Glacier insulation with fabrics

Ice sheets and glaciers

Melting glacier ice, Rødefjord, Northeast Greenland National Park

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).

One method to increase the albedo of individual glaciers already in use is to wrap them in reflective materials. Most cover projects focus on the European Alps (see, for example, Senese et al. 2020), where coverage is also used for skiing areas. However, there are also studies on the potential of non-tourism related glacier coverage in Asia (Liu et al. 2022) and Eastern Antarctica (Engel et al. 2022).

Technological Readiness Level (TRL)

High 3

Glaciers are already being covered at several sites and seems to be able to reduce some of the melt. Such glacier coverage by various forms of materials has been relatively well studied (Olefs and Lehning, 2010; Huss et al. 2021). Many studies and already existing projects use geotextiles, consisting of polyester or polypropylene fibers (Senese et al. 2020). Liu et al. (2022) find that nanofibres hold specific advantages over geotextiles, and some speculate that radiative cooling techniques could hold great promise for the future (Li et al 2022, See Passive radiative cooling).

Technological Readiness Level (TRL)

A technology with a TRL of 7-9: TRL 7 – prototype demonstrated; TRL 8 – system complete; TRL 9 – system proven

Scalability

Low 1

Due to high costs it seems likely that this measure could only serve to reduce the melting of specific glaciers. Perhaps the mass scale production of covering material could drive down costs and make it more feasible to apply large amounts of material over many more glaciers. Practically, the protection of glaciers would furthermore likely be limited to the more accessible glaciers that could also be easily maintained and restored if needed.

Scalability

Physically unable to scale; sub-linear/logarithmic efficiency of scalability

Timeliness for near-future effects

High 3

Coverage is already being used on specific glaciers.

Timeliness for near-future effects

Implemented in time to make a significant difference

Northern + Arctic potential

Low 1

Engel et al. (2022) found that 'the protection of glacier surface with non-woven geotextile covers reduced the snow and ice ablation by 40 to 69%' in Antarctica, suggesting specific glaciers in the Arctic and Northern regions might benefit from such a measure. In a study on 9 Swiss sites where the technology is used, Huss et al (2021) found that only '300,000 m3 yr−1 of ice have been saved… [i]n comparison to roughly 1 km3 yr−1 of total Swiss glacier mass loss'. This is only a reduction of 0.03%. For any meaningful reduction in glacier melt deployment would have to be done at a very large scale.

Northern + Arctic potential

No noticeable extra positive effect beyond the global average; technology is unsuited to the Arctic

Global potential

Low 1

The global effects of these covering glaciers will likely be very limited.

Global potential

Insignificant to be detected at a global scale

Cost - benefit

High 1

Huss et al. (2021) found a price of 0.6 and 7.9 CHF m−3 of saved glacier ice per year. If applied on all Swiss glaciers, they conclude this measure would cost more than 1 billion CHF per year, which, at a carbon cost of 30 CHF per ton of CO2, is more than would be needed to compensate for all the country’s CO2-emissions. This prohibitively high price tag confirms the findings of Abermann et al. (2022) that glacier stabilization techniques are far too costly for almost all of the world's glaciers.

Cost - benefit

Cost of investment comparable to cost of avoided damage

Environmental risks

Low 3

Huss et al. (2021) warn that 'Geotextiles placed on glacier ice might have a suite of negative effects for the local environment and downstream water quality' and that these effects would especially need to be researched further if larger areas were to be covered.

Environmental risks

Very limited, site-specific effects restricted to the solution deployment location only

Community impacts

Beneficial 3

Some of the sites on which this technique would be deployed might be of particular importance to local communities. For instance because of religious or financial reasons, or because it is a source of drinking water. The protection of such a glacier could therefore be important to such a community. It has to be ensured that such a coverage would not be objectionable to local communities for cultural or other reasons, and that the material used does not pose a threat to local ecosystems or human health if it degrades.

Community impacts

Significant benefits to communities

Ease of reversibility

Easy 3

Ideally, the cover would be designed so it could be removed and reused, or, if needed, destroyed.

Ease of reversibility

Easily reversible naturally

Risk of termination shock

Low 3

Risk of termination shock

Low or insignificant termination shock or damage

Legality/governance

High 3

It is already being applied on glaciers in Europe and Asia.

Legality/governance

Currently legal to deploy, with governance structures in place to facilitate it and/or financial incentives to develop it

Scientific/media attention

High 3

There have been many scientific studies on glacier insulation, and there is large commercial interest from the tourism industry. This measure has moreover received significant attention in popular media. A main reason for this is probably the touristic importance of Alpine glaciers, and the European context.

