In Italy: Shielding a Glacier from Heat
July 10, 2021
PRESENA GLACIER, Italy, July 1 (Reuters) – Battling to save northern Italy’s Presena glacier from further shrinking, climate experts are covering it with long strips of cloth which will reflect the sun’s rays and prevent the snow beneath from melting.
They say about 70% of the snow can be saved over the summer with the protective covering which works in the same way as a silver reflective guard placed in a car window to stop overheating.
Atop the glacier and surrounded by stunning wide peaks, a team unfurls 5-metre-wide and 70-metre-long strips to cover some 120,000 square metres of the glacier. The task takes a month to complete.
The process has been carried out every year since 2008.
“Glaciers and their retreat are perhaps the most striking manifestation of ongoing global warming,” said glaciologist Christian Casarotto of Trento science museum, adding glacier mass had been falling continuously for the last 15 to 20 years.
July 11, 2021 at 6:25 am
I’m not trying to be a smart arse but this reminds me of the Italian efforts to save Venice from sea-level rise WHICH IS ALSO HAPPENING BECAUSE OF CLIMATE CHANGE
July 11, 2021 at 10:42 am
Maybe they could start trucking seawater from Venice to the bottom of this glacier in winter, pump it to the top and make snow with it with diesel generators, then use road rollers to pack it down. And they could put the snow in planes and fly over cities dropping it on Christmas, to preserve as long as possible the illusion that they’re not utterly insane as well as hypocritical.
I am trying to be a smart arse.
July 15, 2021 at 3:23 pm
Before global warming SLR was measurable, Venice was suffering from subsidence from groundwater pumping. Their delayed and over-budget* attempts to protect the city are perfect examples in support of me being the Abandonment Asshole.
_______
*There’s a pun involving “sunk costs” here, but it’s nap time for me.
July 13, 2021 at 5:22 pm
Desperate attempt to hang on to the traditions of yesteryear.
================================================
“Melting glaciers surrounding the lake are threatening its future and hurting the local economy.”
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/climate-change-shrinking-italy-lake-como-glacier-melt/