Part of the Rhone Glacier is covered with insulating fabric to prevent it from melting, near Gletsch, in the Swiss Alps. Switzerland's glaciers have shed 2.4 per cent of their volume over the past year, according to monitoring body Glamos, with sand blown in from the Sahara accelerating the summer melt. 
 AFP

Best photos of October 1: Wrapping a glacier to China's National Day