Last month, Germany spread sheets of reflective plastic foil over its largest glacier, Zugspitze, high in the Alps, south of Munich. A staggering 97,000 square feet of tarps were laid on the ski areas of the mountain, in an attempt to slow the melting of the glaciers there. Apparently, the Swiss have attempted a similar feat in Andermatt.
But, many are now saying that the “sun-screen” may be just a tiny band-aid over a gaping wound. The Swiss have said that the glaciers in their part of the Alps have lost 4% of their mass this year past alone, and predict that 20% will be gone in ten years, and as much as 70% within 30 years.
Now, it they could only figure out a way of making the tarps out of photo-voltaic cells to generate clean electricity too….