Scientific/media attention

Numerous scientific papers with substantial funding and ongoing research groups; significant media attention and "hype"; many companies exploring commercialization options

References

Abermann, J., Theurl, M., Frei, E., Hynek, B., Schöner, W., & Steininger, K. W. (2022). Too expensive to keep—bidding farewell to an iconic mountain glacier?. Regional Environmental Change, 22(2), 51. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10113-022-01912-4

Engel, Z., Láska, K., Matějka, M., & Nedělčev, O. (2022). Effect of geotextile cover on snow and ice melt on Triangular Glacier, the north-eastern Antarctic Peninsula. Czech Polar Reports, 12(2), 256-268. https://doi.org/10.5817/CPR2022-2-19

Huss, M., Schwyn, U., Bauder, A., & Farinotti, D. (2021). Quantifying the overall effect of artificial glacier melt reduction in Switzerland, 2005–2019. Cold Regions Science and Technology, 184, 103237. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.coldregions.2021.103237

Li, J., Liang, Y., Li, W., Xu, N., Zhu, B., Wu, Z., ... & Zhu, J. (2022). Protecting ice from melting under sunlight via radiative cooling. Science advances, 8(6), eabj9756. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abj9756

Liu, S., Wang, F., Xie, Y., Xu, C., Xue, Y., Yue, X., & Wang, L. (2022). Quantifying the Artificial Reduction of Glacial Ice Melt in a Mountain Glacier (Urumqi Glacier No. 1, Tien Shan, China). Remote Sensing, 14(12), 2802. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14122802

Olefs, M., & Lehning, M. (2010). Textile protection of snow and ice: Measured and simulated effects on the energy and mass balance. Cold Regions Science and Technology, 62(2-3), 126-141. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.coldregions.2010.03.011

Senese, A., Azzoni, R. S., Maragno, D., D'Agata, C., Fugazza, D., Mosconi, B., ... & Diolaiuti, G. (2020). The non-woven geotextiles as strategies for mitigating the impacts of climate change on glaciers. Cold Regions Science and Technology, 173, 103007. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.coldregions.2020.103007

Related ideas

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.

Industry

Bio-energy with carbon storage BECCS

The concentration of GHGs in the atmosphere will have to be stabilized or lowered to mitigate or even reverse current global warming. To achieve this, current GHG emissions need to be reduced. Such mitigation strategies will however take time to deploy, and some emission sources will be difficult to mitigate. Moreover, since current atmospheric levels are already having a major warming effect, negative emission or Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) measures that reduce the amount of GHGs in the atmosphere are an active topic of research.

Land-based measures

Enhancing permafrost refreezing with air pipes

Large areas of the Northern and Arctic regions consist of permafrost, almost permanently frozen soil. As global temperatures rise, these permafrost areas are thawing at an ever faster rate. This thawing leads to massive amounts of GHGs being released into the atmosphere, as carbon stored in the permafrost is converted into methane by bacteria. Because methane is a very potent GHG, the thawing of the permafrost is considered a major tipping point in the climatic system. Permafrost preservation is of the utmost importance because Arctic terrestrial regions alone hold up to 1500 Pg C (Schuur et al. 2015), and although there is large uncertainty about the total amount of emissions from permafrost (Miner et al. 2022), especially when it comes to nonlinear abrupt thawing (Turetsky et al. 2020), significant amounts of carbon release is to be expected as the Northern regions warm.

Land-based measures

Agricultural soil management

Terrestrial carbon can be stored in biomass above or below the ground, and in soils themselves. Soil organic matter can form differently, and have different amounts of plant and microbial components depending on the availability of water (Cotrufo and Lavallee, 2022). The large amounts of the Earth that have been brought under cultivation over the past 12.000 years have significantly degraded soil carbon levels, and have released some 110 billion metric tons of carbon (Sanderman et al. 2017). Soil security and health is increasingly being recognised as essential for planetary health (Kopittke et al. (2022).

Blueberries (Vaccinium myrtillus) as part of the vegetation 5 years after forest fire, Mykland, Aust Agder, Norway

Land-based measures

Rewilding

Large areas of the Northern and Arctic regions consist of permafrost, almost permanently frozen soil. As global temperatures rise, these permafrost areas are thawing at an ever faster rate. This thawing leads to massive amounts of GHGs being released into the atmosphere, either as CO2 or CH4 in generally dry or wet areas. Because methane is a very potent GHG, the thawing of the permafrost is considered a major tipping point in the climatic system. Permafrost preservation is of the utmost importance because Arctic terrestrial regions alone hold up to 1500 Pg C (Schuur et al. 2015), and although there is large uncertainty about the total amount of emissions from permafrost (Miner et al. 2022), especially when it comes to nonlinear abrupt thawing (Turetsky et al. 2020), significant amounts of carbon release is to be expected as the Northern regions warm.

River Ölfusá just North of Selfoss, South Iceland

Oceans & marine

River Liming

The pH of water is lowered when it takes up atmospheric carbon. Given that the Earth’s oceans serve as a major carbon sink, there is increasing interest in the possibility to artificially increase the alkalinity of water to restore pH to previous levels, and/or increase carbon uptake potential.

High waves at Tromøy shore, "Rollingstone" (Raet) National Park in planning, Arendal

Oceans & marine

Hydrological system modification - Ocean current modification

Hydrological systems play an important role in energy distribution in the climate system. For the Arctic and Northern region the clearest example of this is the habitability of the European Arctic thanks to the Gulf Stream. Furthermore, there are several access points to the Arctic ocean that play an important role in shaping local geophysical conditions.

Nuclear icebreaker "Taymyr" operating in sea ice North of Dickson, Taymyr, Russia

Sea ice & icebergs

Sea ice breakup in winter

Sea ice can be an effective insulator between colder winter air and the warmer ocean below, thereby reducing the potential dissipation of heat into space.