Thursday, March 19, 2009

Global warming and borders

The Swiss and Italians may be changing their borders slightly. Il Messaggero reported on March 18 that global warming is causing glaciers to retreat - "Erosione ghiacciai: Italia e Svizera verso la revisione dei confini"

The border problem is that it is defined by treaty as the demarcation of the watersheds. As the glaciers change so changes the flow of melt water to either side.

I've often said that borders are determined by armies rather than cultural or economic interests. Franco Narducci, who presented a draft law to the Italian Parliament, said, "Once armies determined borders; now experts determine borders." - my translation