Breve storia delle Alpi tra clima e meteorologia

Alps, climate, meteorology. It is from these terms that we must start to discover the relationships between the Alpine environment, man and climatic variables over time. The chronological period of reference goes from the Middle Ages to the First World War with also references to the ancient age. A bird's eye view with the aim of providing targeted ideas for an overall picture of the emergence of the climate issue in the Alpine context. Hannibal's crossing of the Alps constitutes the starting point for embarking on a centuries-old journey of approach to the highlands which, having become more intense in the centuries of the late Middle Ages, became essential for understanding the history of Europe starting from the sixteenth century. After a reflection on the dynamics characterizing the discovery of the Alps from an environmental, meteorological and climatic point of view implemented in the seventeenth century, the narrative investigates the redefinition of the mountain world implemented by eighteenth-century philosophes and Napoleonic and Austrian military technicians. To then continue with an analysis of the studies produced in the positivist era, with greater attention to the launch of systematic meteorological observations, the foundation of observatories along the entire Alpine arc as well as the joint action of national bodies (including the Italian Alpine Club ) and supranational for the study of the climate. A final thematic study analyzes the connection between the Great War and the Alpine environment in its predominantly climatic sense.