Zermatt

May 14, 2017

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Just a little thought about climate change

The mountain has always been for me one of the places where I have found peace and quiet. Due to a lung disease our parents took us from very young to the mountain, breathe fresh air and get that solitude outside of the cities that we are looking for. In a short and recent trip to the Swiss and French Alps I have been able to observe the great threat that is taking place and the uncertain future of climate change. But the worrying thing is also tourism. Thousands of tourists want to reach the top of the mountains, as if it were a race to be the best, upload the photos to social networks and ensure that they has been there. The problem lies not in the personal ego of each individual, but in the amount of garbage that generates and is scattered throughout the mountain, despite the great efforts of the governments of both countries to keep the ecosystem as pure and natural possible. To all this must be added the lack of snow every winter. There is recent reports, from fellows photographers Carl De Keyzer with his project Higher Ground (http://www.carldekeyzer.com/pro…/higher-ground-laj/XF9DCVNC-) about climate change and also John Vink documented a small town where years ago people were held isolated by the great snowstorms (https://www.magnumphotos.com/…/john-vink-white-gold-fairyt…/). The lack of snow means that many families can not live those months of skiing. Despite the fact that the millionaire investments in machinery to make snow are not enough.

Today the reality is quite different from our young years of alpinists, when Chamonix was a small town from where expeditions started. Now the small village is full of shops, crowds, cars, buses, and looks like a disgusting place.

Do should we put doors to the mountain to protect natural spaces or is it a question of environmental education?.

Once in Zermatt we wanted to show our twins the great iconic and majestic rock of Matterhorn. But today its beauty is enveloped by a layer of clouds that protect it of our looks. While many tourists are waiting in rows for the opportunity to photograph with their mobile phones.

The Matterhorn in a picture, Zermatt, Suisse, 2017

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