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Surface Albedo Modification Geoengineering Technology Briefing Jan 2021 Surface Albedo Modification Description and purpose of the technology Surface Albedo Modification is a theoretical solar geoengineering technique that aims to reflect more sunlight back to space by enhancing earth albedo – the sunlight reflected off the Earth’s surface. Proposals span a wide range – from growing crops that reflect more light, to the clearing of boreal forest in snow- covered areas; from covering large desert or ice areas with reflective materials to whitening mountaintops and roofs with white paint – all with a common goal: to increase the earth’s surface albedo. Albedo describes how much solar radiation is reflected by a surface. A high albedo means most solar radiation is reflected, for example polar ice sheets. A surface with a low albedo, for example a dark ocean surface, reflects only a relatively small share and absorbs most of the solar radiation in the form of heat, thus Surface Albedo Modification refers to a number of techniques contributing to warming the surrounding area. that aim to reflect light back into space by modifying land Creating large surfaces with a higher albedo surfaces like deserts, farmland, or ice could increase the amount of solar radiation Ice Covering reflected from the Earth’s surface and could theoretically reduce the temperature of the This method involves applying a layer of atmosphere, because surfaces absorb less reflective material to the Arctic ice as a “reflective band aid” to insulate rapidly melting solar energy. However, the proposal would not 1 reduce the concentration of snowpack and glaciers. The California-based greenhouse gases in the Arctic Ice Project (former atmosphere, which would Point of Ice911), founded by Leslie Field continue increasing. In most Intervention: in 2007, proposes reflective cases, the unwanted side silica glass as cover material. effects on the ecosystems, The material consists mostly of fauna and flora, as well and Reality Check: silicon dioxide and comes in the human communities that shape of tiny glass spheres. For depend on those ecosystems a decade now, the project has could be devastating. carried out trials on frozen lakes in Canada and the USA and The following outlines different tested various reflective approaches to modify surface materials. The project’s largest albedo, mentions relevant trial site is the North Meadow actors involved and describes Its just Its being Lake, an Indigenous area near potential impacts. a theory implemented Utqiagvik, Alaska. GEOENGINEERINGMONITOR.ORG Analysis and critical perspectives on climate engineering [email protected] Although the local community members have In 2009, the proposal was demonstrated by not been consulted and never consented the covering an area of two acres with reflective trials, the testing at this site commenced during polypropylene blankets. The idea has been winter 2015, covering up to 17,500m². The Arctic adopted from the Alps where white blankets are Ice Project plans to conduct trials on sea ice at regularly used by local mountain lift companies the University of Manitoba’s sea ice test facility to cover glaciers as a reflective shield to protect in Winnipeg, while looking for funding and skiing areas (and ski resort income). The permissions to conduct large-scale testing on implementation of this proposal means an arctic ice. Leslie Field proposed to cover up to increased consumption of fossil raw materials 100,000km² with silica glass in selected arctic and high costs: The blanket material regions, e.g. in the Fram Strait or the Beaufort polypropylene is produced from crude oil and Gyre. the material costs for covering one square kilometer of glacier ice are estimated at Possible negative effects of this proposal, for US$ 4,6 million. This estimate excludes the example changing weather patterns, changes to costs for recycling at the end of the product’s the hydrologic cycle and water temperature, or lifetime. 5 effects on the delicate arctic ecosystems, and the environmental impact of the covering material itself, have not been considered in depth so far. The community members in the North Meadow Lake area fear, inter alia, impacts on the food web and on migrating birds by ingestion or on human health following inhalation of silica dust. 2 Covering glaciers A modelling study conducted by researchers at the German Potsdam Institute for Climate Change (PIK) suggested delaying sea level rise High-albedo crop? A barley field by shooting very large amounts of artificial Photo from Jens Schott Knudsen via Flickr snow onto two glaciers in western Antarctica. PIK has further estimated that more than High Albedo Crops 12,000 wind turbines would be needed to lift, Several researchers, especially