Altavia — Environment https://altavianature.com/en/ Climate change, glaciers, biodiversity, pollution and conservation. en © Altavia Fri, 23 Oct 2026 15:30:00 GMT https://altavianature.com/brand/logo-512.pngAltaviahttps://altavianature.com/ Did you know that snow is not actually white? https://altavianature.com/en/curiosities/did-you-know-snow-is-not-white/ https://altavianature.com/en/curiosities/did-you-know-snow-is-not-white/ A snowflake is made of ice, and ice is transparent. So why is snow white and glaciers blue? The answer lies in how light bounces and is absorbed. Fri, 23 Oct 2026 15:30:00 GMT Curiosities A new mountain gorilla is born in Virunga: 17 births in the park so far in 2026 https://altavianature.com/en/news/virunga-mountain-gorilla-birth/ https://altavianature.com/en/news/virunga-mountain-gorilla-birth/ The baby, a male, was born on 17 October to the female Ruzuzi. It is the Bageni family's fourth birth of the year and the park's seventeenth; Virunga is home to a quarter of the world's mountain gorillas. Fri, 23 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMT News The 2026 El Niño shapes up as one of the strongest on record: what it could mean for snow and the mountains https://altavianature.com/en/news/el-nino-very-strong-2026/ https://altavianature.com/en/news/el-nino-very-strong-2026/ The equatorial Pacific is much warmer than normal and forecast centres point to a very strong, perhaps historic, El Niño. We explain what it is, what is expected and what it could mean for the snow season. Fri, 23 Oct 2026 11:30:00 GMT News Longyearbyen, the Arctic town where melting ice is already polluting the water and cracking homes https://altavianature.com/en/news/svalbard-longyearbyen-thaw/ https://altavianature.com/en/news/svalbard-longyearbyen-thaw/ At 78° north, Svalbard's main town is living Arctic warming first-hand: tap water unfit to drink, homes made uninhabitable by thawing permafrost, avalanches and tour guides changing their routes. Fri, 23 Oct 2026 09:10:00 GMT News UN calls Nepal's glacier flood a 'defining moment' for the world https://altavianature.com/en/news/nepal-glacier-flood-un-defining-moment/ https://altavianature.com/en/news/nepal-glacier-flood-un-defining-moment/ A wall of water more than 100 metres high swept through 60 kilometres of valley in seconds. Two months on, the UN's project services agency calls it one of the most destructive and deadliest climate-related disasters and urges rich countries to keep their promises. Fri, 23 Oct 2026 07:30:00 GMT News Swiss glaciers lose 5.5% of their volume in 2026: almost a fifth of the ice gone in five years https://altavianature.com/en/news/swiss-glaciers-2026-loss/ https://altavianature.com/en/news/swiss-glaciers-2026-loss/ Little winter snow, heatwaves from May to September and the 0 °C isotherm above 4,000 metres for 76 days: the result is the second-worst year for Swiss glaciers since measurements began. Fri, 23 Oct 2026 06:45:00 GMT News International Snow Leopard Day: the 'ghost of the mountains' is still at risk https://altavianature.com/en/news/international-snow-leopard-day-2026/ https://altavianature.com/en/news/international-snow-leopard-day-2026/ Today is International Snow Leopard Day, created to protect the great cat of Asia's mountains. We look at how many are left, what threatens them and what works to protect them. Fri, 23 Oct 2026 06:00:00 GMT News Swiss glaciers chain together years of record losses: what the measurements say https://altavianature.com/en/news/swiss-glaciers-record-loss/ https://altavianature.com/en/news/swiss-glaciers-record-loss/ Measurement campaigns by the Swiss glacier monitoring network document the biggest losses since records began. We explain what the numbers mean and why they matter beyond Switzerland. Wed, 21 Oct 2026 06:30:00 GMT News Blatten, the Swiss village buried by a glacier: what we know and what it teaches https://altavianature.com/en/news/blatten-birch-glacier-collapse/ https://altavianature.com/en/news/blatten-birch-glacier-collapse/ In May 2025 a huge flow of ice, rock and mud almost completely destroyed the village of