Why bring coals to Newcastle…or snow to Antarctica?
This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science.
As the earth warms due to climate change, the West Antarctic Ice Sheet is melting into the ocean. This rise in global sea level poses catastrophic threats to coastal cities world-wide. But what if we manage to reduce our carbon emissions and slow climate change?
Johannes Feldmann from Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research says: it still won’t be enough! However, Feldmann and his collaborators have a crazy idea to stabilize the ice sheet.
How? By making it snow in Antarctica, A WHOLE LOT! Think a BILLION tons more snow per year for a decade!
Computer simulations run by the team suggest this will stabilize the ice sheet. Generating that much snow will require pumping and desalinating water from the ocean. Then shooting the snow into the air with cannons.
Feldmann acknowledges that this outlandish proposal is energy-intensive. And that it will alter the untouched Antarctica landscape. But desperate times call for desperate measures!
AND cheery holiday songs! Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow…