According to a study released on 17th of July, the governments could launch a last-ditch engineering project to blanket the surface of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet with artificial snow, so it will be stopped from submerging coastal cities and sliding into the ocean. Over centuries the global sea level could rise by three meters, according to scientists. This event could be triggered by the giant ice sheet melting due to global warming.
The sheet could be weighed down and stopped from collapsing any further, according to the authors of the study. Twelve thousand wind turbines could be used to pump seawater 1,500 meters up to the surface that would eventually turn into snow.
According to a professor at Germany’s Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, Anders Levermann, the ice sheet has already started disintegrating and needs to be stopped.
Artificial Snow Might Save Antarctica From Global Warming
Anders Levermann is the co-author of the study published in Science Advances, and he told Reuters that if we do not do anything, the consequenced will be severe. Thanks to a small interference now that would eventually be bigger and bigger, the giant sheet of ice could be brought to a stable point.
Global warming affects the whole planet, and that is proved by the intensification of floods, wildfires, droughts, and storms all around the world. Because these need to be stopped, scientists began searching for solutions.
According to Levermann, the 2015 Paris Agreement’s temperature goals need to be reached, the priority being to deliver the rapid cuts in carbon emissions required. Even though there will be centuries until the West Antarctic Ice Sheet might start affecting us, Levermann wanted to bring awareness as people are still unconscious about the consequences of their actions.
