Researchers are concerned that plans to construct a massive underwater curtain to protect the Antarctic ice shelf could spark political tensions among nations.
In light of the polar regions melting at an alarming rate, scientists have proposed the idea of building a gigantic underwater curtain around the ice shelves to shield the world from rising sea levels. In a study published in the journal International Affairs, a group of international relations experts warns that this plan could lead to unprecedented complications, IFL Science reported on November 26.
Antarctica loses about 17 million tons of ice every hour. (Photo: Mozgova).
The proposed plan outlined in a January 2024 article in the journal Nature calls for constructing a 100-meter-high floating curtain anchored to the seabed, extending 80 kilometers around the most vulnerable ice shelves, such as the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. The authors of the paper admit they are not entirely sure whether the idea would be effective, but they believe it is a solution worth exploring to prevent rising sea levels in the coming decades.
In the new study, some experts argue that this massive geoengineering project could turn Antarctica into an “actor causing discord on the international stage.” Dozens of countries signed the Antarctic Treaty System in 1959, which prohibits military activity, nuclear testing, and mining in the region. Seven countries, including Argentina, Australia, Chile, France, New Zealand, Norway, and the United Kingdom, have claimed territorial sovereignty in Antarctica, but their claims are rendered null by the treaty.
According to the study’s findings, the Ice Sheet Curtain project could disrupt long-standing peace by igniting new disputes over sovereignty, responsibilities, and security. Although the Antarctic Treaty System puts territorial claims on hold, it does not resolve disputes, thereby allowing geoengineering activities to be interpreted as serving the interests of certain nations, according to Shibata Akiho, an international law researcher at Kobe University in Japan.
Kobe and colleagues examined past disagreements to see if similar situations could be managed. For example, the research team pointed out a fierce dispute over mineral extraction in Antarctica that erupted in the 1980s but was successfully resolved by the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty in 1991, which permanently prohibits mineral extraction in the area.
