With the problem of melting glaciers, how do we solve the problem of the shortage of glacier runoff? Humans always have technology as a solution, don’t we!
In Ladakh, a region in the Himalayas, the shortage of water has caused problems for agriculture, not allowing for farmers to grow their crops. In the 1980s, a civil engineer named Chewang Norphel came up with a plan to divert glacier runoff during summer into small reservoirs near the various villages with extensive canals and channels. This allowed the glacier runoff to be stored through autumn and frozen in winter. These artificial glaciers only melt when the temperatures rise in spring, before the natural glaciers melt; This is the period when the shortage of glacier runoff is the greatest. This is because the artificial glaciers are at a lower altitude than the natural ones, at about 3900m compared to natural glaciers at an elevation of about 5400m.
Sonam Wangchuk, an Indian engineer, saw that these artificial glaciers melted too fast as they have large surface areas which absorbed more heat from the sun. To solve this problem, Wangchuk draws water from glacial water sources in higher elevations with underground pipes which direct this water to lower altitudes near villages. The water spouts from a tall pipe pointing towards the sky, which freeze before contacting the ground. These artificial cones of ice are called Ice Stupas, and some stand 18m tall, storing about 2000000 litres of water. Taking the daily water consumption of a person in Singapore to be 141 litres, that is about 39 years of water supply, or almost the entire volume of an Olympic-sized swimming pool. This video from BBC News shows the very interesting process.
However, every solution comes with its set of problems. Villages downstream of this water diversion have raised concerns that this reduces the amount of water they have for farming. Does Wangchuk or Norphel have the right to intervene with nature by diverting glacier flows? As our impact on the climate and environment grows, I feel that we must increasingly take matters in our own hands and manage our problems before it becomes too late.
Hi Clive
Really enriching post on how humans are able to continuously modify their environment to suit their needs. In your last paragraph, you mentioned that the engineers were ‘intervening with nature by diverting glacier flows’. However, it seems that the shortage of glacier runoffs did not persist in the past. I was wondering if anthropogenic activities (large scale industrial ones) in affluent countries could affect these less affluent countries more? Moreover, I feel that human modifications to nature are justifiable and understandable for the less affluent nations, as long as they do not have catastrophic drawbacks or exacerbate the current climate conditions or environment. What do you think?
Hi Wen Han,
Thanks for dropping by 🙂 Yes, the shortage of glacier runoff did not exist in the past (or at least was less prevalent to my knowledge) because the glaciers hadn’t receded. That’s true, that climate change caused by industrialisation in more affluent countries greatly affects these regions where industrialisation is not nearly as widespread. The affluent countries have solutions that can be resolved by technology and money which these less affluent countries don’t have.
I totally agree with you, as with this case where the diversion of glacier flows does not even consume energy. However, when it comes to other forms of modifications where it may impact the environment, it becomes tough to weigh the benefits and drawbacks 🙁
Clive
Hi Clive,
So… shall I take it you’re a fan of geoengineering ?
jc
Hi Dr Coleman,
I wouldn’t say that I am a fan of it… because I am aware of the complexities behind it and the numerous factors to be taken into consideration on a case-to-case basis. However, in this case where geoengineering does not seem to have much or any observable impacts on the environment, I think that it is a good way to ease the pressures of climate change.
Clive
Hi Clive!
It’s my first time hearing about an artificial glacier! Does the construction of artificial glaciers have any negative impacts on the environment? And overall, do you think the artificial glaciers have presented another set of problems that need to be solved by other solutions? Hope to hear from you soon 🙂
– Jo
Hi Jo,
I hadn’t heard of artificial glaciers until recently as well and so it really intrigued me 🙂 So far, as it does not consume energy, the only problem I can think of would be if the pipelines that redirect glacier flows to create these glaciers were too extensive, possibly eroding the land and ice. However, in this case where the glacier flows are not over-exploited, I don’t think that is a problem! I don’t think they present another set of problems, but so far the artificial glaciers help to alleviate the pressure of climate change on the human communities that are affected, but the root cause of climate change is being not tackled by the invention of artificial glaciers. That requires a far more complex and broad set of solutions, like you and I should know 🙁
Hope that helped!
Clive