Melting Dolomites Glaciers Reveal 250 WWI Explosives

 More than a century after the First World War ended, the retreating glaciers of Italy’s Dolomites are revealing a dangerous legacy of the conflict. As ice that once buried military positions, weapons and soldiers continues to disappear, unexploded bombs and artillery shells are emerging from the frozen landscape, creating new hazards for hikers, mountaineers and communities across the Italian Alps.

The Italian Army has recovered and neutralised 250 explosive devices uncovered during the summer of 2026, including Italian artillery shells and French-made mortar bombs dating from the First World War. The operation was conducted by the Julia Alpine Brigade following reports from hikers who spotted suspicious objects emerging from melting ice and exposed mountain terrain.

The discoveries have renewed concern about the environmental consequences of rising temperatures in high-altitude regions, where glaciers are retreating and releasing objects preserved beneath ice for more than 100 years.

What was once a frozen battlefield is increasingly becoming an unexpected archaeological site—and, at the same time, a potentially deadly landscape in which unexploded ammunition remains capable of causing serious injury or death.

According to the Italian Army, hikers reported several sightings of suspected explosives during the summer, particularly around Canal San Bovo in the Primiero Valley in eastern Trentino.

Military personnel subsequently carried out extensive searches in the area and across other high-altitude and glacier locations in Trentino-Alto Adige, a region of northeastern Italy that includes parts of the Dolomites.

The operation resulted in the recovery and neutralisation of 250 explosive devices. Among them were 18 Italian 75mm artillery shells and 37 Thevenot mortar bombs, French-designed weapons that were also supplied to the Italian Royal Army during the First World War.

The recovery operation illustrates the continuing challenges faced by explosive ordnance disposal specialists in mountainous environments. Steep slopes, unstable ground, changing weather conditions and rapidly melting ice can make locating and safely removing old ammunition particularly difficult.

Although some of the recovered devices had already exploded or deteriorated, many remained unexploded. Their age does not make them harmless. Historic munitions can remain dangerous for decades, and corrosion or damage may make their condition difficult to assess without specialist examination.

The army’s work is therefore not simply an exercise in preserving military history. It is also a public safety operation intended to prevent accidents in an increasingly accessible but potentially hazardous alpine environment.

Authorities have urged hikers and mountaineers never to touch suspicious objects that might be explosives, regardless of their apparent age or condition. Anyone who discovers such an object should keep their distance, avoid disturbing the surrounding area and promptly report the discovery to the police.

The weapons emerging from the Dolomites are remnants of what became known as the White War, a brutal mountain campaign fought between Italian and Austro-Hungarian forces from 1915 to 1918.

Unlike the trench warfare commonly associated with the Western Front, fighting in the Alps took place in some of Europe’s most unforgiving terrain. Soldiers occupied exposed ridges, snow-covered passes, rocky peaks and positions surrounded by glaciers, often at extreme altitudes.

The conditions were punishing. Troops faced freezing temperatures, heavy snowfall, shortages of supplies and the constant threat of avalanches. Moving artillery and other military equipment across steep mountain slopes required extraordinary effort, while maintaining supply routes could be a matter of survival.

The conflict also transformed the landscape. Armies constructed trenches, shelters, observation posts and tunnels, while artillery bombardments scattered ammunition and other military material across the mountains.

When the war ended in November 1918, many positions were abandoned. Some equipment remained buried beneath snow and ice, while other objects were left inside shelters that subsequently became inaccessible as glaciers advanced or accumulated around them.

For decades, the ice preserved fragments of this history. As glaciers began retreating more noticeably towards the end of the twentieth century, however, objects from the conflict started to reappear.

The latest discoveries demonstrate that the White War has not disappeared from the landscape. Its physical remains are becoming visible again, carrying both historical significance and immediate risks.

Stefano Morosini, a professor at the University of Bergamo and coordinator of heritage projects at Stelvio National Park, has linked the recurring discoveries to global heating.

He said dangerous military objects were emerging at the end of successive summers, with increasing numbers being found as the ice continued to retreat.

The glaciers of the Italian Alps have experienced substantial changes as temperatures rise. Longer periods of summer warmth and increasingly unfavourable conditions for ice accumulation are contributing to glacier loss in many locations.

When ice that has covered military remains for generations melts, the objects beneath it can become exposed to the atmosphere and the elements. Previously inaccessible areas may become reachable, while ammunition once securely embedded in frozen ground can be left on unstable slopes or exposed rock.

The resulting risks are not limited to explosives. Retreating glaciers can expose crevasses, loosen rocks and undermine terrain that previously remained frozen. Meltwater can also alter paths and mountain routes, making familiar landscapes more difficult to navigate safely.

Morosini has warned that some of the munitions remained unexploded after more than a century beneath the ice. Their reappearance creates a particularly serious hazard because hikers may encounter them unexpectedly while travelling through remote areas.

