10/05/2005 – The rapid
retreat of the Gurschen Glacier in central
Switzerland has forced a ski resort to wrap
its shrinking ice cap under a giant fleece
in an effort to reduce the summer melt.
As temperatures continue to rise in Alpine
regions as a result of global warming, officials
in the Gemsstock resort say that they have
been forced to protect their natural assets
with the insulating fleece.
Urs Elmiger, a board member of the Andermatt
Gotthard Sportbahnen (AGS), the company
that runs the cable car up to the glacier
and is also paying for the ice-blanket,
explained that in the last 15 years around
20m of the glacier has been lost through
increased temperatures.
“The shrinking of the glacier has meant
we have had to build a ramp to get our guests
from the top cable car station to the start
of the ski slopes,” said Elmiger. “We hope
that the insulating fleece will reduce the
glacier melt saving us money in rebuilding
the ramp each season.”
Tourism is the major business in Andermatt,
with local hotels registering 80,000 overnight
stays, and a total of a quarter of a million
visitors passing through each year.
“In winter this area is well known for
the really challenging ski runs we offer
visitors, and the glacier gives our visitors
an extended ski season,” said Ester Imhasly,
director of Andermatt Tourism.
“This in turn is important for businesses
as they have grown to rely upon a longer
winter tourist trade here than you’ll find
in other resorts.”
In front of the assembled collection of
the world’s media a 3–4,000 square metre
area was slowly and carefully covered by
the white coloured blanket. Barely half
a centimetre thick, the fleece eventually
covered the stretch of glacier that runs
from the cable car station to the start
of the ski runs.
The "blanket" will be removed
in the autumn when scientists at the Swiss
Federal Institute of Technology look at
how successful the experiment has been in
slowing the glacier’s retreat.
“The fleece is designed to protect the
ice from ultraviolet rays," said Frank
Gross, chief executive of the Swiss company
Landolt that manufactures the material.
"It’s a non-woven fabric that provides
shade, protecting the ice from the rays
of the sun, maybe not completely but the
ice mass should remain pretty much in tact
over the summer months.”
Frank Gross expects the summer melt to
be reduced by around 75 per cent with the
polyester/polypropylene fleece in place.
However, environmental groups, including
WWF, say that the covering of the Gurschen
glacier can be viewed as a short-term solution
to a local problem, but it fails to deal
with the longer term impacts of climate
change.
“We need to get to the cause of what’s
happening to the glacier and that cause
is global warming,” said Martin Hiller,
spokesperson for climate change at WWF.
“To stop this we have to cut the emissions
that cause global warming, we need to cut
down on harmful pollutants, such as carbon
dioxide.”
Glaciers throughout the Alps are losing
one percent of their mass every year and,
even supposing no acceleration in that rate,
will have all but disappeared by the end
of the century.
“We must increase the pressure on governments
and business to force the power sector,
which is the biggest producer of these emissions,
to make a shift towards renewable energies
before our glaciers disappear,” Hiller added.
Many in Andermatt are aware that covering
the glacier can only be a stop-gap measure
and that longer term measures have to be
taken to deal with the impact of climate
change.
“We have to take more care of our mountains
and seas, this isn’t just a problem here
in Andermatt or simply a problem for the
tourism sector it’s for everyone here in
Europe,” warned Adrian Brunner, a local
resident.
“If people want to have the Alps as a natural
resource we have to think about the solutions
to climate change."
