Scientists Have Announced a Plan Worth $500 Billion to ‘Refreeze’ the Arctic

By: | March 5th, 2017

We all are aware that climate change is resulting in melting of the Arctic ice. The fact is that the Arctic ice cap is melting at record-breaking speeds, and it can have catastrophic consequences around the globe.

However, Steven Desch and his team from Arizona State University have come up with an innovative idea to save our polar regions. Scientists are planning to ‘refreeze’ the Arctic by building 10 million wind-powered pumps over the Arctic ice cap. These pumps would be turned on during the winter months, spraying sea water over the surface of the ice where it would freeze and replenish the ice.

Desch said, “Thicker ice would mean longer-lasting ice. In turn, that would mean the danger of all sea ice disappearing from the Arctic in summer would be reduced significantly.”

This project could help to maintain our planet’s future, but the price would be about $500 billion, which is clearly a huge investment.

As per Desch, the 2015 Paris Agreement will not be enough to prevent the region’s sea ice from disappearing.

The condition is critical and is much more terrible than was expected before. The refreezing proposal from Desch and his team sounds very promising, but it is only theoretical at this time. They are trying to build a prototype.

Desch said, “It’s ambitious and a little bit crazy in scope, but all of the options on the table are a little bit crazy, The current state of things is nothing. That’s crazy.”

Nidhi Goyal

Nidhi is a gold medalist Post Graduate in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences.

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