Following the footsteps of the great italian exploration, photographic reportage will be empowered by the most preeminent on-field scientific research.

The project will be enriched by the participation of Prof. Kenneth Hewitt, Professor Emeritus of Geography and Environmental Studies, founder and Research Associate in the Cold Regions Research Centre of Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario (Canada), who will be in Karakorum during the first expedition to perform direct observations.

Prof. Hewitt is one of the most important glaciologist for the Karakorum region, having collected a deep experience since the early ‘60s right on those lands which was visited by the historic expedition of the Duke of Abruzzi in 1909.

Furthermore, the project will take advantage by the collaboration of Prof. Claudio Smiraglia, former President of the italian Glaciologic Committee, who will analyse the observations collected during the on field activities.

Nothing better than the words of Prof. Smiraglia himself to depict the scientific profile of this very mission:

“The purpose of this project is to determine, on the basis of historic photographs, to what extent the most delicate and important system on earth - the cryosphere - has changed over the past century. Scientists and laymen by now agree that glaciers are the most reliable indicators we have to gauge climatic and environmental change on the planet. The fact is that glacial masses in mountain chains all over the world are literally collapsing, with consequences that are not yet totally imaginable. This project - by combining a study of historical evidence and documentary techniques with in loco and laboratory research, will enable us to gather important, and at times unique, information on recent glacial dynamics in a few exemplary areas such as the Alps, the Karakorum and the Caucasus. We will be able to determine the mass and energy balance of several glaciers — in other words, their state of health”.