[ti:Swiss Ski Area Uses Blankets to Prevent Ice Melt]
[by:www.21voa.com]
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[00:00.04]One of Switzerland's most popular ski areas
[00:05.04]has been covering mountain areas with cloth material
[00:10.28]in an effort to reduce ice melt over the summer.
[00:15.68]Workers have placed large blankets of material
[00:20.92]around Mount Titlis, a ski area
[00:24.84]near the Swiss mountain town of Engelberg.
[00:29.16]The area contains a glacier
[00:32.84]that has been losing large amounts of ice
[00:36.72]over the past 20 years.
[00:39.56]The protective cloth, made of polyester material,
[00:45.00]is designed to block the sun.
[00:48.40]Putting the blankets over the glacier provides
[00:52.60]"a natural protective shield,"
[00:55.52]Gian Darms explained to Reuters.
[00:59.92]He oversees snow conditions
[01:03.88]and mountain security in the area.
[01:07.84]Decreasing snow cover resulting from higher temperatures
[01:13.80]presents a serious threat to ski areas across Europe.
[01:20.48]Having a glacier can provide some protection from climate change.
[01:26.96]It can help keep large snow supplies on the mountain year-round.
[01:32.92]This snow can later be moved to fill in areas where it is needed.
[01:39.88]But the Swiss government has predicted
[01:44.08]that 90 percent of the country's remaining 1,500 glaciers
[01:51.24]will disappear by the end of the century if nothing is done
[01:56.56]to cut man-made pollution emissions.
[02:00.52]Darms said he has had to continually
[02:05.08]increase the size of the blankets
[02:08.24]over the glacier in recent years to save what is left.
[02:14.08]A small group of employees works over five-to-six weeks
[02:19.92]to cover parts of the glacier.
[02:22.96]At the end of the summer, the workers spend weeks removing the covers.
[02:29.28]Currently, the reflective material covers about 100,000 square meters,
[02:37.20]which is about the size of 14 football fields.
[02:42.48]The blankets help radiate the sun's energy back into the atmosphere.
[02:49.44]Collected snow is used to fill openings in the glacier
[02:54.80]that could open up along the area's ski runs.
[02:59.52]The snow also helps support lift structures that are fixed into the ice.
[03:07.56]I'm Bryan Lynn. 更多听力请访问21VOA.COM