Underwater curtains can save the 'Doomsday glacier'. But there is a massive price tag attached

Geoengineers are trying to configure innovative technologies to slow down glacier melting and prevent the "doomsday glacier" and others from collapsing. One such idea requires a whopping $50 billion. 

Thwaites Glacier, often called the "doomsday glacier", blocks warming sea waters from reaching other glaciers. But it is now on the move and its collapse would prompt the sea level to rise by 10 more feet.

Already, the melting glacier contributes four per cent to the global sea rise level. Since the year 2000, it has lost over 1,000 billion tonnes of ice. 

Thus, geoengineers have been working to find solutions to this massive problem which can someday lead to catastrophe, flooding several cities across the world. The latest one is underwater curtains.

John Moore, a glaciologist and geoengineer researcher at the University of Lapland, wants to install massive 62-mile-long underwater curtains to prevent the warm seawater from reaching the glaciers. However, he requires a whopping $50 billion to make it happen. 

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These underwater curtains would stop the flow of warm currents to the Thwaites to prevent the melting. They will also provide the ice shelf time to rebuild. However, all this is right now just in theory. 

Moore and his team, currently testing prototypes, are figuring out a way to install the curtains on the Amundsen seafloor to stall the melting. 

The underwater curtains idea is not new. Moore proposed a similar solution back in 2018. Instead of curtains, he suggested building a massive wall. However, he switched to curtains, as it was a safer option. 

Moore explained that the underwater curtains are as effective in blocking the warm water from melting the glacier. They are easier to remove if necessary. "Any intervention should be something that you can revert if you have second thoughts," he said.

Researchers at the University of Cambridge are testing a three-foot-long version of this technology inside small tanks. Once they prove the functionality of this innovation, they'll head to River Cam to test it. Moore said they' either install them at the river bottom or will pull them behind a boat. If everything goes well, they will try a set of 33-foot-long underwater curtains in a Norwegian fjord in about two years. 

(With inputs from agencies)