Five of the most-publicised polar geoengineering ideas are highly unlikely to help the polar regions, according to a new study involving our geographers.
The assessment said the proposals could harm ecosystems, international relations, and reduce our chances of reaching net zero by 2050.
Geoengineering has been proposed to delay or address the impacts of climate breakdown in these polar regions.
Geoengineering proposals
Professors Mike Bentley and Chris Stokes, in our Department of Geography, were part of an international team who looked at the most developed geoengineering proposals currently being considered for Antarctica and the Arctic.
These proposals are:
- Using aerosols to reflect sunlight and reduce warming.
- Underwater curtains to stop warmer, deep ocean water from reaching and melting ice.
- Artificially thickening ice by pumping sea water onto it or scattering glass microbeads to increase sea ice reflectivity.
- Pumping subglacial water from underneath glaciers to slow ice sheet flow and reduce ice loss.
- Adding nutrients such as iron to polar oceans to stimulate blooms of phytoplankton-microscopic creatures that draw carbon into the deep ocean when they die.
The research finds that the proposals could cost billions in set-up and maintenance, while diluting the focus on policymakers and carbon-intensive industries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The proposals were also likely to introduce additional ecological, environmental, legal, and political problems.
According to the assessment, none of the geoengineering ideas currently benefit from robust real-world testing, while the scale of polar geoengineering needed would require a human presence in the polar regions unlike anything ever considered.
Environmental damage
The researchers say the proposals would bring environmental damage, including ozone depletion, disruption to the habitats, feeding grounds and migration routes of whales, seals and seabirds or triggering shifts in natural ocean chemical cycles.
It is estimated that each proposal will cost at least £7.4 billion ($10 billion) to set up and maintain, with sea curtains projected to cost a minimum of £60 billion ($80 billion) over 10 years for an 80km structure.
All proposals would require extensive political negotiation and the creation of new governance structures and infrastructure.
Even if the proposals offered some benefit, there may be serious unintended consequences and none can be deployed on a sufficient scale, or fast enough, to tackle the climate crisis within the limited time available.
Read the full research paper in the journal Frontiers in Science. The research was led by the University of Exeter.
Our Department of Geography is ranked 11th in the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2025. Visit our Geography webpages
Banner image: The terminus of Vanderford Glacier, Wilkes Land, East Antarctica (photograph: Richard Jones)
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