Blatten, in the Lötschental. A preventive evacuation avoided a far greater tragedy. We look at what happened and why it is a warning for the whole of the Alps. Tue, 20 Oct 2026 07:15:00 GMT News The wolf loses protection in Europe: what changes, what does not and why it divides rural areas https://altavianature.com/en/news/wolf-protection-europe-downgraded/ https://altavianature.com/en/news/wolf-protection-europe-downgraded/ Europe has lowered the wolf's level of protection after years of debate between farmers and conservationists. Does that mean it can be hunted? What happens in Spain? The answers, without slogans. Fri, 16 Oct 2026 06:45:00 GMT News The Iberian lynx passes 2,400 animals: the story of an exceptional recovery https://altavianature.com/en/news/iberian-lynx-census/ https://altavianature.com/en/news/iberian-lynx-census/ At the start of the century fewer than a hundred were left. Today the Iberian lynx numbers more than 2,400 and is no longer listed as Endangered on the Red List. This is how it was achieved and what could still go wrong. Thu, 15 Oct 2026 07:00:00 GMT News 2024, the first year above 1.5 °C: what it does and does not mean for the Paris Agreement https://altavianature.com/en/news/2024-first-year-above-1-5-degrees/ https://altavianature.com/en/news/2024-first-year-above-1-5-degrees/ The European Copernicus service ranked 2024 as the warmest year on record and the first to exceed the 1.5 °C threshold. Have we already broken the Paris Agreement? Not exactly. Here is why. Tue, 13 Oct 2026 07:30:00 GMT News Venezuela runs out of glaciers: how the last ice of the Venezuelan Andes disappeared https://altavianature.com/en/news/venezuela-loses-its-last-glacier/ https://altavianature.com/en/news/venezuela-loses-its-last-glacier/ The Sierra Nevada de Mérida once had at least six glaciers. By 2024 the last one —Humboldt— had shrunk into a small ice field. Venezuela thus became the first country in modern times to lose all its glaciers. Sat, 10 Oct 2026 08:00:00 GMT News Melting ice moves borders: Switzerland and Italy redraw their line beneath the Matterhorn https://altavianature.com/en/news/matterhorn-border-glacier-melt/ https://altavianature.com/en/news/matterhorn-border-glacier-melt/ When a border follows the watershed across a glacier, melting can move it. That is what has happened around the Matterhorn, where Switzerland and Italy have had to adjust their shared boundary. Thu, 08 Oct 2026 08:20:00 GMT News The EU Nature Restoration Law explained: goals, deadlines and what changes around you https://altavianature.com/en/news/eu-nature-restoration-law-explained/ https://altavianature.com/en/news/eu-nature-restoration-law-explained/ Adopted in 2024 after a fiercely contested process, the Nature Restoration Regulation requires EU countries to bring degraded ecosystems back. What it says, what it does not say and when its effects will be seen. Tue, 06 Oct 2026 07:00:00 GMT News Why are glaciers melting and what will the consequences be? https://altavianature.com/en/environment/why-glaciers-are-melting/ https://altavianature.com/en/environment/why-glaciers-are-melting/ A glacier is a balance between the snow it gains and the ice it loses. When the books come out in the red year after year, it retreats. We explain why this is happening almost everywhere and what it means for us. Sat, 26 Sep 2026 06:00:00 GMT Environment The bearded vulture, the bird that lives on bones and is flying over Europe again https://altavianature.com/en/wildlife/bearded-vulture/ https://altavianature.com/en/wildlife/bearded-vulture/ With a wingspan of almost three metres and a diet made up mostly of bones, the bearded vulture is one of the most astonishing birds on the planet. After disappearing from much of Europe, it is soaring over its mountains again. Tue, 22 Sep 2026 06:00:00 GMT Wildlife What would happen if snow disappeared from the great mountains https://altavianature.com/en/environment/what-if-snow-disappeared-from-mountains/ https://altavianature.com/en/environment/what-if-snow-disappeared-from-mountains/ Snow is not just scenery: it is a natural reservoir that