Encouraging life to bloom in the middle of a desert is no easy task. 

 

在沙漠中生活绝非易事。

 

But one company in the United Arab Emirates has come up with a bizarre plan to provide drinking water for the state's citizens. 

 

The firm intends to haul icebergs² from Antarctica to the gulf³ coast in order to harvest its billions of gallons of fresh water. 

 

The National Advisor⁴ Bureau, headquartered in Masdar City, Abu-Dhabi, plans to source the massive blocks of ice from Heard Island, around 600 miles (1000 kilometres) off the coast of mainland Antarctica. 

 

It will then transport them around 5,500 miles (8,800 km) to Fujairah, one of the seven emirates which make up the UAE. 

 

One iceberg¹ could provide enough for one million people over five years, according to the company. 

 

And the scheme could begin as early as the start of 2018. 

 

The firm's director says they have already travelled the transportation route and used simulators to check the feasibility of the scheme, according to reports in Gulf News.

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