csmonitor.com:
In the past, national borders were determined by war,
revolution, or, as is the case with many former colonies,
someone in a pith helmet doodling on a map. But in the 21st
century, the job could be done by global warming.For instance,
the 463-mile border between Italy and Switzerland runs mostly
through the Alps, and has remained more or less fixed since
Italy became a unified state in 1861.Seeking to define the
border more precisely, a 1941 convention between the two
countries established the demarcation as running along the
ridge crest of the glaciers in the mountain range.But as the
Alps experience the
warmest period
in 1,300 years, those glaciers are beginning to recede,
moving the border northward. As the
Discovery
Channel reported in May, measurements taken at the Monte
Rosa massif found that the border has shifted hundreds of feet
in some places, with most of the change in the past five years.
Now the two countries are at work redefining their boundaries,
this time basing them on rock, not ice. Italy plans to make
similar arrangements with France and Austria.
