Can we/do we harvest glaciers?

[Ryan in Maine]

Most of us have probably heard of the "island" that broke off of the Petermann Glacier recently. There is speculation that it could hit the open sea before things freeze next month. This would jeopardize shipping lanes and oil platforms.

Couldn't we capitalize on all of that fresh water? I'm sure the southwest could use it (or any number of countries).

I figure we blow it the heck up, then harvest the smaller pieces. If there are still pieces too big to harvest, blow them the heck up, too. Maybe we can even get all those poor folks living in the Gulf of Mexico jobs doing it.

Seems like a waste to let it melt away into warmer waters.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petermann_Glacier

[sanglant]

tow it to somalia, just think how many pirate rafts could run aground on that!

[GigaBuist]

Before refrigeration we used to harvest ice from them.  I have no idea what it'd take to spin up a new business to start doing that again.

Probably not really worth it.

[230RN]

Trivia: Most of the Municipal water supply in Boulder, CO is "harvested" from the Arapahoe Glacier on Long's Peak --including the remains of dead elk, Clark's Nuthatches, hikers, and crashed airplanes. 

But that's not what you wanted to know.

Costs of towing chunks to be used in the arid west would be a lot, let alone getting the water back up to the land for distribution.

Although, come to think of it, it might eliminate the costs of all the water litigation that goes on in these areas.  Water lawyers and Water Courts beware!  Your rice bowl may be broken if we did that!

I like the idea of towing them to he coast of Somalia, though... sort of, in a darkly humorous way.

And sooner or later, someone will bring up the story of that ship fabricated from ice and sawdust, so I might as well right now. 

Terry, 230RN

[sumpnz]

Ice-bergs of that size break off periodically.  Other than keeping ships away there's really not much that can practically be done about them.  Eventually it'll drift out into open water, head south and melt. 

[Perd Hapley]

Ice-bergs of that size break off periodically.  Other than keeping ships away there's really not much that can practically be done about them, except to establish communism.  Eventually it'll drift out into open water, head south and melt flood New York City.  We'z all gonna dies!

Fixed that for you.

[DonTron]

Back in the 70's I read an article in Popular Science about towing icebergs from the Arctic to Southern California to provide a supply of fresh water.

According to the article it would be possible to tow them at a few knots, and even with the predicted rate of meltage, it was still feasible and cost-effective.

Of course fuel was cheaper then.

[sanglant]

so was water.

[Tallpine]

We could let the icebergs drift south and melt into tropical waters, where the sun will evaporate the water molecules into water vapor, which will then drift over the continent and form clouds, eventually releasing rain or snow onto the land.