Perhaps more salient to the question is not the immense two dimensional area of the Arctic ice, but the overall length of its periphery'
Just as the Swiss are focusing on the rea of reession adjacent to the Bergschrund of the receding montagne glaciers, the focus on mitigating arctic ice loss should be where it largely happens - the shrinking periphery . On Tuesday, May 9, 2017 at 4:11:06 AM UTC-4, Stephen Salter wrote: > > Hi All > > Below are some calculations about the number of spray vessels needed to > save Arctic ice using marine cloud brightening for one month each side > midsummer. They assume that electrostatic charge and mono-disperse spray > with Kohler approved diameter will give a high nucleation efficiency. I > would be grateful for numerical data on any other assumptions. > > > Stephen > > > Emeritus Professor of Engineering Design. School of Engineering, > University of Edinburgh, Mayfield Road, Edinburgh EH9 3DW, Scotland > [email protected] <javascript:>, Tel +44 (0)131 650 5704, Cell 07795 203 > 195, WWW.homepages.ed.ac.uk/shs, YouTube Jamie Taylor Power for Change > On 09/05/2017 00:26, Andrew Lockley wrote: > > > > https://www.sciencealert.com/that-crazy-plan-to-refreeze-the-arctic-is-actually-getting-a-trial-run-in-switzerland > > > That Crazy Plan to Refreeze The Arctic Is Actually Getting a Trial Run in > Switzerland > > We're gonna need more snow machines. > BEC CREW > 2 MAY 2017 > > Back in February, > <http://www.sciencealert.com/scientists-have-announced-a-plan-to-refreeze-the-arctic-and-it-s-wild> > physicists > announced an outlandish plan to 're-freeze' the Arctic, by installing 10 > million wind-powered pumps over the ice cap to replenish the dwindling sea > ice. > > The idea was so wild, no one actually thought it would happen, but > researchers in Switzerland have just launched a trial that will see if they > can sustain an entire glacier through summer using nothing but snow > machines. > > If the team manages to successfully preserve a small, artificial glacier > at the foot of the Diavolezzafirn glacier in the south-eastern part of > Switzerland through the year's hottest months, it's hoped that they can > apply the technique to the country's natural giant - the Morteratsch > glacier <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morteratsch_Glacier>. > > One of the most massive glaciers in the eastern alps, this vast valley > glacier has been retreating fast thanks to rising temperatures, and is > currently losing 30 to 40 metres > <https://www.newscientist.com/article/2129413-plan-to-regrow-receding-swiss-glacier-by-blowing-artificial-snow/> > every > year. > > It could be that the only hope for Switzerland's Morteratsch glacier is > thousands of snow machines blasting it with artificial sleet. > > If all of this sounds a little far-fetched to you, scientists have > actually done the maths > <http://www.sciencealert.com/scientists-have-announced-a-plan-to-refreeze-the-arctic-and-it-s-wild>, > and > it is *technically* feasible to use machines to rebuild glaciers and > replenish vanishing sea ice. > > Earlier this year, > <http://www.sciencealert.com/scientists-have-announced-a-plan-to-refreeze-the-arctic-and-it-s-wild> > a > team led by Arizona State University physicist, Steven Desch, put out a > report describing how millions of wind-powered pumps could blast 1.3 metres > of water on the surface of the Arctic, adding 1 extra metre (3.2 feet) of > sea ice. > > While an extra metre doesn't sound like all that much, they calculated > that it would be like pushing time back by 17 years. > > The only problem? How mind-bogglingly vast the Arctic region actually is. > > The team calculated that covering just 10 percent of the Arctic would > involve erecting millions of pumps, which together would have to spray 7.5 > kg per of water (16.5 pounds) every second > <http://www.sciencealert.com/scientists-have-announced-a-plan-to-refreeze-the-arctic-and-it-s-wild> > to > achieve 1 extra metre in a year. > > "The area of the Arctic Ocean is about 107 km2 [3.8 million miles2]," the > report stated > <http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/2016EF000410/full>. > > "If the wind-powered pumps are to be distributed across 10 percent of that > area, this would necessitate about 10 million wind-powered pumps; if > distributed across the entire Arctic, about 100 million would be needed." > > In order to build a fleet of 100 million pumps to save the entire Arctic, > you'd need more steel than the US produces in a entire year > <http://www.sciencealert.com/scientists-have-announced-a-plan-to-refreeze-the-arctic-and-it-s-wild> > . > > All that considered, there was no way in hell the plan was ever going to > be funded, but the much smaller version proposed for Switzerland could > actually have some legs. > > Glacier expert Johannes Oerlemans of Utrecht University in the Netherlands > calculated that around 4,000 snow machines > <https://www.newscientist.com/article/2129413-plan-to-regrow-receding-swiss-glacier-by-blowing-artificial-snow/> > could > help the Morteratsch glacier not only stop retreating, but actually grow in > the coming decades. > > The basic idea is that the ice on the glacier is now being exposed to > sunlight, but if they could cover the ice in thick, artificial snow, it > could reflect the light away before it ever gets to the vulnerable ice > layers below. > > Oerlemans presented his plan at the recent annual meeting of the European > Geosciences Union > <http://meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/EGU2017/EGU2017-2103.pdf> in > Vienna, Austria. > > "Looking at previous work showing that natural snow can help glaciers > grow, he concluded that the glacier could regain up to 800 metres of length > within 20 years if it had a covering," Andy Coghlan reports for*New > Scientist.* > <https://www.newscientist.com/article/2129413-plan-to-regrow-receding-swiss-glacier-by-blowing-artificial-snow/> > > "He worked out that just a few centimetres of artificial snow blown onto a > 0.5-square-kilometre plateau high up the glacier each summer could be > enough to protect the ice beneath." > > Of course, the plan isn't as colossal as the Arctic one, but it's still > huge, and would require a lot of funding, but Oerlemans and his team are > quietly confident. > > For the past decade, the Diavolezzafirn glacier has been having artificial > snow added to it over the winter months to improve the ski season. Locals > in the area have seen as this extra snow helped the small glacier grow by > up to 8 metres in the past 10 years, and they actually raised the US$100,000 > needed > <https://qz.com/972621/to-save-its-famous-morteratsch-glacier-switzerland-is-testing-blowing-artificial-snow-to-prevent-glacier-melt/>to > > launch the trial run this summer. > > If the trial successfully maintains the test section at the Diavolezzafirn > glacier's foot through the summer months - the artificial snow usually > melts down, only to be rebuilt for the return of the ski season later in > the year - the team will need millions of euros to launch the actual > Morteratsch rescue plan. > > But the result could be revolutionary - it would be the first large-scale > attempt to do something like this anywhere in the world. > <https://www.newscientist.com/article/2129413-plan-to-regrow-receding-swiss-glacier-by-blowing-artificial-snow/> > > With a major report coming out just last week > <https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/major-report-prompts-warnings-that-the-arctic-is-unraveling1/>, > > in which more than 90 scientists urged that the Arctic is "unravelling" as > we speak, our only chance right now is to think big. > > Let's hope we can find enough snow machines > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "geoengineering" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected] <javascript:>. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected] > <javascript:>. > Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/geoengineering. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "geoengineering" group. 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