BREAKING ISRAEL NEWS
An ambitious project to bring icebergs from Antarctica to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has been labeled ‘science fiction’ by some but the Biblically inclined see it as one possible incarnation of Isaiah’s improbably prophecy that in the end-of-days, the deserts will bloom
Buying ice from Eskimos
In an interview with Euronews’ Inspire Middle East TV show, Abdulla Alshehi, managing director of National Advisor Bureau Limited, announced that the company was ready to move forward with its plans to tow icebergs from Antarctica to the Fujairah coast in the arid UAE. The first preliminary test in which a tug boat transports a relatively small iceberg to Cape Town in South Africa or Perth in Australia for water harvesting is slated to take place later this year.
Still cheaper than desalinization
The test will cost around $60-80 million while the full project to tow an iceberg 5,500 miles to the UAE is estimated at $100-150 million. The company is still raising funds for the project. Despite the cost, Alshehi claimed to import icebergs was cost-effective.
“It will be cheaper to bring in these icebergs and utilize them for freshwater rather than utilizing the desalination water,” Alshehi was quoted as saying. “Because desalination plants require a huge amount of capital investments.”
A lot of H2O
Generally, the weight of icebergs ranges from 100,000-200,000 metric tons. An iceberg of that size can contain almost 20 billion gallons of fresh water. This would be a huge boon to the UAE which receives just four inches of precipitation annually.
In an interview with The National, Alshehi assured the public that the project was realistic.
“People before were skeptical that people would fly in the sky, now it is a reality, they were skeptical people would visit the moon. Science has advanced and knowledge has advanced tremendously,” Alshehi said. “This is not science fiction, it will be a reality. It is easier to tow an iceberg than to fly in the sky. With new projects, there will always be negative people.”
Letting the ocean do all the work
Since the majority of the iceberg is underwater, towing one, especially over such distances, seems impossible but Alshehi had a solution. He said that the bulk of the effort would be accomplished by the tugboats guiding the iceberg into serendipitous ocean currents.
“The iceberg will be huge in size and weight,” he said. “No vessel in the world could tow it; we are talking about millions of tonnes here. So we will be utilizing the ocean current to help us move these gigantic icebergs.”
Watch: UAE bringing Iceberg from Antarctica to Mid East (courtesy: screenshot)
The trips are planned for the winter months in order to benefit from the colder weather but Alshehi estimated that the iceberg would still lose one-third of its mass in transit.
Possible solutions
Though towing an iceberg is a daunting task, the problems do not end there. One solution would be to wrap the entire iceberg in non-porous material, collect the water as melts, and then pump it to land. Another option would be to mine icebergs in situ in order to transport the shavings in a large vessel or tanker, a solution Alshehi claims is cost-prohibitive.
A greener outcome
In addition to providing water, the company hopes the introduction of the icebergs will have an impact on the environment. In a press release, they claimed that melting icebergs will release freshwater into the Arabian Sea in a manner intended to “rebuild ecological balance, reduce seawater salinity caused by brine discharge from desalination plants and restore biodiversity.” The UAE currently receives much of its potable water from desalination.
A meteorological revolution
The company also claims that cold air from the iceberg parked off the coast could change the climate of the desert nations, generating year-round rainstorms.
The investors also hope the unusual feature will become a tourist attraction.
The project evokes images of deserts blooming in the manner described so vividly by the Prophet Isaiah.
The arid desert shall be glad, The wilderness shall rejoice And shall blossom like a rose.” Isaiah 35:1
I am about to do something new; Even now it shall come to pass, Suddenly you shall perceive it: I will make a road through the wilderness And rivers in the desert. Isaiah 43:19
A Torah expert weighs in
Rabbi Shaul Judelman, former director of the Ecology Beit Midrash, a religious study group focused on the environment as it is treated in classical Jewish sources, considered both the ecological and the Messianic implications of the iceberg project. His ponderings left the rabbi with more questions than answers.
