Melting Glaciers in Italian Dolomites Reveal 250 WWI-Era Munitions
Italian army's Julia Alpine Brigade clears hundreds of artillery shells and mortar bombs uncovered by retreating ice in the Trentino-Alto Adige region, as climate change accelerates glacier melt.
Hundreds of World War I-era munitions have been discovered in the Italian Dolomites after spending over a century buried under snow and ice. The Italian army's Julia Alpine Brigade, an elite mountain warfare unit, reported that approximately 250 artillery shells, mortar bombs, and other ammunition were exposed by melting glaciers in the Trentino-Alto Adige region.
The munitions date back to the White War (Guerra Bianca) fought between Italian and Austro-Hungarian forces from 1915 to 1918. Hikers and mountain workers found the ordnance in the Canal San Bovo area of the Primiero Valley in eastern Trentino. In June, a 90-millimeter mortar shell was unearthed after a car rolled down a ravine near Caldonazzo, prompting a bomb squad to remove it.
The Julia Alpine Brigade conducted a clearance campaign from August to October 16, before winter snow returned. The operation required "solid mountaineering skills" to navigate "inaccessible areas, at high altitudes, and on particularly challenging terrain," the brigade told CNN.
Such discoveries are not uncommon in the Alps, where munitions from both World Wars surface annually. However, unusually low snowfall in 2025 and this summer's heat wave have accelerated glacier retreat, exposing more of these dangerous remnants. "It is very much a consequence of global heating," said Stefano Morosini, a professor at the University of Bergamo and coordinator of heritage projects at Stelvio National Park, where some of the shells were found.
The cleanup operation highlights the ongoing risks posed by climate change in mountainous regions, as melting ice continues to reveal historical hazards.
