Climate change might not be a reality for US President Donald Trump. But for the residents of Switzerland, it is a big truth and one that affects them immediately.
Global warming has had a hazardous impact on the glaciers of Switzerland and the locals have been resorting to a strange, but apparently effective way to protect their all important Rhone Glacier.
As summer starts, the residents of the area head to the glacier with white blankets and cover the ice.
But don't blankets keep us warm? The white blankets, in case of the glaciers, reflect the sun rays and protect the ice from melting.
The residents have been using blankets to protect the glacier for the last eight years, according to a Quartz report. The covering reduces melting by 70 per cent, says Swiss glaciologist David Volken.
The Rhone Glacier, a popular tourist spot, has been reduced by 39.93 metres in the last 10 years. Volken said the glacier loses between 10 and 12 centimetres (up to eight inches) of ice thickness on a hot day.
Though a non-conventional idea, this method is being used in Italy and Germany, too. Scientists are also looking at other ways to protect glaciers and to slow down, if not arrest, the melting. Covering the glaciers with artificial snow is also being considered. This method also will reflect the sun rays rather than absorbing it. Other ideas in consideration include pumping sea water over the Arctic sea ice in winter to prompt thicker ice formation.
But all these ideas work only when significant changes are made to curb actions which contribute to global warming and climate change. Human activity in the past few hundred years raised the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere by 40 per cent. Carbon dioxide is a heat trapping gas and is one of the biggest reasons for global warming.