The situation highlights an unusual consequence of climate change: environmental warming is not only transforming ecosystems and water supplies but also exposing remnants of past human conflicts.

The Dolomites are not the only part of the Italian Alps where retreating ice has revealed extraordinary evidence of the First World War.

At Mount Scorluzzo, a 3,095-metre peak overlooking the Stelvio Pass in Lombardy, a wooden barracks built inside a cave re-emerged in 2015 after the ice sealing it off melted away.

The shelter had been hastily secured at the end of the war, leaving behind many of the belongings used by soldiers stationed in the mountains.

When the structure was rediscovered, researchers found objects including straw beds, clothing, lanterns, newspapers, postcards, coins and tins of food. The cold environment had helped preserve many of these materials, offering an unusually detailed glimpse into the daily lives of soldiers who served in extreme conditions.

Such discoveries provide historians with evidence that written military records cannot always capture. Personal possessions can reveal how soldiers organised their living spaces, maintained communications, managed scarce supplies and endured isolation far from civilian communities.

A White War museum is scheduled to open in Bormio in June 2027 to display historical remains from the conflict. The planned museum is expected to provide a permanent setting for interpreting the material recovered from the alpine battlefield and explaining the extraordinary environmental conditions in which the soldiers lived.

The preservation of these objects also raises questions about how best to protect historical remains as the landscape changes. Some artefacts can be carefully recovered and conserved, while others may be too fragile or difficult to remove safely.

Among the most poignant discoveries made in the Italian Alps have been the remains of soldiers whose lives ended far from their homes.

The White War is believed to have claimed more than one million lives, although the majority of deaths were reportedly caused by avalanches, falls, hypothermia and other extreme mountain conditions rather than direct combat alone.

Over the past 15 years, dozens of bodies have emerged from melting ice, including some still wearing military uniforms.

In 2017, the relatives of an Italian soldier were able to bury him after documents recovered with his body on the Presena Glacier helped establish his identity.

For families, such discoveries can bring a mixture of grief, relief and long-awaited closure. The recovery of remains allows descendants to learn what happened to relatives who disappeared during a conflict fought more than a century ago.

These individual stories also remind the public that the objects emerging from the glaciers are not merely historical curiosities. They are physical traces of human lives interrupted by war, hardship and the unforgiving environment of the Alps.

The process of identifying remains can be complicated by the passage of time, the deterioration of personal belongings and the difficulty of reaching remote locations. Nevertheless, each successful identification can restore a name and personal history to someone who might otherwise have remained missing indefinitely.

The retreat of the glaciers is also changing the experience of visiting the Dolomites and surrounding mountain ranges.

Morosini has warned that increasingly intense summer heat is making access to some glaciers less safe. Prolonged heatwaves at high altitude can destabilise ice and rock, increase meltwater flows and make routes more dangerous than they were in the past.

The risks were starkly demonstrated in July 2022, when a large section of the Marmolada Glacier broke away, killing 11 people. The disaster drew international attention to the dangers associated with changing glacier conditions and rising temperatures in the Alps.

Although individual glacier collapses have multiple contributing factors, warming temperatures can increase instability in high-mountain environments. Visitors may encounter hazards that are difficult to identify in advance, particularly when conditions change rapidly during the day.

The newly exposed munitions add another layer of danger. Hikers may be drawn towards unusual metal objects or historical remnants without realising that they could be unexploded weapons.

Mountain safety experts therefore have an important role in communicating changing risks. Visitors should follow local warnings, use established routes where appropriate, respect closures and avoid approaching suspicious objects or unstable glacier margins.

Authorities and conservation organisations also face the challenge of monitoring areas where retreating ice is likely to expose further historical material.

The discovery of 250 explosive devices in the Dolomites offers a striking example of how environmental change can reveal the consequences of earlier human activity.

For more than a century, glaciers concealed weapons and personal belongings left behind by soldiers who fought in extreme conditions. Today, the retreat of that ice is exposing the remains while simultaneously making parts of the alpine environment less predictable.

The immediate priority is public safety. Unexploded ammunition must be assessed and handled by qualified specialists, while hikers need clear advice about how to respond to discoveries.

At the same time, the emerging relics have significant historical value. Properly documented and conserved, they can help future generations understand the White War, the hardships endured by soldiers and the lasting physical footprint of conflict.

Yet the pace of glacier retreat raises difficult questions about what may be revealed next. Additional ammunition, military shelters, personal possessions and human remains could emerge as previously frozen areas become exposed.

The Dolomites are therefore becoming a place where climate science, military history and public safety increasingly intersect. The disappearing ice is revealing the past, but it is also delivering a warning about the changing environment.

More than a century after the First World War ended, the mountains continue to hold reminders of its human cost. As global temperatures rise, those reminders are becoming visible again—and some remain as dangerous today as they were when the fighting stopped.