<p>Exceptional rockfall occurred throughout the Alps during the unusually hot summer of 2003. It is likely related to the fast thermal reaction of the subsurface of steep rock slopes and a corresponding destabilization of ice-filled discontinuities. This suggests ...

Glacier retreat and permafrost changes, as related to climate change, are supposed to affect stability conditions of steep rock walls in cold mountain ranges. Several rock-fall events, which have occurred in the European Alps during the 20th century, are possibly ...