Italy’s pink glacier wrapped in sheets to slow melting

Italy’s Presena glacier has been covered in large geotextile sheeting in a bid to prevent the melting of the ice.

The glacier came under the spotlight earlier this month when the snow and ice turned a shade of pink, the result of algae blooms. The darker colour of the algae means the ice absorbs more heat from the sun’s rays and melts more quickly.

The Alpine glacier has now been covered with 100,000 square metres of white geotextile sheets which aim to reflect the sunlight over the summer and thus reduce the warming and melting of the ice.