"As climate change rapidly melts Earth's ice, sides are being drawn among scientists on whetherand howscience should intervene to save it. Those opposing sides on the use of geoengineeringhuman-made interventions to counteract global warming and its effectsat the poles are laid out in two opposing papers published this week in Frontiers in Science: One is a study in which more than 40 top glaciologists warn that geoengineering proposals to preserve glaciers and sea ice are infeasible and dangerous."
"Earth's poles are warming up to four times faster than the planet as a whole. The polar sea ice that has long reflected sunlight back into space is quickly vanishing: Arctic sea ice is expected to be completely gone during summers in the 2030s, further heating the planet. The West Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets are also melting at unprecedented rates, potentially raising sea levels by up to 1.9 meters by 2100."
"The Himalayas, often called the Third Pole because of their massive glaciers (which supply water to two billion people), saw record low snowpack in 2025. It seems very abstractAntarctica, the Arcticbut of course it's not, says Robbie Mallett, a research fellow at the Arctic University of Norway, who was not involved with either of the two new papers. This stuff, this cryosphere ice loss, has a real impact around the world."
Polar regions are warming far faster than the global average, driving rapid losses of sea ice and accelerating ice-sheet melt. Arctic summer sea ice could disappear in the 2030s, reducing planetary reflectivity and amplifying warming. West Antarctic and Greenland ice losses threaten substantial sea-level rise, potentially up to 1.9 meters by 2100. The Himalayas experienced record low snowpack in 2025, imperiling water resources for billions. A clear scientific split has emerged: many glaciologists view proposed geoengineering to preserve polar ice as infeasible and risky, while others contend targeted interventions could blunt severe climate impacts.
Read at www.scientificamerican.com
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