Arctic Sea Ice Recovery

Home Depot-engineering

-- by Horatio Algeranon

The ice recovery is now complete

They've covered the pole with a plastic sheet,

A huge white cap to block the heat

Prevents the melting (Really neat),

Reflects the sun on summer days,

Acts as a raft, where the polar bear plays --

Lounging and soaking up solar rays

In Hudson, Baffin and other bays.

Protects the sea-ice just below it;

Stops the warming -- or, at least slows it,

Preserves the climate as we know it,

And inspires the verses of the poet.

While the above would hardly be feasible, the basic concept is nonetheless sound and has actually been employed by a Swiss ski resort in Andermatt to preserve a small part of their glacier in summer (see Plastic sheet saves Swiss glacier from meltdown).

Unfortunately, as geography professor Wilfried Haeberli of the University of Zurich has pointed out: “It may be useful very locally, but it would be totally unfeasible — economically and ecologically — to cover completely even a small glacier"  (Melting glacier gets sheet to reflect heat) ...to say nothing of the entire arctic sea-ice cap.