Switzerland is Covering Glaciers with Blankets in order to protect them from Melting

Unlike humans, as they stay cozy inside the blanket, the glaciers of Switzerland do the opposite. As some ski resorts and glacial tourist attractions in the Swiss Alps are covering glaciers with giant fleece blankets called geotextiles, in order to slow the melting by protecting them from the immense heat of the sun.

Gian Darms handles snow conditions for the cable car operator, told Reuters that, “The covering over the glacier acts as a natural shield to protect them.”

This strategy is being implemented at the 10,623-foot, top of Mount Titlis. The glaciers in the last few decades have lost immense ice, and if the situation remains the same, they will vanish in the coming 50 years due to the result of the climate crisis.

To delay this melting process, the employers use protective polyester fleece and spend five to six weeks every summer to cover the glacier entirely. By doing so, the sun’s energy radiates back into the atmosphere preventing the melting and glacier fell before winters.

When this coating is removed the cracks in the glacier are filled by the snow accumulated around. The resort people have covered almost 100,000 square meters approximately 1,076,391 square feet till now.

Darms told Reuters that, “More and more glaciers are being covered since the last few years, and this year alone, we have covered 30,000 square meters.”

This situation is the outcome of the climate crisis that is harming ice mountains and polar ice. The 2019 study found that the European Alps are going to lose two-thirds of their glacier till 2100, that too if we reduce the greenhouse gas emission. But if no action is taken, we will lose 90% of our glaciers.

And as the study leader Matthias Huss says, “The only way to effectively limit the global retreat of glaciers is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and thus the warming of the atmosphere.”