The first time this approach was tried was in Scandinavia
A fabric sheet was used to protect part of the Helags Glacier in northern Sweden during the summer, with the result that it helped to save at least 3.5 meters of its height from melting. This innovative method was tested for the first time in a Nordic country after it had been successfully used in the Alps.
Global warming is affecting regions that were once considered frozen, at least in our popular imagination. But as we have previously reported, climate change caused Sweden’s highest point, also part of a glacier, to lose 2 meters of its height. These reports indicate that Europe’s glaciers, whether near the Arctic or closer to the Mediterranean, are equally exposed to the dangers of shrinking.
Helags Glacier is part of Sweden’s highest mountain south of the Arctic Circle
Glaciers are not only fantastic sights but they are also very useful for geologists, as their conditions indicate climate change. They are, so to speak, the proverbial canaries in the mine that are global warming.
The method was first tested in Italy, where experts have covered the Presena glacier with long strips of fabric (a total of about 120,000 square meters) since 2008. The task takes a month to complete, as it involves taking the large rolls of geotextile material and rolling them along the slopes on the most vulnerable to sunlight.
The material is such that it reflects sunlight, much like silver foil, and keeps the temperature under the lid lower than that of the air. The geotextile tarpaulins are also reportedly used in the Austrian Alps for the same purpose.
Arctic Today reported that the Swedish fabric sheet was biodegradable and the environmental research group behind the idea of โโplacing it on Helags Glacier was in talks with the producer to try to make the material thinner and less heavy.
The Swedish initiative is still at an experimental stage because the size of the canvas was only 40 square meters. However, the project was intended to provide additional environmental awareness because the researchers themselves carried the sheet and placed it without the help of machines, which minimized the carbon dioxide impact from the operation.
Source: sn.dk