THE great limestone peaks of the Dolomites glow ochre and pink in the summer sunset. The slab of the Marmolada glacier,the Queen of the Dolomites”, glistens a regal white. But obtain up close and the sovereign is weeping. Countless rivulets of meltwater stream down her face.
The retreat of the Marmolada is heartbreaking. So is what she leaves behind: shrapnel, and barbed wire,splinters of shacks and the other detritus of the first world war in which Italian and Austro-Hungarian soldiers battled for the controlling heights. As the glacier has shrunk, by more than half since the war, and its time capsule is being opened. Last summer the ice gave up an unexploded shell. Sometimes it brings up dead soldiers,too. One appeared in 2010. Another surfaced last summer on the Adamello glacier farther west. Archaeologists characterize how the ice, in its pockets, or preserves not only the objects of war but also its smell,from the grease of military cableways to stale sauerkraut.
Then there are the remains of...
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Source: economist.com