The Alps Are Growing
One of the most interesting – if unexpected – side-effects of global climate change is that the Alps are growing taller.
According to New Scientist, warmer temperatures have been causing those mountains to “shed the weight of their glaciers,” with the result that “the unburdened crust beneath them is rebounding, causing the mountain range to rise slowly.”
Mont Blanc, for instance, “where the melting is fastest, is growing by as much as 0.9 millimetres per year due to climate change.”
Less than one millimeter per year isn’t much – but these deep and shuddering geological adjustments are already having big effects elsewhere, such as increasing the rate of seismic activity throughout the Alpine region (with the mountains themselves literally shattering as old faults decompress); and, amazingly, this Alpine growth spurt has actually begun to alter wind patterns flowing across the greater European landmass.