Arctic Ice Restoration – A Policy Proposal

Abstract:

Global warming has accelerated the unprecedented loss of Arctic sea-ice, land ice and snow, and thawing permafrost. This presentation focuses on global warming in the Arctic, its impacts locally and globally. The Arctic has played an essential role in regulating global climate that has resulted in the historically moderate weather that has helped foster our civilization. Now, global warming is upsetting that stability, threatening global socioeconomic, environmental, and political systems. To date, global efforts to keep greenhouse gas emissions below a level that scientists agree would avoid the worst damages from global warming, have been seriously lacking. This presentation offers both a technological and a policy solution that could delay the onset of the worst detrimental effects of global warming, giving the world time to introduce adequate policies that limit greenhouse gases emissions.

The presentation begins by briefly describing some of the dominant physical phenomena affecting Arctic climate. Next, the consequences of global warming in the Arctic and globally are described. We present estimates of the cost of the national and global damage due to warming compared with the cost of restoration techniques. Candidate technological approaches that offer the potential of delaying some of the worst effects of global warming are described. In particular, we suggest approaches requiring more research and development that could slow or potentially reverse the loss of Arctic sea ice. A criteria for considering approaches will be those that are regional, limited and easily stopped with unlikely lasting deleterious effects if unintended consequences occur. We propose that the US to establish and fund a coordinated national effort to study these and other potential technological approaches to slow Arctic warming and hence global warming. This initiative might be called, “National Artic Ice Restoration Initiative” (NAIRA). We also propose the US lead an international effort to adopt effective policies having a realistic chance of slowing the rate of global warming and buying time for human society to dramatically limit greenhouse gases emissions and avert long-term catastrophic damages from global warming.