New hope for cable cars and mountain huts threatened by permafrost collapse

Thawing permafrost is transforming landscapes and presenting risks for railways, roads, cable cars and buildings. A novel scientific solution being developed in Switzerland aims to stabilise mountain infrastructure endangered by climate change. “This is a hot topic right now,” says Elizaveta Sharaborova, a PhD researcher at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL). Sharaborova is working on “SolarFrost”, a project to develop a “thermal stabilisation” system that can prevent or delay permafrost thawing by using underground cooling pipes. The goal is to protect mountain huts, ski lifts, and railway lines that are built on the shifting ground. “I’ve been talking to people in different countries – Germany and Austria as well as Switzerland – as they all have problems with infrastructure in the mountains,” she tells Swissinfo. From the Alps to the Arctic, permafrost - the frozen underground mixture of soil, rocks, ice and organic material - is warming. A study published ...