Water Transportation via Icebergs Towing

Abstract

Climate change has fast-tracked the breaking of huge chunks of ice—icebergs—in the polar regions and subsequent drifting of the icebergs across the ocean. Despite being the world’s largest untapped freshwater source, icebergs continue to decay in the ocean over time in an era when freshwater shortages intensify in dry areas of the world, which desperately look for every option to augment water resources. Thus, an environmental concern—increasing iceberg calving—may just offer relief to a troubling reality—intensifying water scarcity. However, the idea of harnessing icebergs to produce freshwater is not a new one, although no one has yet towed icebergs from the Arctic and Antarctic oceans to provide freshwater to water-scarce areas. Frequent droughts and growing water scarcity in recent years have led to renewed interest in towing icebergs from polar ice caps to dry areas in Africa and Middle East. The timing is pertinent due to the increasing need for freshwater, the continued abundance of icebergs, and advancements in the science and technology to make iceberg harvesting possible despite skepticism over financial and technological challenges and the lack of legal instruments. This chapter addresses the history, technological interventions, research status, and major tradeoffs of water transportation related to icebergs’ towing, while highlighting the importance of icebergs as an unconventional water resource with massive potential to address growing water scarcity across the world.