The UArctic library of climate interventions to actively conserve the Earth’s cold regions

An assessment of proposed actions to slow down, halt, or reverse the effects of climate change in the polar and northern boreal regions, with the potential for positive global impacts.

Global warming is triggering irreversible changes in the Earth’s frozen regions, leading to major shifts in local ecosystems and posing serious threats worldwide.

Reducing greenhouse gas emissions must remain our primary goal. However, the urgency of the situation has led to a wide range of proposals for interventions that could reduce the probability of tipping points occurring or at least delaying their worst impacts.

While many well-founded concerns have been raised about the drawbacks and risks of such interventions, few systematic studies have been conducted to understand the proposed options and evaluate their potential environmental, social, and economic consequences.

The UArctic library of climate interventions is a regularly updated overview and assessment of actions that could slow down, halt, or even reverse the effects of climate change in the polar and northern regions. We invite you to explore the collection and follow the developments in this field.

Interventions

Glacier in Southern Greenland (1)

Ice sheets and glaciers

Ice sheet stabilization by draining water or bed freezing

One of the potentially most catastrophic effects of contemporary global warming would be the dramatic increase in sea levels as a result of the melting Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets. Even if all current emissions were immediately stopped, sea level rise could still occur because of lockedin warming (ICCI 2022).

Ice sheet stabilization by draining water or bed freezing

Sea ice covered Coast in July, Sterlegova, Taymyr, Russia

Sea ice & icebergs

Sea ice thickening

Arctic sea ice extent has rapidly decreased over the last few decades, with most multi-year ice disappearing altogether. This has already had major effects on local communities and ecosystems. The disappearance of the relatively reflective sea ice also leads to a dramatic decrease of albedo in the Arctic and subsequent high energy uptakes by the darker water during the Arctic summers.

Sea ice thickening

Antarctic icebergs

Ice sheets and glaciers

Pumping water onto ice sheets

One of the potentially most catastrophic effects of contemporary global warming would be the dramatic increase in sea levels as a result of the melting Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets. Even if all current emissions were immediately stopped, sea level rise could still occur because of locked-in warming (ICCI 2022).

Pumping water onto ice sheets

Glacier mouth, Svalbard

Ice sheets and glaciers

Increasing humidity around glaciers and ice sheets

Up to 50% of the world’s glaciers are set to disappear this century, with many more at risk if emission reduction targets are not met (Rounce et al. 2023).

Increasing humidity around glaciers and ice sheets

Icebergs in Disco Bay, Greenland

Atmosphere / solar radiation

Arctic Marine Cloud Brightening

Roughly one-third of the incoming solar radiation is directly reflected back into space by the Earth’s atmosphere and surface albedo. Clouds play an important role in this, although their role is double as water droplets can also interfere with outgoing longwave radiation, thereby contributing to the greenhouse effect. Over open water clouds can make a particularly big difference as the albedo of the water is below 0.1, thereby absorbing most of the sun’s energy.

Arctic Marine Cloud Brightening

Blue Iceberg, Rødefjord, Northeast Greenland National Park

Sea ice & icebergs

Modular iceberg creation by submersibles

Arctic sea ice extent has rapidly decreased over the last few decades, with most multi-year ice disappearing altogether. This has already had major effects on local communities and ecosystems. The disappearance of the relatively reflective sea ice also leads to a dramatic decrease of albedo in the Arctic and subsequent high energy uptakes by the darker water during the Arctic summers.

Modular iceberg creation by submersibles

Melting glacier ice, Rødefjord, Northeast Greenland National Park

Ice sheets and glaciers

Glacier insulation with fabrics

Up to 50% of the world’s glaciers are set to disappear this century, with many more at risk if emission reduction targets are not met (Rounce et al. 2023).

Glacier insulation with fabrics

Melting glacier ice, Rødefjord, Northeast Greenland National Park (1)

Ice sheets and glaciers

Ice sheet stabilization via seabed curtains

One of the potentially most catastrophic effects of contemporary global warming would be the dramatic increase in sea levels as a result of the melting Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets. Even if all current emissions were immediately stopped, sea level rise could still occur because of locked-in warming (State of the Cryosphere report 2022).

Ice sheet stabilization via seabed curtains

Glacier in Southern Greenland

Ice sheets and glaciers

Increasing glacier thickness by local artificial snow production

Up to 50% of the world’s glaciers are set to disappear this century, with many more at risk if emission reduction targets are not met (Rounce et al. 2023).

Increasing glacier thickness by local artificial snow production

Inuit hunter traveling by snow scooter on melting sea ice, Pond Inlet, Canada

Sea ice & icebergs

Sea ice albedo modification

Arctic sea ice extent has rapidly decreased over the last few decades, with most multi-year ice disappearing altogether. This has already had major effects on local communities and ecosystems. The disappearance of the relatively reflective sea ice also leads to a dramatic decrease of albedo in the Arctic and subsequent high energy uptakes by the darker water during the Arctic summers.

Sea ice albedo modification

Antarctic Peninsula 2

Ice sheets and glaciers

Stabilizing glaciers by cloud seeding

Up to 50% of the world’s glaciers are set to disappear this century, with many more at risk if emission reduction targets are not met (Rounce et al. 2023).

Stabilizing glaciers by cloud seeding

Glacier mouth, Krossfjorden, Svalbard

Ice sheets and glaciers

Glacier albedo increase

Up to 50% of the world’s glaciers are set to disappear this century, with many more at risk if emission reduction targets are not met (Rounce et al. 2023). The surface of many mountain glaciers has moreover significantly darkened due to a general increase in atmospheric black carbon and other kinds of aerosols.

Glacier albedo increase

Melting glacier ice, Alpefjord, Northeast Greenland National Park

Ice sheets and glaciers

Artificial glaciers

Up to 50% of the world’s glaciers are predicted to disappear this century, with many more at risk if emission reduction targets are not met (Rounce et al. 2023). Furthermore, the melting of mountain glaciers impacts the rates and seasonality of meltwater abundance and scarcity.

Artificial glaciers

Shelf-Iceberg, North of Antarctic Peninsula

Ice sheets and glaciers

Ice sheet stabilization via buttressing

One of the potentially most catastrophic effects of contemporary global warming would be the dramatic increase in sea levels as a result of the melting Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets. Even if all current emissions were immediately stopped, sea level rise could still occur because of lockedin warming (State of the Cryosphere report 2022).

Ice sheet stabilization via buttressing

Shelf-Ice pieces, Antarctic Peninsula

Sea ice & icebergs

Iceberg management

With rising Arctic temperatures, there have been major changes in iceberg production rates of marine terminating glaciers. These icebergs drift into warmer sea waters where they will slowly melt.

Iceberg management