Mongolia to try giant block of ice to cool, water Ulan Bator

Good luck.

The Guardian reports,

Mongolia is to launch one of the world’s biggest ice-making experiments later this month in an attempt to combat the adverse affects of global warming and the urban heat island effect.

The geoengineering trial, that is being funded by the Ulan Bator government, aims to “store” freezing winter temperatures in a giant block of ice that will help to cool and water the city as it slowly melts during the summer…

The project aims to artificially create “naleds” — ultra-thick slabs of ice that occur naturally in far northern climes when rivers or springs push through cracks in the surface to seep outwards during the day and then add an extra layer of ice during the night. Unlike regular ice formation on lakes – which only gets to a metre in thickness before it insulates the water below – naleds continue expanding for as long as there is enough water pressure to penetrate the surface. Many are more than seven metres thick, which means they melt much later than regular ice.

Although article notes that both the North Koreans and Russians have had luck with naleds, neither have tried to rely on them during a hot summer.

Read The Guardian article.