News Section | Climate Change
Tugging icebergs to Third World can end scourge of drought, says scientist
A scientist’s plan of towing giant icebergs thousands of miles from the polar ice caps to drought-ridden hotspots in the Third World could soon become a reality.
Eco-entrepreneur Georges Mougin, 86, first came up with the proposal in the early 1970s when he was an engineering graduate, the Daily Mail reported.
He had designed an insulating skirt to wrap around an iceberg, which could then be towed to warmer climates without melting, but he was dismissed as a crank when he first floated his plan.
Mougin, who initially received backing from a Saudi prince, was told by experts that the project was too difficult and too expensive.
But new computer technology has shown that his project to tap into the “floating reservoirs” is in fact viable and affordable.
And according to a report in the Times, French software firm Dassault Systemes approached Mougin two-years-ago with a proposal to test out his theory.
And 3D computer simulations now show that a single tugboat from Newfoundland to the Canary Islands could transport a seven million ton iceberg in less than five months without the iceberg melting.
The model showed that just 38 percent of the 525ft-deep iceberg would melt during its journey, with plenty of fresh water remaining to funnel into drought-ridden areas.
A 30-million ton iceberg could provide 500,000 people with fresh water for a year.
Mougin now hopes the latest evidence will enable him to raise 2 million pounds to fund a trial run next year, towing a smaller iceberg from the Antarctic to Australia.
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