ROCK faces on high mountains could start crumbling at alarming rates if summers get hotter as global climate models predict. Higher temperatures could destabilise rocks by thawing the permafrost beneath them.
In Europe, concern about disintegrating rock faces was heightened last year when at least 50 people died in the Alps as a result of falling rock. Many mountain paths, including classic routes on Mont Blanc, were closed because of the danger of rockfalls, and nearly 100 climbers had to be rescued from the normal route on the Matterhorn when part of the ridge collapsed.
Because there was no unusual…
