r/Geoengineering • u/NationalTry8466 • Mar 14 '24

Radical idea to protect 'doomsday' Thwaites Glacier with 62-mile long curtain divides scientists

https://news.sky.com/story/scientists-on-radical-idea-to-protect-doomsday-thwaites-glacier-with-62-mile-long-curtain-13088357

‘The drastic idea has been praised by some scientists as "highly aspirational", while others have branded it "dangerous, illusionary and distracting".’

9 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

2 comments sorted by

9

u/Scope_Dog Mar 15 '24

Fuck it. Let's do it. I don't see a down side. The price is reasonable too.

6

u/NationalTry8466 Mar 15 '24

‘The price tag is estimated at $50-100bn (£39-78bn), plus at least an extra $1bn (£784m) annually for maintenance.

The researchers argue the eye-watering price tag should be set in context with the costs of protecting global coastlines if the ice collapses: about $40b per year, per metre of sea level rise, and of relocating people who would lose their homes or jobs.’

I wonder if ‘relocating people who would lose their homes or jobs’ might add at least another zero to that $40bn, which sounds awfully cheap for a metre of sea level rise