The website has a lot of useful information.

The website contains a wealth of helpful information. might slow down the glacier and reduce the amount of ice that melts into the ocean

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If we’re going to find our way out of this climate crisis that we’ve created, we’ll need a few radical ideas. Right now, lots of these ideas are aimed at getting our emissions down to zero to keep the Earth from getting catastrophically warmer, which would be great. But we also need to deal with the amount of climate change that’s already locked in, and to do that we also need to think big.

One consequence we’re already seeing is sea level rise as glaciers and ice sheets melt into the ocean. That’s why some scientists are exploring ways to geo-engineer glaciers on a massive scale in the hopes of slowing down the rising water. Geoengineering is the idea of intentionally manipulating the environment on massive scales, like putting giant mirrors in space to reflect some sunlight away from Earth so things can cool down a bit, or scattering little particles throughout the atmosphere to keep some light from getting through.

But many of these ideas are pretty controversial, so the whole thing is more concept than practice at least for now. It’s not like we haven’t already been manipulating the climate for centuries by pumping greenhouse gases into the air and cutting down trees, but tinkering with our one and only home planet on purpose is not something everyone can get behind.

Still, massive problems call for massive proposed solutions, and one massive problem is melting ice. Water that’s currently locked into ice in Antarctica and Greenland could lead to over 20 meters of sea level rise if it melts into the sea. That’s enough sea level rise to cover a six-story building and wash a bunch of islands and coastal cities straight off the map.

So while it comes with some risks, scientists and governments have been talking about using geoengineering to deal with melting glaciers, and one idea is to keep glacial ice cold by putting a blanket on it. That’s because in some glaciers, a lot of the melting happens right at the top where warmer air touches the ice, and when melting begins it tends to set up a vicious cycle. It creates a pool of water, and since water is darker than ice, it absorbs more sunlight getting even warmer and that makes it melt more readily. And the cycle continues.

Even after these melted pools drain away or dry up, they can leave behind dark debris that absorbs more sunlight than the surrounding ice and, once again, that darker area is more likely to warm up the ice enough that it melts. That’s why in Italy and Switzerland, people have literally covered some glaciers with blankets to reflect sunlight and keep the glaciers from getting too toasty and melting.

Unfortunately, there’s just no way we’re going to put blankets over all of Greenland and Antarctica, so scientists are thinking about other ways of blanketing ice and some have come up with a sand-like material that reflects sunlight back into space. In one study, they tested this out on a pond in Minnesota and it actually worked – ice that was treated with this special sand stayed frozen much longer than untreated ice. The sand could be spread by hand or using an agricultural seed sower, but even if we’re using sand instead of physical blankets, covering large parts of Antarctica and Greenland would still be a huge practical challenge.

So, in the meantime, some geoengineering research is looking at the other side of glaciers, the parts scraping along the ground like rivers. Many glaciers drain into the ocean so fast-moving glaciers lose ice more quickly than slower ones, and many of the fastest moving glaciers slide out to sea on a layer of liquid water. That water can come from the bottom of the glacier if the ground is warm enough to melt some ice, or if the friction from sliding heats things up. Other times, water slips under glaciers through cracks, either way it basically creates a slip inside that slides the glacier out to sea.

So, if we could just get rid of that water, it might slow down the glacier and reduce the amount of ice that melts into the ocean.