Sheep wool will prevent glaciers from melting!

Switzerland's glaciers are melting rapidly due to climate change. Scientists in the country are now experimenting with a novel material to prevent this loss of ice - and that is sheep wool.

In the Alps, artificial tarpaulins or synthetic covers have long been spread over the glacier ice and snow during the summer. 

The purpose was to reduce the amount of heat absorbed by the ice by reflecting sunlight. However, since these covers are usually made of plastic, there is a risk of them spreading environmentally polluting microfibers.

An alternative to this problem is now being tested using wool covers. The project, called 'Keep It Wool', is being led by the environmental organization Summit Foundation and the University of Lausanne. The aim of the project is to test how effective sheep wool can be in slowing down the melting of the Tsanfleur glacier in western Switzerland.

Project manager Timothy Steiner said they were looking for an alternative material that was environmentally friendly and easily biodegradable. At the same time, one of the aims of the initiative was to find a use for the vast amount of unused sheep wool in Switzerland.

Every year, between 40 and 70 percent of the sheep wool produced in Switzerland is thrown away.

Last June, two experimental wool blankets made by the Swiss company Fiesol were laid out over an area of ​​about 200 square meters on the Tsanfleur glacier. Over the summer, researchers compared the effectiveness of the wool blankets with conventional geotextile covers.

The researchers said the initial results were better than expected. Measurements taken every two weeks showed that the wool blankets were just as effective at reducing the rate of glacier melt as the synthetic covers.

Fiesolan official Niklaus Sageser said he was surprised by the durability of the wool material. He initially thought the material might not be able to maintain the required durability."We weren't sure what results we would get. Now we have a result that works incredibly well," said Elliott Gaffio, a student on the research team.

However, the project's organizers have made it clear that sheep's wool blankets are in no way a solution to global warming.

Only about 0.02 percent of Switzerland's total glacier area is currently covered with such protective covers. According to scientists, the only effective way to reverse the long-term trend of glacier melting is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the largest source of which is fossil fuels.

As a result, sheep's wool blankets may help slow down the melting of glaciers locally, but there is no alternative to reducing the use of fossil fuels to address the root cause of climate change.

Source: Reuters