Robot-Built Underwater Walls

Another method of repair that experts have suggested is the building of underwater walls. Made from sediment excavated by robots, these barriers would prevent warm ocean water from coming into contact with a glacier’s surface. Thus, it would prevent erosion and allow the glacial mass to thicken again.

According to projections and simulations, the walls could prove effective and even help the Thwaites glacier last for four more centuries. The size of the barriers would depend on the glacier it would protect. For example, the Jakobshavn Glacier in Greenland would require something at least 328 feet high.