The Broken Giant

The canton of Valais in Switzerland is home to one of the most easily accessed glacier in Europe - Rhone Glacier. Over 150 years, local family Carlen builds every summer long ice cave inside this glacier which attracts many tourist to visit this place. However, increasing implications of climate warming make the glacier to retreat around 7-9m per year. For several years, in order to protect their own business, Carlen family install partially UV-resistant fleecy blankets to reduce its melting. These efforts slow down melting by up to 70%. Nevertheless, covering of quickly melting glacier is often criticized by mountain guides and their clients who point out the danger of walking on it. Partially destroyed blankets looks quite morbid on top of that. Finally, with or without blankets, the glacier will soon fully disappear. Cannot we let it go more with dignity?