European neighbours Italy and Switzerland have decided to rework their borders after global warming dissolved the Alpine glaciers,a leading British daily has claimed. The international border has been fixed since 1861,when Italy became a unified state. But for the past century the surface area of the glaciers has been shrinking steadily,with dramatic acceleration in the past five years. This is the area over which the national frontier passes and the two countries have now agreed to have their experts sit down together and hash out where it ought to run now,'The Independent' reported. Daniel Gutknecht,responsible for the co-ordination of national borders at Swiss Office of Topography,said "the border is moving because of the warmer climate",among other reasons. However,in Italy,the new frontier cannot be decided until Italian parliament approves a new law at the end of next month. The areas affected include famous Matterhorn mountain and the surrounding towns,popular with skiiers in winter. The frontier will have to be shifted between a few metres and a hundred metres. However,no towns or communities will be forced to change countries,because the border lies 4,000 metres above sea level,well above any human habitation,the report said.