releases water when it is needed most. When it snows less or melts earlier, rivers, forests, wildlife and the economy of entire valleys change. Wed, 16 Sep 2026 06:00:00 GMT Environment 10 places on Earth where nature is still extremely wild https://altavianature.com/en/nature/wildest-places-on-earth/ https://altavianature.com/en/nature/wildest-places-on-earth/ There are still corners of the planet where human presence is minimal and natural processes set the pace: active volcanoes, deltas in the middle of the desert, immense ice fields and rainforests still to be explored. Mon, 14 Sep 2026 06:00:00 GMT Nature The snow leopard, the ghost of Asia's mountains https://altavianature.com/en/wildlife/snow-leopard/ https://altavianature.com/en/wildlife/snow-leopard/ It lives in twelve countries, roams huge territories above 3,000 metres and is so elusive that many researchers study it for years without seeing it. This is how the snow leopard survives. Tue, 08 Sep 2026 06:00:00 GMT Wildlife 10 natural places that could change radically this century https://altavianature.com/en/environment/places-that-will-change-this-century/ https://altavianature.com/en/environment/places-that-will-change-this-century/ Some landscapes that seem eternal today could look very different by the end of the century. We review ten places where scientists are already measuring profound changes, separating what has been observed from what is projected. Tue, 01 Sep 2026 06:00:00 GMT Environment Red snow: the algae that tint the mountains and speed up melting https://altavianature.com/en/curiosities/red-snow-watermelon-snow/ https://altavianature.com/en/curiosities/red-snow-watermelon-snow/ In summer, some snowfields in the Alps, the Pyrenees or the Arctic turn pink. It is not dust or pollution: it is microscopic algae with their own 'sunscreen'. And their colour has consequences. Thu, 27 Aug 2026 06:00:00 GMT Curiosities The axolotl, the amphibian that never grows up and can regrow parts of its body https://altavianature.com/en/wildlife/axolotl/ https://altavianature.com/en/wildlife/axolotl/ It lives only in the canals of Xochimilco, in Mexico City, never loses its juvenile look and can regrow legs, tail and even parts of organs. While it thrives in labs and aquariums, in the wild it is on the brink of extinction. Tue, 25 Aug 2026 06:00:00 GMT Wildlife How the IUCN Red List works: what it means for a species to be 'endangered' https://altavianature.com/en/environment/iucn-red-list-explained/ https://altavianature.com/en/environment/iucn-red-list-explained/ Vulnerable, endangered, critically endangered... Behind each label are very specific scientific criteria. We explain how the world's most widely used tool for measuring extinction risk works. Sat, 22 Aug 2026 06:00:00 GMT Environment The Iberian orcas: who they are and why they interact with sailboats https://altavianature.com/en/wildlife/iberian-orcas-sailboats/ https://altavianature.com/en/wildlife/iberian-orcas-sailboats/ There are only a few dozen of them, they live between the Strait of Gibraltar and the Bay of Biscay and since 2020 they have been interacting with the rudders of sailing boats. We review what is known —and what is not— about this unique population. Tue, 18 Aug 2026 06:00:00 GMT Wildlife Microplastics on the summits: the invisible trail that reaches Everest https://altavianature.com/en/environment/microplastics-on-mountain-summits/ https://altavianature.com/en/environment/microplastics-on-mountain-summits/ Polyester fibres above 8,000 metres, particles raining from the sky in remote Pyrenean valleys, plastic in Antarctic snow. The mountains are not safe from plastic, and part of the problem is what we wear. Sat, 15 Aug 2026 06:00:00 GMT Environment Edelweiss, the snow flower: the science behind the symbol of the Alps https://altavianature.com/en/plants/edelweiss/ https://altavianature.com/en/plants/edelweiss/ Its velvety look is not decorative: it is armour against the radiation, cold and dryness of the high mountains. The natural and cultural history of the most famous flower in the Alps. Sun, 09 Aug 2026 06:00:00 GMT Plants