Regional Geoengineering Using Tiny Glass Bubbles Would Accelerate the Loss of Arctic Sea Ice
Abstract Arctic sea ice might be preserved if its albedo could be increased. To this end, it has been proposed to spread hollow glass microspheres (HGMs) over the ice. We assess the radiative forcing that would result, by considering the areal coverages and spectral albedos of eight representative s...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:2659a8860c5340cabe9bb86f3d473bf5 2023-05-15T13:10:31+02:00 Regional Geoengineering Using Tiny Glass Bubbles Would Accelerate the Loss of Arctic Sea Ice Melinda A. Webster Stephen G. Warren 2022-10-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1029/2022EF002815 https://doaj.org/article/2659a8860c5340cabe9bb86f3d473bf5 EN eng Wiley https://doi.org/10.1029/2022EF002815 https://doaj.org/toc/2328-4277 2328-4277 doi:10.1029/2022EF002815 https://doaj.org/article/2659a8860c5340cabe9bb86f3d473bf5 Earth's Future, Vol 10, Iss 10, Pp n/a-n/a (2022) Arctic Ocean sea ice geoengineering radiative forcing Albedo Environmental sciences GE1-350 Ecology QH540-549.5 article 2022 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1029/2022EF002815 2022-12-30T20:55:45Z Abstract Arctic sea ice might be preserved if its albedo could be increased. To this end, it has been proposed to spread hollow glass microspheres (HGMs) over the ice. We assess the radiative forcing that would result, by considering the areal coverages and spectral albedos of eight representative surface types, as well as the incident solar radiation, cloud properties, and spectral radiative properties of HGMs. HGMs can raise the albedo of new ice, but new ice occurs in autumn and winter when there is little sunlight. In spring the ice is covered by high‐albedo, thick snow. In summer the sunlight is intense, and the snow melts, so a substantial area is covered by dark ponds of meltwater, which could be an attractive target for attempted brightening. However, prior studies show that wind blows HGMs to the pond edges. A thin layer of HGMs has about 10% absorptance for solar radiation, so HGMs would darken any surfaces with albedo >0.61, such as snow‐covered ice. The net result is the opposite of what was intended: spreading HGMs would warm the Arctic climate and speed sea‐ice loss. If non‐absorbing HGMs could be manufactured, and if they could be transported and distributed without contamination by dark substances, they could cool the climate. The maximum benefit would be achieved by distribution during the month of May, resulting in an annual average radiative forcing for the Arctic Ocean of −3 Wm−2 if 360 megatons of HGMs were spread onto the ice annually. Article in Journal/Newspaper albedo Arctic Arctic Ocean Sea ice Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Arctic Ocean Earth's Future 10 10 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Arctic Ocean sea ice geoengineering radiative forcing Albedo Environmental sciences GE1-350 Ecology QH540-549.5 |
spellingShingle |
Arctic Ocean sea ice geoengineering radiative forcing Albedo Environmental sciences GE1-350 Ecology QH540-549.5 Melinda A. Webster Stephen G. Warren Regional Geoengineering Using Tiny Glass Bubbles Would Accelerate the Loss of Arctic Sea Ice |
topic_facet |
Arctic Ocean sea ice geoengineering radiative forcing Albedo Environmental sciences GE1-350 Ecology QH540-549.5 |
description |
Abstract Arctic sea ice might be preserved if its albedo could be increased. To this end, it has been proposed to spread hollow glass microspheres (HGMs) over the ice. We assess the radiative forcing that would result, by considering the areal coverages and spectral albedos of eight representative surface types, as well as the incident solar radiation, cloud properties, and spectral radiative properties of HGMs. HGMs can raise the albedo of new ice, but new ice occurs in autumn and winter when there is little sunlight. In spring the ice is covered by high‐albedo, thick snow. In summer the sunlight is intense, and the snow melts, so a substantial area is covered by dark ponds of meltwater, which could be an attractive target for attempted brightening. However, prior studies show that wind blows HGMs to the pond edges. A thin layer of HGMs has about 10% absorptance for solar radiation, so HGMs would darken any surfaces with albedo >0.61, such as snow‐covered ice. The net result is the opposite of what was intended: spreading HGMs would warm the Arctic climate and speed sea‐ice loss. If non‐absorbing HGMs could be manufactured, and if they could be transported and distributed without contamination by dark substances, they could cool the climate. The maximum benefit would be achieved by distribution during the month of May, resulting in an annual average radiative forcing for the Arctic Ocean of −3 Wm−2 if 360 megatons of HGMs were spread onto the ice annually. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Melinda A. Webster Stephen G. Warren |
author_facet |
Melinda A. Webster Stephen G. Warren |
author_sort |
Melinda A. Webster |
title |
Regional Geoengineering Using Tiny Glass Bubbles Would Accelerate the Loss of Arctic Sea Ice |
title_short |
Regional Geoengineering Using Tiny Glass Bubbles Would Accelerate the Loss of Arctic Sea Ice |
title_full |
Regional Geoengineering Using Tiny Glass Bubbles Would Accelerate the Loss of Arctic Sea Ice |
title_fullStr |
Regional Geoengineering Using Tiny Glass Bubbles Would Accelerate the Loss of Arctic Sea Ice |
title_full_unstemmed |
Regional Geoengineering Using Tiny Glass Bubbles Would Accelerate the Loss of Arctic Sea Ice |
title_sort |
regional geoengineering using tiny glass bubbles would accelerate the loss of arctic sea ice |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1029/2022EF002815 https://doaj.org/article/2659a8860c5340cabe9bb86f3d473bf5 |
geographic |
Arctic Arctic Ocean |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Arctic Ocean |
genre |
albedo Arctic Arctic Ocean Sea ice |
genre_facet |
albedo Arctic Arctic Ocean Sea ice |
op_source |
Earth's Future, Vol 10, Iss 10, Pp n/a-n/a (2022) |
op_relation |
https://doi.org/10.1029/2022EF002815 https://doaj.org/toc/2328-4277 2328-4277 doi:10.1029/2022EF002815 https://doaj.org/article/2659a8860c5340cabe9bb86f3d473bf5 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1029/2022EF002815 |
container_title |
Earth's Future |
container_volume |
10 |
container_issue |
10 |
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1766232554773413888 |