We would all love a quick fix to the many issues, including extreme climate events, that are emerging in the face of Arctic ice melt and global warming. As a solution, geoengineering is a hot topic. It has been grabbing headlines, and many leading institutions have been developing programmes to look specifically at its role in moderating the climate crisis.
Geoengineering can take many forms, from cloud-seeding to carbon dioxide removal to seabed curtains. But these novel approaches may be fraught with serious ethical, legal, social, geopolitical and ecological questions that remain underexplored in our search for a ‘silver bullet’ cure for our climate-related ailments.
Hence ‘Beyond Quick Fixes,’ a blog series in which Arctic Basecamp – speaking science to power - has invited leading climate scientists to give us their science-based point of view on the bigger picture surrounding geoengineering.
Beyond Quick Fixes provides a scientific perspective to current geoengineering approaches, which have been receiving increased media coverage but may not have been thoroughly evaluated and assessed.
One example of a ‘quick fix’ that has been garnering lots of media attention: the University of Cambridge’s Centre for Climate Repair and their attempt to thicken arctic ice by covering it with seawater, which subsequently freezes. A good idea?
Not according to many scientists, including Dr. Julienne Stroeve, Chief Science Officer at Arctic Basecamp who said: "It is quite insane in my opinion that this could be done at scale for the entire Arctic Ocean." (Read the blog ‘Roll the Dice to Save the Arctic’ by Dr. Stroeve and Dr. Robbie Mallett).
With ‘Beyond Quick Fixes’ we deliver evidence-based blogs providing expert perspectives on the controversial topic of geoengineering. We hope to spark urgent discussions on these interventions, revealing under-investigated, unacceptable risks and underlining the need for rapid decarbonisation as the first line of defense against climate change.
“We need multidisciplinary scientists at the table, not on the sidelines, to ensure that systemic risks are identified and adequately addressed,” says Professor Gail Whiteman, Executive Director of Arctic Basecamp.
And as Dr. Susana Hancock, Arctic Basecamp Science Manager has said, “Geoengineering is incredibly risky and distracts from the urgent need for rapid decarbonisation that we know can solve the climate crisis. At its worst, it could make any apocalyptic film look like a field day, and at best, it alters ecosystems irrevocably. We can’t argue with physics.”
The initial series contains an introduction and three blogs:
- Introduction to the Series By Dr. Susana Hancock and Professor Gail Whiteman from Arctic Basecamp
- Roll the Dice to Save the Arctic? By Dr. Robbie Mallett (Research Scientist at UiT The Arctic University of Norway) and Prof. Dr. Julienne Stroeve (Professor at the University College London; Chief Science Officer at Arctic Basecamp)
- Don't Look Up (North) By Dr. Julie Brigham-Grette (Professor at the University of Massachusetts—Amherst; and former Chair of the Polar Research Board of the US National Academy of Sciences) and Pam Pearson (Director of the International Cryosphere Climate Initiative and a former U.S. climate negotiator)
- Risk and Rewards: Setting Ethical Standards for Climate Intervention By Dr. Lisa Graumlich (Palaeoclimatologist and President of the American Geophysical Union)
For media inquiries, please contact:
Helen Clay, Communications Director, Arctic Basecamp, helen@arcticbasecamp.org
About Arctic Basecamp: Arctic Basecamp Foundation is a non-profit science communication organization. Its focus is on communicating the global climate risks from polar change. On a mission to “speak science to power”, the foundation aims to expand the global reach of its advocacy and research on how polar risks are amplifying the global climate crisis. Arctic Basecamp has a presence at many world-reaching events each year, including a flagship event since 2017 alongside the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting at Davos, at which Arctic Basecamp scientists and collaborators set up a real Arctic science tent, camp there and run impactful events on the repercussions of climate change. arcticbasecamp.org / globalclimaterisks.org
Arctic Basecamp’s ‘sister’ organisation, Climate Basecamp, speaks science to culture. Find out more about Climate Basecamp and Performing Hope, the antidote to climate anxiety. Climatebasecamp.org
