Why can’t we break up icebergs, transport them to land, and let them melt and use the water for something else?

Question

Seems like it could be a solution to them melting and raising the sea levels. I know it wouldn’t be simple but could we chip away at them over time?

In: 0

Answer 1

yes, if you pluck an iceberg out of the ocean it would technically lower sea level. but…

Considering the water cycle there isn’t really anywhere for it to go so that it doesn’t just end up in the ocean again. maybe hypothetically you could transport it inland antarctic or something where it is locked up as ice for a long time, but that’s so difficult you can call it impossible. With current technology there is no way to move an iceberg somewhere without contributing to greenhouse gasses, making the real core of the problem worse. I do not know how much energy would be needed to move a big iceberg to inland antarctic, it’s hard to calculate how much energy would be needed to do something that is effectively impossible at the moment.

Consider that sea level is rising .13 inches per year. that’s the equivalent of 15,700 big icebergs. With what humans know now, with our current technology and infrastructure, we couldn’t do it even once, and we would have to do that hundreds of times every day to make a difference.

here’s what i asked chatGPT:

question: how many icebergs would need to be removed from the ocean in a year to lower sea level by the amount sea level would rise in that year?

answer:
“According to the National Geographic, average sea levels have swelled over 8 inches (about 23 cm) since 1880, with about three of those inches gained in the last 25 years. Every year, the sea rises another .13 inches (3.2 mm.) Research published in February 2022 shows that sea level rise is accelerating and projected to rise by a foot by 2050. That translates into as much sea level rise in the next 30 years as occurred over the last century, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The ocean has an area of about 361 million km². To decrease the sea level by 0.13 inches (3.302 mm), you would have to remove approximately 1.19 x 10¹² m³ of water from the ocean. A good-sized iceberg might measure 3,000 x 1,500 x 600 feet and contain somewhere around 20 billion gallons of fresh water. That’s equivalent to about 75.7 million m³ of water. So, to decrease the sea level by 0.13 inches, you would need to remove approximately 15,700 large icebergs from the ocean every year.”