Archive · 5 Sep 2026
Swiss Researchers Test Sheep Wool Sheets Against Glacier Melting
Scientists in Switzerland put blankets made from sheep wool on part of a glacier.
The blankets help reflect heat away from the ice.
They tested the wool against the synthetic covers normally used there.
The wool protected the ice about as well as the synthetic material.
Wool is useful because it can break down naturally instead of adding more plastic waste.
The experiment also gives discarded Swiss wool another use.
The test took place on the Tsanfleuron Glacier.
Scientists say the blankets can help locally, but stopping global warming requires reducing greenhouse-gas emissions.
Researchers covered about 200 square meters of Switzerland’s Tsanfleuron Glacier with two prototype sheep-wool blankets.
The wool was tested as a biodegradable alternative to synthetic sheets traditionally used to protect glacier ice.
Researchers found that the wool limited ice loss roughly as effectively as the synthetic material.
The project also aims to reuse Swiss wool, with 40% to 70% reportedly discarded each year.
Researchers stressed that wool cannot solve global warming and that reducing greenhouse-gas emissions remains essential.
- Who
- The Summit Foundation and the University of Lausanne, including student Eliot Gapio, conducted the experiment.
- What
- Researchers tested sheep-wool blankets as a biodegradable replacement for synthetic sheets used to limit glacier melting.
- When
- During the experiment, the sheets were evaluated every two weeks.
- Where
- On the Tsanfleuron Glacier in western Switzerland.
- Why
- To protect glacier ice from heat while replacing non-biodegradable synthetic material and reusing discarded Swiss wool.
Wool Offers a Sustainable Alternative
Wool Is Not a Climate Solution
Effectiveness
Wool Offers a Sustainable Alternative
Researchers found that sheep-wool sheets protected the ice and limited ice loss roughly as well as synthetic sheets.
Wool Is Not a Climate Solution
The positive result applies to the tested glacier sections and does not prevent broader glacier loss caused by global warming.
Environmental value
Wool Offers a Sustainable Alternative
Wool is biodegradable, avoids adding more non-biodegradable plastic, and gives discarded Swiss wool another use.
Wool Is Not a Climate Solution
Replacing plastic sheets does not address the main driver identified by researchers: greenhouse-gas emissions and global warming.
- Project
- Keep It Wool
- Test site
- Tsanfleuron Glacier, western Switzerland
- Wool coverage
- About 200 square meters
- Prototype blankets
- Two
- Comparison
- Sheep wool versus synthetic glacier-protection sheets
- Result
- Wool limited ice loss roughly as effectively as synthetic material
- Discarded Swiss wool
- The project states that 40% to 70% is discarded each year