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Glaciar perito moreno, Argentina
Glaciar Perito Moreno, Argentina
©Milena W, Pixabay

Science, 12 July 2024

Call to study glacial geoengineering stirs up “civil war” among polar scientists

To avoid sea level rise, some researchers want to build barriers around the world’s most vulnerable glaciers

Over the past few decades, earth scientists have grappled with the concept of solar geoengineering: cooling the rapidly warming planet by injecting particles high into the atmosphere to reflect sunlight, for example. Now, researchers are proposing a new way to battle the effects of climate change that could prove even more costly and controversial: glacial geoengineering, designed to slow sea level rise.

white paper, released on 11 July by glaciologists who conducted a series of workshops and town halls over the course of 10 months, calls for boosting research into daring plans that would protect vulnerable ice sheets by building flexible barriers around them or drilling deep into them to slow their slippage into the sea.

But these untested ideas are stirring up a backlash among glaciologists, some of whom view them not only as outlandishly expensive and logistically flawed but also as a distraction from the problem of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. “I honestly feel like this is ultimately going to be a civil war in the community,” says Jeremy Bassis, a glaciologist at the University of Michigan. “I don’t see an awful lot of room for compromise.”

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