Researchers seeking the construction of a massive underwater structure to shield Antarctica’s melting ice sheets from ongoing erosion by seawater could be met with unexpected international challenges, new research reveals.

While scientists debate the logistics of installing a proposed gigantic undersea curtain to protect Antarctic glaciers against melt from warmer seawater they encounter, researchers at Kobe University are looking at a different problem: how the questions of international authority and related security and sovereignty issues might impact such efforts.

The Antarctic Treaty System

(…) In December 1959, the first twelve countries signed the treaty to protect their scientific operations around the Antarctic. Treaty meetings since then have managed to keep their eyes on science, avoiding discussion of territorial disputes and instead pushing for environmental regulations.(…)