01. Climate change moves borders

High in the Pennine Alps, more than 3,000m above sea level, climate change has been quietly redrawing the Swiss-Italian border. Below the jagged peak of the Matterhorn, a strip of land on the Furgghorn saddle that was once located in Italy is now in Switzerland. A ski lift perched on the top of this ridge has swapped countries.

The reason for the change is the moving watershed, along which parts of the national border are defined. As the warming climate causes glaciers to melt, local watersheds may shift — and with them the border. In the case of the Furgghorn saddle, water that previously flowed south-west towards Italy now streams north-east to Switzerland.

Melting glaciers aren’t the only natural force capable of shifting borders; landslides or the remeandering of a river can do so too. About two-thirds of Switzerland’s 1,935km border is defined by natural features such as lakes, rivers or watersheds, according to the Swiss national office for topography. As these features change over time, so again may the national border.