Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Could a £400bn plan to refreeze the Arctic before the ice melts really work?

theguardian.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

1–10 of 16 posts

Re: Could a £400bn plan to refreeze the Arctic before the ice melts really work?

#3

Post by tiku »

Or perhaps drifting platforms that stay adrift at the edge and blow water onto the ice? That way it's even possible to measure the edges.. This way it would even help to stop pieces from breaking at the edge (and thus floating away to warmer climates.)

Re: Could a £400bn plan to refreeze the Arctic before the ice melts really work?

#5

Post by nonbel »

nurettin wrote: post #4

This sounds like that futurama episode where they drop a giant ice cube into the sea whenever it gets too hot. https://www.outerplaces.com/science/item/13083-how-big-would...

These schemes are all insane. Just imagine the damage done to the environment by:

1) Tens of millions of fans floating in the ocean and blowing air on the ice.

2) Oceans being flooded with massive amounts of green algea, sucking up CO2 and producing who knows what out of it.

3) Filling the skys with sulfer aerosols to block out the sun.

There is no way CO2 can be worse than any of those.

Re: Could a £400bn plan to refreeze the Arctic before the ice melts really work?

#6

Post by dragonbonheur »

How about deploying a cluster of "umbrella" satellites to throw some shade on regions of the planet that get too hot? 15 years of having less solar illumination, not complete darkness just a penumbra, could maybe do a lot.

How big of a shadow would we need?

Edit - someone already thought about it; http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20160425-how-a-giant-space-u...

Re: Could a £400bn plan to refreeze the Arctic before the ice melts really work?

#7

Post by dpedu »

nonbel wrote: post #5
nurettin wrote: post #4

This sounds like that futurama episode where they drop a giant ice cube into the sea whenever it gets too hot. https://www.outerplaces.com/science/item/13083-how-big-would...

These schemes are all insane. Just imagine the damage done to the environment by: 1) Tens of millions of fans floating in the ocean and blowing air on the ice. 2) Oceans being flooded with massive amounts of green algea, sucking up CO2 and producing who knows what out of it. 3) Filling the skys with sulfer aerosols to block out the sun. There is no way CO2 can be worse than any of those.

What? Did you read the article? That's not even close to the plan mentioned.

Re: Could a £400bn plan to refreeze the Arctic before the ice melts really work?

#8

Post by nonbel »

dpedu wrote: post #7
nonbel wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

These schemes are all insane. Just imagine the damage done to the environment by: 1) Tens of millions of fans floating in the ocean and blowing air on the ice. 2) Oceans being flooded with massive amounts of green algea, sucking up CO2 and producing who knows what out of it. 3) Filling the skys with sulfer aerosols to block out the sun. There is no way CO2 can be worse than any of those.

What? Did you read the article? That's not even close to the plan mentioned.

Just now I did, it says the new plan is: "building 10 million wind-powered pumps over the Arctic ice cap. In winter, these would be used to pump water to the surface of the ice where it would freeze, thickening the cap."

Re: Could a £400bn plan to refreeze the Arctic before the ice melts really work?

#9

Post by JoeAltmaier »

nonbel wrote: post #8
dpedu wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What? Did you read the article? That's not even close to the plan mentioned.

Just now I did, it says the new plan is: "building 10 million wind-powered pumps over the Arctic ice cap. In winter, these would be used to pump water to the surface of the ice where it would freeze, thickening the cap."

Wouldn't that be salt water? Would it actually freeze at all?
Post reply on HN