are not limited to the summit of Europe: with the Phénoclim programme, the general public is also invited to observe nature, from the Pyrenees to the Alps via the Massif Central.