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A photo of ice caps in Antarctica. A new study suggests building structures in and around Antarctic ice caps to prevent them from collapsing into the water and causing a rise in sea level. The idea could prevent a major collapse for a thousand years. ( Angie Agostino | pixabay )
In a new research, two scientists proposed a crazy idea to build a wall around the Antarctic ice sheets.
Michael J. Wolovick and John C. Moore have published an article exploring geoengineering options to slow ice sheet collapse. This will allow the human race to find a way to reverse the effects of global warming.
The study was published this week in The cryosphere.
Global Floods
Global warming, which caused the rapid collapse of the ice caps in Antarctica and Greenland, has caused an alarming rise in sea level. According to NASA, since 1993 the global level of the sea has increased by 3 millimeters on average every year due to melting ice caps and mountain glaciers.
Scientists predict that several US states, especially those located near the coast, will be underwater if sea level continues to rise.
To avoid this, Wolovick and Moore proposed to build a wall under the ice caps. The study focused on the Thwaites Glacier in Antarctica, an unstable glacier the size of Florida that would greatly contribute to the rising sea levels around the world.
"Thwaites could easily trigger a leak [West Antarctic] the collapse of the icecap that would raise sea level by about 3 meters, "said Wolovick, from the geosciences department of Princeton University.
Glacier engineering
The researchers used two simulations of ice and ocean to explore two ideas: one is to build a wall underwater to block hot water and the other to build artificial columns on the seabed. They found that artificial sills or artificial fixation points could prevent ice from falling apart.
The study also claims that a smaller intervention (size of "existing civil engineering projects") would have a success rate of 30%. However, larger and more spectacular structures could be much more successful in keeping the ice caps out of the water.
The authors of the study also wrote that if the geoengineering of Thuringia Glacier works, the same idea can be adapted to smaller glaciers. The most sophisticated design, which could become the largest civil engineering project the human race has ever attempted, could prevent the collapse of the ice cap over the next 1,000 years.
This, of course, would not be the final solution to prevent sea level rise. The world still needs to find a way to dramatically reduce the amount of greenhouse gases emitted every day in the atmosphere.
"The more carbon we emit, the less likely it is that the ice sheets will survive in the long term at a level close to their current level," added Wolovick.
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