America News Agency

Switzerland and Italy have redrawn a border along the summit of the Alps as melting glaciers change the historically established boundary.

The two countries have agreed to modifications under the Matterhorn, one of Europe's highest mountains, which connects Switzerland's Zermatt region with Italy's Aosta valley.

Glaciers in Europe, the world's fastest-warming continent, are retreating rapidly due to human-induced climate disruption.

“Significant parts of the border are defined by basins or ridgelines of glaciers, firn or permanent snow,” the Swiss government said. “These formations are changing due to the melting of glaciers.”

A joint Italian-Swiss commission agreed to the changes in May 2023. Switzerland formally ratified the agreement on Friday, but Italy still needs to sign it.

The changes follow years of disagreement between the two countries over the territory of the summit.

According to the Swiss Academy of Sciences, Swiss glaciers lost 4 percent of their volume in 2023, the second-largest annual decline on record. The largest decline was 6 percent in 2022.

Experts have stopped measuring ice on some Swiss glaciers because there are none left.

The remains of a German mountaineer who went missing nearly 40 years ago while crossing a glacier near the Matterhorn were found in melting ice in July last year.