The small ice caps of Mont Blanc and the Dôme du Goûter are not melting, or at least, not yet.
Alpine glaciers, which are mainly at an altitude between 2000 and 4000 meters, shrank considerably during the 20th century and particularly during the past twenty years, losing an average of 1 to 1.5 kilometers in length. However, the situation is different above 4200 meters.
But if summer temperatures increase by a few degrees during the 21st century, the melt could become more marked, and could affect the "permanent" ice fields.
The melting of these large glaciers has contributed roughly 0.14 millimeters per year in sea rise
, jumping to more than 0.32 millimeters per year during the last decade.
glacier melting could contribute 0.65 feet or more to sea level this century.
The IPCC estimated that other processes such as ocean warming would cause an additional 0.36 feet to 1.4 feet of sea-level rise by the year 2100,
would have substantial social and economic impacts,
clipped from: www.sciencedaily.com 