Studies: Two-thirds of the ice volume in the Alps area has vanished since 1850

From afar, the Rhone Glacier looks pristine, but on closer inspection the surface is covered with white blankets to slow the melting of the rapidly retreating ice.

The dusty, white fleece covers stretch out over a huge area near the glacier's edge, some in rumpled piles alongside sand, rocks, a few wooden planks and a ladder on its side.