Extraordinary plan to save the West Antarctic ice sheet

Melting Antarctic ice sheets could lead to massive rises in sea levels, threatening some of the world’s great cities such as New York which are built near the ocean. Can these cities be saved?

Some scientists at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, Germany, have come up with an extraordinary scheme – blasting the West Antarctic ice sheet with fake snow to prevent further melting. Among other things, the plan would require 12,000 wind turbines just to move the water to make the ‘snow’, with huge disruptive effects on the region’s fragile ecosystems.

It may be sound like a crazy idea, but climate change is increasingly leading to the need for drastic steps. The question is: what are we all willing to do to protect our planet and the life upon on it?