Another Swiss Glacier Being Covered Up to Prevent Melting Caused by Climate Change

Another Swiss glacier is melting so rapidly that scientists and local operators have begun covering parts of it with protective tarpaulins in an effort to slow the rate of ice loss during the warmest months of the year.

Sections of the Gurschen Glacier (Gurschengletscher), located near the summit of Mount Gemsstock in Andermatt, Switzerland, are now being blanketed with heavy-duty insulating tarps. The peak sits at roughly 9,715 feet, where rising summer temperatures and increased solar radiation have made seasonal melting increasingly severe.

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The approach is not new in Switzerland. The Rhône Glacier has been partially covered every summer since 2010 using large white geotextile blankets designed to reduce exposure to sunlight and heat. According to glaciologist David Volken, this method can reduce melting by approximately 50% to 70% in the areas that are covered.

The tarps used on Swiss glaciers are typically made from a dense fleece-like synthetic material. They work by both reflecting solar radiation and insulating the ice beneath, reducing the rate at which snow and ice absorb heat. The coverings are usually installed in spring and remain in place through to autumn, when melt rates are at their peak.

Matthias Huss, head of the Swiss Glacier Monitoring Network, has described the technique as a useful but limited intervention. The blankets, he explained, “protect the underlying snow and ice from the sunlight” while also providing thermal insulation that slows down melting.

However, Huss has also stressed the fundamental limitation of the method. Only small portions of a glacier can realistically be covered, meaning the approach can never protect an entire ice mass. While it can preserve key areas such as ski infrastructure zones, research sections, or high-value glacier surfaces, it does not stop overall glacier retreat.

“This method will never be able to save our glaciers or counteract the negative consequences of climate change,” he has noted in previous commentary.

The use of tarpaulins on glaciers highlights the growing tension between adaptation and long-term change in the Alps. As Switzerland’s glaciers continue to retreat at an accelerating pace, these interventions are increasingly seen as temporary measures rather than solutions — preserving fragments of ice in places where entire frozen landscapes once existed.