Latest Cult Idea: Walls On Seafloors To Stop Glaciers From Melting

Warmist “scientists” have an interesting proposal to stop a problem that is mostly natural, but, they forget to include one rather important detail: the cost

Build walls on seafloor to stop glaciers melting, scientists say

Building walls on the seafloor may become the next frontier of climate science, as engineers seek novel ways to hold back the sea level rises predicted to result from global warming.

By erecting barriers of rock and sand, researchers believe they could halt the slide of undersea glaciers as they disintegrate into the deep. It would be a drastic endeavour but could buy some time if climate change takes hold, according to a new paper published on Thursday in the Cryosphere journal, from the European Geosciences Union.

Though the notion may sound far-fetched, the design would be relatively straightforward. “We are imagining very simple structures, simply piles of gravel or sand on the ocean floor,” said Michael Wolovick, a researcher at the department of geosciences at Princeton University in the US who described the plans as “within the order of magnitude of plausible human achievements”.

The structures would not just be aimed at holding back the melting glaciers, but at preventing warmer water from reaching the bases of the glaciers under the sea. New research is now being undertaken by scientists showing how the effects of the warmer water around the world, as the oceans warm, may be the leading cause of underwater melting of the glaciers.

Nowhere in the article is the cost mentioned. And in the actual short paper we learn

5 Cost and feasibility

Estimating the monetary cost of a project that will not begin for a century or two is difficult. An accurate estimate would require making assumptions about technology, economy, and Antarctic logistics a century hence. While it is tempting to assume that the remoteness and harshness of Antarctica precludes a large civil engineering project, consider that the annual budget for the US military is USD 583 billion (OMB, 2017), while the logistical budget for the US Antarctic Program is only USD 270 million (NSF, 2017), a difference of over 3 orders of magnitude. If rapidly rising sea level made Antarctica a global priority, then investment in the continent could easily increase by several orders of magnitude even without accounting for future economic growth…

That goes on for a bit, but, never arrives at what the projected cost of this unicorn idea would be, as it is really pie in the sky, and, really, by the time they start thinking about doing this (not that it will ever happen) the Earth will surely be back into a Holocene cool period. But, if they can start getting our money now…..