| Summary: | In this contribution the climatical data and the displacement velocities of seven rock glaciers of the Ticino Alps are presented. We observed for the period 2010-2015 a significant increase in ground surface temperatures in permafrost zones (+1.4 °C in mean) following the very warm summer and autumn 2011 and, particularly, the very hot year 2015. This warming caused an acceleration of displacement velocities for almost all the rock glaciers, with values up to 50% higher with respect of the beginning of monitoring in 2009. Year 2015 established a record concerning the ground surface temperatures, with a surface warming of the monitored rock glacier comprised between 1.7 and 2.2 °C. The permafrost temperature warming had probably a significant effect on displacement velocities of monitored rock glaciers, which presented an increase from 126 to 174%. It was possible to establish an exponential mathematical relationship between air temperature, ground surface temperatures and mean and maximum rock glacier displacement velocities. This implies that the significant speed up observed at the end of hydrological year 2014/2015 is not only related with the exceptionally warm summer 2015, but probably results from the cumulative effect of the 2011-2015 period, that was the warmest since 1864.
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