Olivier Maire / EPA

People living near the Rhone glacier in the central Alps of Switzerland have come up with a striking tactic to counter the effects of climate change. Each summer the glacier is protected by blankets to keep ice melt to a minimum, the European Pressphoto Agency reports.

Like other glaciers in the Alps, the Rhone has retreated dramatically in the past 150 years, according to research cited by the Earth Institute at Columbia University.

Each year, a tunnel is carved into the ice to enable visitors to walk inside the glacier, which is the source of the Rhone River.

Olivier Maire / EPA The entrance of the grotto of the Rhone glacier.

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Olivier Maire / EPA A general view of the Rhone Glacier.

Olivier Maire / EPA A person entering the grotto of the Rhone Glacier.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Images taken on June 26, 2013 and made available to NBC News today.