Underground polar cities: our last defence against global warming?

Image by: Deng Cheng-hong

Whether you believe in global warming or not, the world is changing. The areas around the equator are getting hotter, so much so that scientists believe within the next 5 to 8 years equatorial countries will be practically inhabitable by humans. On the other hand, rising temperatures are expected to make usually freezing environments quite a pleasant place to live, predicting a huge migration to more northerly regions.

One journalist/blogger, Dan Bloom, believes that we can take measures to safeguard against global warming by building Polar cities. Citing the work of chemist and inventor, James Lovelock (who first suggested moving to the Poles), Polar cities would provide alternative retreats when the central and middle regions of the Earth become overheated, hostile and less habitable.

Image by: Deng Cheng-hong

Dr Lovelock said: “At six going on eight billion people, the idea of any further development is almost obscene. We’ve got to learn how to retreat from the world that we’re in. Planning a good retreat is always a good measure of generalship.”

Bloom is continuing Lovelock’s work suggesting that a number of high-density, sustainable cities could be created near the Arctic Rim, Antarctica, New Zealand, Tasmania and Patagonia. Yet to be built, Bloom thinks these housing schemes may be a drastic step humankind will need to take to ensure long-term survival.

We’re not entirely sure Polar cities are the best answer though, after all, we’re not so hot on looking after the land we're living on right now, can you imagine what state the Poles would be in after a mass exodus to them?

Sources: 1, 2

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