Ледяные шапки тают? So let’s freeze them again. An idea that few could formulate and even more support, attracting the attention of the international community. Among them is the totem of environmental science, a specialist in solar geoengineering. “K” spoke to Sir David King, head of a project that aims to save the planet.

Over the past 25 years, the Arctic Circle has warmed four times as much as the rest of the planet. Today it is three degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, while the global average is 1.3 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. This number allows scientists to assume that the so-called tipping points in the region are likely to be activated now. In practice, the ice that has covered the Arctic Sea for many hundreds of thousands of years is now melting at such a rate that about half of the Arctic Ocean is exposed to sunlight during the polar summer months. “The blue sea absorbs sunlight, which the white ice reflects back into space. As a result, the region is heating up very quickly,” explains Sir King.

Fetting, in turn, leads to the essence of the problem – the melting of ice. A typical example, Greenland. This is the largest island on earth, more than Mexico. On the surface of this arctic island there is a layer of ice up to 3 kilometers thick. When all this ice melts, global sea levels will rise by about 8 meters. This event will drastically change the map of the world as we know it today, as most major coastal cities become uninhabitable. In fact, just 2 meters of sea level rise is enough to cause dramatic changes, and this event is expected to be confirmed as a fact by the end of the century.

“Even by the middle of the century, that is, in less than 30 years, we will have a problem in areas that are now close to sea level. By 2050, Vietnam will be 90% under sea water at least once a year,” Sir King emphasizes in an interview with K, before moving on to the second dimension of the crisis. The land around the Arctic Sea is covered in permafrost, which contains large amounts of methane, a particularly harmful greenhouse gas. The melting of the ice in this region, which scientists believe is very likely in the coming years, will lead to the release of huge amounts of methane into the atmosphere. If the ice melts in 20 years, we will see global temperatures rise by 5-8 degrees Celsius. These are just some of the reasons that lead the British scientist to the conclusion that “we screwed up very badly.” One of his cold but tormenting aversions is characteristic: “He who is interested in the past can look back and see 4000-5000 years of history. However, he cannot do the same for the future if he wants to look ahead more than 100-200 years.”

Guided by the relevant conclusions that formed the basis of his arguments, he applied catalytic pressure on the leaders to conclude an international agreement in 2015. может не хватить. “At the time, I knew about the tipping points that I described to you, but I did not know that the critical region of the planet would be warming as quickly as we have seen it,” admits Sir King, speaking of the need for even more aggressive global climate policy. .

More specifically, the British climate knight is proposing to save the Arctic in order to save the planet by buying time. “The fact that we really need to reduce pollutant emissions by removing greenhouse gases from the atmosphere is non-negotiable. Today, the planet emits 30 billion tons of carbon dioxide and 10 billion tons of methane annually. Now we will have to remove every ton of greenhouse gases we emit into the atmosphere again. But this is an expensive process that will take a long time. That’s why, and in the meantime, we’ll have to find a way to freeze the Arctic again,” he explains to K, describing his team’s pioneering efforts.

This is a global consortium that is studying how humanity will freeze the Arctic for three polar summer months. During the polar winter, ice grows back over the Arctic Ocean and reflects sunlight. When the polar summer comes, the ice melts within 3-4 days. The idea is to cover the polar region with white clouds for these three months. The research is being conducted at the Cambridge Engineering Laboratory and aims to mimic the natural formation of white clouds.

During a storm, tiny drops of sea water form right above the sea. Then, in sunlight, warm air carries these droplets into the atmosphere. At an altitude of several thousand meters, the drops lose all their water vapor and turn into simple salt crystals. Each drop leaves a salt crystal, which is not even visible, since its diameter is less than a micrometer. But it is in the atmosphere, and when the water vapor collects again, a cloud is created. This cloud is white if the salt crystals are small. If the crystals are large, they form dark clouds that fall as rain or snow. In the case of the Arctic, scientists need white clouds to keep them in the air. That’s why they are working to create very small salt crystals using sea water.

Experiments are already underway on the east coast of Australia, which has expressed a desire to cover the Great Barrier Reef with clouds in the summer season. “We are checked very seriously. We cannot exclude any serious consequences in advance. What is certain is that if they do, we will immediately stop creating white clouds,” explains Sir King, who rebuts some reports in the international press that “see” the danger to the stratosphere and the ozone layer with any extension of his models. Weather: “The method we are working on does not use the stratosphere. We’re just throwing sodium chloride crystals into the atmosphere, which is what happens anyway. Therefore, there is no threat to the ozone layer in the stratosphere. We are aiming for a local effect with the help of clouds.”

On the one hand, the high speed at which the planet heats up. On the other hand, the titanic task of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Somewhere in the middle is the effort of scientists to find solutions that will give the leaders of the countries time, overcoming their hesitation. In the meantime, the clock will count. “Without cooling of the Arctic Circle, as well as Antarctica and other regions, I do not understand how the world economy as we know it today can exist. I gave you an example of Vietnam. This is the third largest rice manufacturer in the world. A similar problem will arise in regions such as Indonesia and Southeast China. Their crops will be destroyed when sea water enters. We are talking about the mass loss of food supplies around the world. We have all seen the crisis caused by the blockade of Ukraine only in this particular sector. Consequently, we will also have to think about how we will manage climate migrants, that is, people who will one day see their countries underwater. As problems accumulate, each country will defend its borders, space and resources. Where will all these people find yourself? ” asks Sir King, who sees a leadership vacuum in global climate policy.

“I know Biden is doing his best. But the US has a very strong fossil fuel lobby at a time when it should be providing real leadership. We need China and Russia in this effort anyway. There is a common enemy, and it is called climate change, a formidable challenge that human civilization has not yet faced. The question is whether we, as humanity, can answer.” We can; Continuation to our receivers.

South African born Sir David King, 83, is the founder and president of the Climate Recovery Center at the University of Cambridge. He is one of the pioneers of the global agreement reached in Paris in 2015. Chief Scientific Adviser to the UK Government from 2000 to 2007 and Special Envoy for Climate Change from 2013 to 2017. He has been instrumental in raising the awareness of governments that have been geared towards combating global warming. Working for the British government, the UK has spent £9 billion on international climate diplomacy by writing 165 climate essays for its embassies around the world. At the same time, he developed the world’s largest system of sea winds. He has published over 500 articles on science and politics and has received a number of awards and honors from universities around the world. That is why in 2003 it was dedicated to knights. He often visits Greece, in particular Lemnos, and cannot “digest” that our country is not yet a pioneer in the field of renewable energy sources, which he considers particularly efficient and characterizes as the cheapest form of energy.