Critics of Wrapping Greenland : Project Earth : Discovery Channel

Critics' Voices

Many scientists see the idea of wrapping glaciers in blankets as impractical. To cover even just the ablation zones of Greenland (270,000 square kilometers) – that is, where the ice is melting – will involve approximately 100 million Sikorsky helicopter airlifts, which will cost, of course, hundreds of billions of dollars.

Unfortunately, it gets worse. The project will, of course, leave a huge carbon footprint. Manufacturing the carbon-based polypropylene blankets, then shipping them to the location and transfering them to the site will emit a huge amount of carbon dioxide. To give just one figure: the carbon cost of a Sikorsky is 1.5 tons of carbon per hour. It's hard to counter this objection, since the carbon footprint is massive.

Other scientists question the fundamental premise of the project and are skeptical that the plan could, indeed, increase the albedo (the extent to which an object diffusely reflects light from the sun) of the world. If we were attempting to do so, they say, we'd be better off placing a sheet in the desert.

Also, this method will work only on land-based ice, as sea ice has another major contributing factor to its melt – the warming ocean melts it from below. No blanket can stop sea ice from melting.

But even if not appropriate on a huge scale, this plan could be extended to other Arctic or alpine areas. For the last few years, the Austrians, Swiss and Germans have put blankets down at ski resorts during the summer months. At first, the locals hated it and thought it would deter tourists because it looked so ugly. However, it worked and stabilized an area of glacier around ski-lift pylons. When the locals witnessed this development, their reservations largely disappeared.

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Project Earth

Lab Book: Wrapping Greenland

Critics' Voices

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