Saving Glacial Ice Through Localized Surface Albedo Modification

It is well known that global warming has had an outsized effect in the Arctic and Himalayas. Temperatures in the Arctic have risen 2-3 times faster than the rest of the planet, threatening glaciers in Greenland and the Himalayas. The loss of glacial ice and the higher temperatures have already had a devastating effect on the people, flora and fauna in the Arctic and Asia. Approximately 70 percent of the infrastructure in the global Arctic region is built on permafrost and much of this is at risk due to rising temperatures. Freshwater runoff from Greenlands glaciers is accelerating, and could cause a future disruption of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), which would further disrupt historic weather patterns in Europe and North America. Complete melt of Greenlands glaciers would add 7 meters to sea level rise, inundating coastal communities worldwide. Ice melt in the Himalayas (the third pole) leads to another set of humanitarian and environmental problems of absolutely critical international importance. The glaciers are retreating so rapidly that the central and eastern Himalayan glaciers could disappear by 2035. The melting is threatening the life of the 240 million people who live on the mountains and hills. These glaciers feed 10 largest rivers in Asia, and nearly 1.7 billion people depend on these rivers for drinking water, agriculture, and hydroelectric power, while 3 billion people consume the food produced in these river basins. The rapid retreat and disappearance of these glaciers would have devastating impacts on these people and could destabilize the world. This paper posits that the Arctic Ice Projects technology of Surface Albedo Modification that is proposed to preserve and regrow sea ice can also be used effectively to prevent glacial melt and stabilize Arctic infrastructure. A heat transfer analysis supports this idea. A phased approach toward proof-of-concept studies in Greenland and the Himalayas is also presented.