 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Germans try to slow glacier melt with giant screen
Geneva (AFP) Aug 14, 2008 German researchers trying to slow melting glaciers have set up a large screen in the Swiss Alps that they hope will trap cold air over the icy mass, Johannes Gutenberg University said Thursday. "We hope our installations will bring about a net cooling of the area. And if the melt is not stopped, that it is at least slowed," the project's leader, geography professor Hans-Joachim Fuchs, said in a statement. The structure, 15 metres long and three metres high (49 feet by 10 feet), was raised in the middle of the Rhone glacier in Switzerland's southwestern Valais region by 27 students from the German university. The purpose of the screen -- which sits at an altitude of 2,300 metres -- is to keep cold winds over the glacier. Already successfully tested in a laboratory, the experiment will be studied on site until August 21, according to the university, located in the German city of Mainz. Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Share This Article With Planet Earth
Related Links Beyond the Ice Age
Patagonian Glacier Yields Clues Of Global Climate Change
Paris, France (SPX) Aug 11, 2008A better understanding of climate variations at planetary scale is one of climate scientists' crucial concerns. Stable water isotope analysis, the chemistry of ice cores taken from the Arctic and Antarctic polar ice caps and of air bubbles trapped in them now allow a chronology to be drawn up of the climate changes that took place over the past 800 000 years. |
|
|
| The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2007 - SpaceDaily.AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement |
del.icio.us
Digg
Reddit
YahooMyWeb
Google
Facebook