Polar Umbrellas

[anonymous]

This design study is the recent winner of the evolo magazine's skyscraper contest. Anybody ready to speculate what a decent storm does to these floating stadium sized structures designed to stop polar melting?

[Neven]

Homo Sapiens: So smart, and yet so stupid. Bigger, better, BAU.

Very nice design, visually speaking, but it will take way too much energy and resources to build and get to the Arctic. I also don't see how it's going to cover enough of the ice pack to seriously reduce ice loss. And like Arcticio implies, it's built with the Arctic from the 80's in mind, but the Arctic is changing rapidly.

[pikaia]

.....I also don't see how it's going to cover enough of the ice pack to seriously reduce ice loss. ....

That was my thought also. On top of that, the umbrella is darker than the ice, so it will actually INCREASE heat absorption from sunlight, so it would have the opposite effect to that intended!

[fishmahboi]

.....I also don't see how it's going to cover enough of the ice pack to seriously reduce ice loss. ....

That was my thought also. On top of that, the umbrella is darker than the ice, so it will actually INCREASE heat absorption from sunlight, so it would have the opposite effect to that intended!

I was thinking the exact same thing seeing as those things look a lot more like greenhouses.

[anonymous]

Well, the design is quite sophisticated and would actually use incoming radiation to produce additional ice. However, from what I read the blueprint includes a lot of buzz words suited to impress basically everybody. I especially fancy the  laboratories for "NOAA scientists" and amenities for "tourists". Unfortunately I couldn't find the rationale making this nomination first place. Includes probably most advanced thinking why geoengineering is unavoidable. I just want to have a refutation ready to use.

[Bob Wallace]

use incoming radiation to produce additional ice

When you make ice in a refrigerator you 'extract' the heat from water and expel it out the back or bottom of the refer.

Where does the heat go in this design?

[anonymous]

Maybe it is only a local ice producing effect. But, you're right, it is close to a fridge with the door open.

[ccgwebmaster]

I don't think the architects have a good grasp of thermodynamics generally...

Through its desalinization and power facilities
 ...
Salt water is used to produce a renewable source of energy through an osmotic (salinity gradient power) power facility housed within the building’s core

Unless I'm missing something, they'll generate power via osmotic pressure, after presumably using some variation of reverse osmosis to create the power generating osmotic gradient?