What is the highest peak in europe?

 Mont Blanc is the highest point of the Alps, reaches an altitude of 4810 m above sea level. The highest mountain in the European Union and Europe, except for the Caucasus Mountains as part of Europe. It is located on the border of Italy and France. From the top of Mont Blanc on a clear day you can see the mountain ranges of the Jura, the Vosges, the Black Forest and the Central Massif, as well as the main peaks of the Alps. In Italy, the nearest city is Courmayeur (Aosta Valley region), and in France - Chamonix (Haute-Savoie department). In 1965, an 11-kilometer tunnel connecting the two countries was built under the mountain. Every day up to 5,000 cars pass through it.

The emergence and formation of Mont Blanc is a product of the dynamic and complex geology of the Alps as a whole. The mountain consists mainly of rocks, mostly consisting of limestone and shale, as a result of a process that took place about 700 million years ago. Granite broke through older rocks about 300 million years ago. When the African and European plates collided (about 100 million years ago), the actual tectonic process of mountain formation began, which pushed the rocks upwards.

The belonging of Mont Blanc mountain is determined by the Treaty of Turin, but the country that signed it from the Italian side was not formally Italy, it was called the Kingdom of Sardinia (Piedmont). Dictionaries define the belonging of the mountain in different ways: in the 'Soviet Encyclopedia', and then in the Russian One, the elevation mark of 4807-4810 m is given as the highest point in articles about both countries. In Italian dictionaries, Mont Blanc is indicated with an updated meaning - Mont Blanc de Courmayeur (4748 m), this is the second highest peak of the mountain. The French Encyclopedia defines the powerful mountain ranges and ranges of the Alps without specifying boundaries, but with a description of the highest peak - Mont Blanc. In 1947-1963, a Franco-Italian commission clarified the boundaries of many sites near the mountain, and although disagreements arose at times, the question of the ownership of the peak of Mont Blanc was not raised.

Disagreements over boundaries and powers in the exploitation of tourist resources near the mountain arise in the 21st century. When the French prefecture of Haute-Savoie announced in October 2020 the measures it intends to take to protect the Mont Blanc natural site in order to control traffic in the Alps and preserve plants and wildlife, the Italian government sent an official note to the French authorities, calling for the creation of a joint commission to solve the problem of border maintenance in order to 'avoid any unilateral initiative of local authorities.'

The summit of Mont Blanc is a dome covered with a thick perennial layer of ice and snow, the thickness of which varies, so it is difficult to determine the height of the mountain. The height of the top is constantly changing, and this is evidenced by accurate measurements. For a long time, the official height of the mountain was 4807 m. In 2002, the corporation IGN Entertainment and expert surveyors using GPS technology measured the height of the peak, and found that the mountain 'grew' by almost half a meter, its height was 4807.40 m.

After a severe heat wave was recorded in Europe in 2003, a group of scientists - glaciologist Luca Moreau, geodesists from GPS, three IGN people, seven expert surveyors, four mountain guides from Chamonix and Saint-Gervais and four students from various institutes in France - in September again measured the peak, and the height above sea level was 4808.45 m, and the peak was at a distance of 75 cm from that place. where he was in 2002. Since the publication of the 2003 results, more than 500 mountain points have been measured to assess the effects of climate change and altitude fluctuations at different points. Since then, the height of the mountain has been measured every two years. The assumption that the heat wave caused the height fluctuation was not confirmed, since it is known that the heat wave did not have a significant impact on glaciers at an altitude of more than 4,000 m. The change in height and position of the mountain peak occurs as a result of the ongoing collision of two tectonic plates - Eurasia and Africa, as well as meteorological processes, including erosion at the top of the ridge. At this altitude, the temperature rarely rises above 0 ° C. In the summer of 2003, the temperature rose to 2 ° C and even to 3 ° C, but this would not be enough to melt such an amount of ice and snow. In 2005, the summit was measured again, the results were published on December 16, 2005 - the height was 4808.75 m, which is 30 cm more than the previous recorded height. The rocky peak was at an altitude of 4792 m, about 40 m west of the ice-covered peak. In 2007, the height of the peak was 4807.9 m, and in 2009 - 4,807.45 m. In 2013, the height of the peak was 4810.02 m, and in 2015 - 4,808.73 m.

