WS 3.123: Geoengineering on Mountain Glaciers

Geoengineering applied to glaciers has emerged as a novel approach to mitigating the impacts of climate change on vital cryospheric systems. Mountain glaciers are essential for regulating freshwater availability, providing ecosystem services, and supporting leisure activities. However, they are retreating at alarming rates due to rising temperatures, putting local communities and regions especially like the Andes and the Himalayas under significant pressure regarding irrigation water and broader water security. Geoengineering strategies aim to preserve glacier mass, slow ice melt, and manage runoff to protect downstream ecosystems and communities. Key approaches include albedo enhancement through reflective materials to reduce solar absorption, artificial snow generation, and glacier insulation using physical coverings such as geotextiles. Emerging techniques, such as subglacial water flow management and thermal barriers, are also being explored to minimize basal ice melting. These strategies offer clear benefits for economically utilized glaciers, such as those supporting ski tourism, and could help reduce natural hazards as well as ensuring freshwater supplies. However, environmental risks arise when non-ecological measures are used, such as polypropylene geotextiles for ice insulation, which release microplastics into the environment. This calls for a critical discussion addressing the ethics of glacier geoengineering, the selection of effective and sustainable mitigation measures, and the urgent need to identify environmentally friendly materials to balance the benefits with ecological responsibility.