How much does it cost to save 1m3 of #glacier ice with artificial measures? It is possible, but expensive!
Check out our new study published in Cold Regions Science and Technology today (1/n) https://authors.elsevier.com/a/1cUln,3mSSjz-v
@WSL_research @VAW_glaciology

Geotextiles are white blankets widely used in the Alps to artificially mitigate glacier melt at the local scale, mostly in connection with skiing facilities. (2/n)

We have quantified how geotextile-covered surfaces evolved in Switzerland since 2005. Strong increase but still a negligible share of the entire glacier surface. We are now at about 0.2km2 of artificially protected glacier area (3/n)

The technique is highly efficient locally, reducing melt by up to 60%. Overall up to 300'000 m3 of ice have been saved in 2018 and 2019. Corresponding to only less than 0.03% of total ice loss though (4/n)

Evaluating financial investments and volumes of saved ice, we find that artificially reducing ice melt is expensive and only feasible locally. 0.5 to 8 CHF per year per m3 of saved ice. But costs strongly vary from site to site and depend on the type of installation (5/n)

Is it possible to upscale artificial melt reduction to entire glaciers or to a moutain range? No! Covering all Swiss glaciers would result in ANNUAL costs of more than 1 billion CHF, and would not even stop glacier mass loss. But result in extreme impacts on the environment (6/n)

Only reducing CO2 emissions to protect global climate is an option for saving glaciers although technical measures can be intersting for locally preserving some glacier ice. (7/7)

Thanks @realglacier for reviews