The conquest of Mont Blanc occurred on August 8, 1786, after repeated attempts by two chamonix residents, Michel-Gabriel Pacard and Jacques Balm. Residents of local villages organized comfortable accommodation to receive an increasing number of customers. Comfortable hotels were built: the Hotel de l'Angleterre, the Hotel de l'Union in Chamonix, the Hotel Royal in Courmayeur and the Auberge de Tête Noire in Trient for mainly foreign tourists, base camps for climbers appeared. The local population, accepting the changes as an economic boon, has done much to offer their services and accompany tourists to the tops. The municipality of Chamonix was the first to introduce discipline into the profession of a guide. In 1821, the first Compagnie des Guides was created, with almost 200 members. In 1850, Courmayeur and Saint-Gervais took part in a competition, creating their own company.

In 1752, the thermal spring of Pré-Saint-Didier was opened, followed by Saint-Gervais in 1808, which also attracted many new customers. Throughout the XIX century, hotels were built, one more luxurious than the other, such as Bristol and Finhout, Majestic or Savoy in Chamonix. Along with the construction, the modernization of the transport network took place. Napoleon, during his visit to Chamonix in 1806, promised to facilitate access to the valley. In the 20th century, the construction of a railroad between Lem Feim and Martini greatly contributed to this goal.

Winter tourism was opened in 1900, and in 1924 the first Winter Olympic Games were held in Chamonix, various urban planning projects were implemented, from the simplest to the most extravagant. In the first half of the twentieth century, combloux, Megève, Saint-Gervais and Courmayeur stations were established. The construction of the first ski areas took place in high-altitude areas such as Chekruit, Planpraz, Mont d'Arbois, Orcières pasture, etc. Highland pastures were destroyed, the valley was colonized to accommodate 'tourist places' intended for an ever-growing number of visitors.

Investment has been declining since the 1980s, mainly due to the completion of large projects in the most famous locations, but also, and above all, because of the new collective awareness of local residents facing environmental and other problems due to the influx of tourists, which was facilitated by irregular snowfalls.

People who climb Mont Blanc every year leave behind tons of garbage. According to Jean-Marc Peilex, mayor of the city of Saint-Gervais at the foot of the mountain, every week at the height of the summer climbing season, about 500 kg of garbage is removed from the mountain by helicopter. The mess is mostly created by people who live in high-rise huts or in tents halfway to the top of the mountain. One of the guides notes that at the foot of the mountain from 30 to 50 tents are placed daily, and everywhere there is garbage, especially organic.

Despite the long history of tourism, people die on the slopes of the mountain almost every year. High statistics of tragic cases contributes to the popularity of tourist routes and the lack of mountaineering skills, physical fitness, rapid change in weather conditions. In 2012, nine climbers died in an avalanche on Mount Modit on the popular Three Mountains route that leads through Mont Blanc. People can be affected by altitude: nausea, insomnia, vomiting and severe headaches, and in extreme cases, death can occur at an altitude of about 2500 meters. Problems also arise if climbers do not have time to acclimatize to the height and want to climb and descend in a couple of days. It is also important to have appropriate equipment and minimal climbing skills. Lifeguards also recommend that climbers carry a snow shovel and a lighthouse. Even on a bright summer day, when Mont Blanc looks great and the sun shines, when climbing the mountain, the temperature drops from 0.3 ° C to 0.9 ° C for every 100 m. At the top of Mont Blanc, the temperature of −15 ° C without wind corresponds to −30 ° C with a wind of 60 km / h.

Scientists believe that the mountain is in a phase of strong changes due to climatic factors, so it is especially vulnerable. In 2017, about 50 cubic meters of ice descended from the Glacier from Planpincier, and in September last year, a mass of ice broke off from the Charpoix Glacier, on the southeast side of the Aiguille-Vertée, on the French side of Mont Blanc. The glacier has been under close surveillance since 2013 to determine the frequency of ice melt. But authorities warn that there is no warning system. During a weather incident in August 2018, an elderly couple died near Planpincier when their car was swept off the road into the valley during a landslide. Hundreds of people were evacuated, some of them by helicopter. In 2019, Italian authorities blocked roads and evacuated homes after experts warned that part of the Mont Blanc glacier was in danger of collapse. Experts from the Foundation for Safe Mountains (Italian: Foundation for Safe Mountains).Fondazione Montagna Sicura) in valle d'Aosta was warned in 2019 that up to 250,000 cubic meters of ice could come off the peak of Grand Joras. In 2020, there is also a threat of avalanches from glaciers. The situation repeated itself in 2020.