Parts of the Swiss Alps may soon go Italian, as global warming melts the glaciers that originally defined that international border, reports New Scientist magazine.

Although an Italian legislator has already proposed redrawing the dividing line, and both countries will amicably share the Matterhorn (as is currently the case), experts fear trouble may occur in other regions.

Melting borders may be a flashpoint for conflict in the Himalaya Mountains, where a glacial meltdown in Kashmir could heighten tensions between India and Pakistan.

In the Arctic, where the melt is opening up oil drilling and shipping possibilities, the United States, Canada and Russia are all claiming territorial rights.

At the other end of the globe, Chile and Argentina may renew their battle over the Patagonia ice fields bordering both nations.

–Ronnie Lovler/Newsdesk.org

Source:

“Climate changes Europe’s borders — and the world’s”
New Scientist, March 27, 2009