Covering glaciers does not mean protecting them from melting and retreat: this is revealed by an open letter signed by eight scientific institutions and by experts from the major Italian research institutions and universities, regarding the practice that is spreading in the Alps, of covering glaciers in summer with white tarpaulins (geotextiles) to protect them from solar radiation and heat. "Telling the coverage of glaciers as a solution to the adverse effects of climate change is not only wrong, it is also an attempt at greenwashing to describe an intervention with an impact on the environment from many points of view, as sustainable and indeed even desirable", reads in the letter.
"As scholars who deal with glaciers and climate - continues the open letter - we are concerned about the ambiguous communication often accompanied by the dissemination of these projects. This narrative risks creating confusion and compromising the environmental sensitivity that has been hardly consolidated in the last few years. years". According to the researchers, "given the negative effects on the environment and prohibitive costs, covering glaciers can only make sense locally to protect the economic interests linked to the exploitation of specific glaciers. It has nothing to do with combating climate change," which indeed contributes to aggravate ".
absorption of atmospheric CO2.
Covering them with sheets means preventing these ecological processes and destroying the biological communities that find the most suitable environments for their survival on the surface of the glaciers ".
It should then be considered, the letter continues, that "from a logistical point of view it would be impossible to reach a significant number of glaciers to cover them, many of them are in fact in inaccessible and difficult to access environments, where it is not physically possible to operate with mechanical means ".
For scientists, "it would be correct to clearly state that financing glacier coverage today has nothing to do with combating climate change and safeguarding or 'enhancing' glaciers. It means protecting a local economic interest that will bring profits to businesses and companies. If this is not specified, as unfortunately happens in most cases, these interventions - it is noted in the letter - are configured as well-planned attempts of greenwashing, that is to say marketing operations aimed at building a positive image from the point of view from an environmental point of view of a practice that actually has little to do with the environment and sustainability ".
Finally, the researchers note that "glaciers are saved only by stabilizing the planet's climate" and that the most recent studies have shown that "if we are able to reduce the use of fossil fuels and contain the increase in planetary temperatures within 2 degrees compared to the pre-industrial period (Paris agreement), we will save 40% of the ice present in the Alps today ".