“When God told Isaiah that the deserts will bloom, was he referring to deserts around the world or just in Israel?” Rabbi Judelman asked. “Is bringing an iceberg part of the prophecy? This is an engineering project. Is the prophecy something that we do or something that God does? Is it a reward or a mission? Is it so
一个雄心勃勃的将冰山从南极洲带到阿拉伯联合酋长国（阿联酋）的计划被一些人称为“科幻小说”，但圣经倾向于将其视为以赛亚不可思议的预言的一个可能的体现，即在几天的最后，沙漠将会开花。
从爱斯基摩人那里买冰
国家顾问局有限公司（National Advisor Bureau Limited）董事总经理阿卜杜拉•阿尔什希（Abdulla Alshehi）在接受欧洲新闻集团（Euronews）的《启迪中东》（Inspire Middle East）电视节目采访时宣布，该公司已准备好推进将冰山从南极洲拖至阿联酋富吉拉海岸的计划。今年晚些时候将进行第一次初步试验，一艘拖轮将一座相对较小的冰山运送到南非开普敦或澳大利亚珀斯，以收集水。
仍然比脱盐便宜
这项测试将耗资约6000-8000万美元，而将5500英里冰山拖至阿联酋的整个项目预计耗资1-1.5亿美元。该公司仍在为该项目筹集资金。尽管成本高昂，阿尔希声称进口冰山是划算的。
Alshehi说：“把这些冰山带进来用作淡水比利用海水淡化更便宜。”“因为海水淡化厂需要大量的资本投资。”
大量的水
一般来说，冰山的重量在100000-200000公吨之间。一座这样大的冰山可以容纳近200亿加仑的淡水。对阿联酋来说，这将是一个巨大的恩惠，因为阿联酋每年的降水量只有4英寸。
在接受国民采访时，阿尔希向公众保证，该项目是现实的。
“以前人们怀疑人们会在天空中飞行，现在这是现实，他们怀疑人们会访问月球。科学进步了，知识进步了。“这不是科幻小说，而是现实。拖曳冰山比在空中飞行容易。有了新项目，总会有消极的人。”
让海洋做所有的工作
由于大部分冰山都在水下，拖走一座冰山，特别是在这样的距离上，似乎是不可能的，但阿尔希有一个解决办法。他说，大部分努力将通过拖船引导冰山进入意外的洋流来完成。
“这座冰山的大小和重量都将是巨大的，”他说。“世界上没有船只可以拖它，我们在这里谈论的是数百万吨。因此，我们将利用洋流帮助我们移动这些巨大的冰山。”
观看：阿联酋将冰山从南极洲带到中东（图片来源：截图）
为了从更冷的天气中获益，这些旅程计划在冬季进行，但Alshehi估计，这座冰山在运输过程中仍然会损失三分之一的质量。
可能的解决方案
尽管拖拽冰山是一项艰巨的任务，但问题并没有就此结束。一种解决办法是用非多孔材料包裹整个冰山，在融化时收集水，然后将其泵送至陆地。另一种选择是就地开采冰山，以便用大型船只或油轮运输刨花，另一种解决方案是成本高昂。
更环保的结果
除了提供水源外，该公司还希望引入冰山会对环境产生影响。在一份新闻稿中，他们声称，融化的冰山将以“重建生态平衡、减少海水淡化厂排放的盐水造成的海水盐度和恢复生物多样性”的方式向阿拉伯海释放淡水。阿联酋目前收到了大部分脱盐后的饮用水。
气象革命
该公司还声称，停泊在海岸外的冰山上的冷空气可能会改变沙漠国家的气候，造成全年的暴雨。
投资者也希望这一不寻常的特色将成为一个旅游胜地。
这个项目唤起了以赛亚先知生动描述的沙漠盛开的景象。
干旱的沙漠必喜乐，旷野必喜乐，开花如玫瑰。”以赛亚书35:1。
我要作一件新的事，就是现在，这事必成就，你们必忽然知道。我要在旷野中修一条路，在旷野中修一条河。以赛亚书43:19
一个托拉的专家参与进来
拉比·沙乌尔·朱德尔曼，前生态系主任贝特·米德拉什，一个宗教研究小组，专注于环境，因为它是从经典的犹太资料中得到处理的，他考虑了冰山项目的生态和救世主意义。他的思考使拉比的问题比答案多。
当上帝告诉以赛亚沙漠将要开放时，他指的是世界各地的沙漠还是以色列境内的沙漠？“犹太拉比问。“这是预言中的冰山一角吗？这是一个工程项目。预言是我们做的, 还是上帝做的?