TO GO WITH AFP VIDEO ESSAY AND TEXT BY Andrea Bernardi and Alexandria Sage
TOPSHOT - An alpinist stands on the balcony of the Boccalatte Hut on the Planpincieux Glacier in Courmayeur, Alps Region, north-western Italy, on August 5, 2021. - A melting glacier is posing challenges this summer for scientists on Italy's side of the Mont Blanc massif, where the risk of collapse in rising temperatures threatens the valley below. The Planpincieux glacier, at an altitude of about 2,700 metres (8,860 feet), hangs over the hamlet of Planpincieux, underneath the south face of the Grandes Jorasses within the Mont Blanc massif in Italy's picturesque northwest corner. (Photo by Marco Bertorello / AFP)