{"id":47895,"date":"2026-09-04T14:31:20","date_gmt":"2026-09-04T12:31:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/prizrenpost.com\/en\/can-sheeps-wool-save-the-glaciers-swiss-scientists-put-it-to-the-test\/"},"modified":"2026-09-04T14:31:20","modified_gmt":"2026-09-04T12:31:20","slug":"can-sheeps-wool-save-the-glaciers-swiss-scientists-put-it-to-the-test","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/prizrenpost.com\/en\/can-sheeps-wool-save-the-glaciers-swiss-scientists-put-it-to-the-test\/","title":{"rendered":"Can sheep’s wool save the glaciers? Swiss scientists put it to the test"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

An unusual experiment in the Swiss Alps is testing whether sheep’s wool can slow the melting of glaciers and replace plastic sheets<\/p>\n

As Switzerland struggles to stem the melting of its glaciers, scientists are conducting an unusual experiment in the Alps to see if one of the country’s most underappreciated natural resources can help: sheep’s wool.<\/p>\n

For years, over the months of in summer, areas of ice and snow are covered with synthetic fabrics that reflect sunlight and reduce heat absorption. This is done to slow the melting of the ice, which has been significantly accelerated by global warming and is gradually disappearing the high alpine landscapes that have characterized the region for thousands of years.<\/p>\n

But these blankets are usually made of plastic and can release polluting microfibres.<\/p>\n

For this reason, the Keep It Wool project, led by the environmental organization Summit Foundation and the University of Lausanne, is testing wool as a natural alternative to slowed the melting of the Tsanfleuron glacier, in western Switzerland.<\/p>\n

This year’s record temperatures have caused the snow on the glacier to melt several weeks earlier than usual. This is expected to accelerate ice loss, which is also linked to an increased risk of rock slides, such as the one that destroyed the village of Blatten in 2025, as well as powerful floods, such as the one that hit the Himalayas last week.<\/p>\n

Project manager Timothee Steiner said the team wanted to find a biodegradable alternative to synthetic blankets, while giving wool a use. Swiss, about 40-70% of which is thrown away every year.<\/p>\n

The idea was born by four master’s students at the university, who decided to put it into practice.<\/p>\n

In June, two blankets made of wool material, produced by the Swiss company Fisolan, were placed on an area of about 200 square meters on the Tsanfleuron glacier. Throughout the summer, the researchers compared their performance with that of a traditional geotextile cover.<\/p>\n

The first results have been better than expected. Steiner said biweekly measurements showed that the wool blankets limited ice melting as well as synthetic ones.<\/p>\n

Niklaus Saegesser of Fisolan said he was surprised by the durability of the material.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought it wouldn’t be durable enough,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Even student Elliot Gaffiot admitted the team wasn’t sure what the outcome would be. <\/p>\n

“Now we have a result that we can see and even touch. It worked extremely well,” he said.<\/p>\n

However, project leaders stress that wool blankets are not a solution to global warming.<\/p>\n

Only about 0.02% of Switzerland’s glacier surface is currently covered with protective materials. Scientists emphasize that the only way that can significantly and long-term stop the loss of ice remains the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, which for the most part come from the use of fossil fuels.<\/p>\n

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Source: prizrenpost<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An unusual experiment in the Swiss Alps is testing whether sheep’s wool can slow the melting of glaciers and replace plastic sheets As Switzerland struggles to stem the melting of its glaciers, scientists are conducting an unusual experiment in the Alps to see if one of the country’s most underappreciated natural resources can help: sheep’s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":47896,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-47895","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-20"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/prizrenpost.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47895","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/prizrenpost.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/prizrenpost.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prizrenpost.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prizrenpost.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47895"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/prizrenpost.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47895\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47897,"href":"https:\/\/prizrenpost.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47895\/revisions\/47897"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prizrenpost.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47896"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/prizrenpost.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47895"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prizrenpost.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47895"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prizrenpost.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47895"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}