a team of desalinate and spray this great quantity of researchers at the University of Bristol, UK, water. The entire project would involve proposed to modify agricultural crops to create ecological devastation on a massive scale with plants with more reflective leaves. Proponents huge disruptions to the sensitive Antarctic 3 claim that if crops with a higher albedo would be marine habitat. grown on farmland, this would help to cool the A research group at the Swiss Academia atmosphere by reflecting more solar radiation Engiadina hopes to save Switzerland’s glaciers back into space. To increase crop albedo, both with a comparable approach – by blowing traditional breeding techniques or genetic reflective artificial snow across their surface. In engineering have been proposed. 6 2017, the research group conducted a smaller Little is known about the potential risks of pilot demonstration trial in a section of the increased reflectivity for the nutritional content Swiss Diavolezzafirn glacier to prove the of the plants, their photosynthetic capacity or technology. Further trials will be conducted at on surrounding soil. the Morteratsch glacier, with funding provided by the Swiss Innovation Agency. The approach Genetically engineered plants could spread requires a very large quantity of water and their “reflectivity” engineered character to other energy. 4 relatives, with unknown consequences: Using genetically modified crops or trees carries all Researchers at Ohio State University have the biosafety and land use impacts of these proposed covering sections of the Greenland plantations, including soil erosion and heavy ice sheet with reflective material to prevent use of contaminating agrochemicals. glaciers from further melting. GEOENGINEERINGMONITOR.ORG Analysis and critical perspectives on climate engineering [email protected] Snow Forest Clearance Painting roofs, An international team of pavements researchers modelled the influence of boreal forest and mountaintops areas on the climate and In 2010, the World Bank developed the theory that awarded a small grant to clearing the planet’s Glaciares Peru, a company remaining areas of boreal founded by Eduardo Gold, so forest – north of 45 degrees that he could paint a latitude, largely in Russia and Peruvian mountaintop 11 Canada – would have a white. Painting cooling effect because snow mountaintops would cover reflects solar radiation, negatively affect fragile while nearby boreal forest Snow Forest Clearance would involve ecosystems, flora and fauna, removing vast swaths of boreal forest absorbs the radiation. The and seems unlikely to be studies were led by the pursued any further. Urban forestry school at Yale and by Dartmouth albedo enhancement – painting surfaces such college, with partial funding from the US as roofs and pavements white or adding a Department of Energy. reflective layer – has been considered and modelled by various researchers, among them The creation of “white deserts” could destroy Hashem Akbari of Concordia University in subarctic ecosystem productivity, negatively Montreal, who has promoted the idea of affecting the plants and people that depend on government grants to cover rooftops and them as well as the caribou, migrating birds and 12 7 tarmac with white paint. Several initiatives other fauna. Eliminating forest would worldwide have taken up the idea, among them negatively affect the regulation of regional and the CoolRoofs Initiative in New York City, which local climates. Carbon contained in forest would painted 50 hectares of roof surfaces with a also be lost. Proponents admit that there are bright, reflective coating. 13 Painting roofs could many complexities. It would however be a one- 8 have some local cooling effects, though a Royal time, final bonanza for timber companies. Society report states that “the overall cost of a ‘white roof method’ covering an area of 1% of Desert Covering the land surface would cost about US$300 More than a decade ago, entrepreneur Alvia billion/year, making this one of the least Gaskill laid out a scheme to cover a significant effective and most expensive methods 14 portion of the world’s deserts with white, considered.” Scientists at Stanford University polyethylene film to reflect sunlight and lower have suggested that “roofs covered in surface temperatures. 9 photovoltaic panels would do a better job, by producing electricity that then obviates the Deserts have plants, animals and people living need for more fossil fuel–burning power in them, and it is difficult to imagine life plants”. 15 continuing in a plastic-covered ecosystem. Desert dust, which will be hindered by plastic coverings, is essential for the global climate Marine albedo enhancement because it influences solar radiation, cloud
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