Dangerous Climate Experiments Threaten Polar Regions

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Dangerous Climate Experiments Threaten Polar Regions "Plans to manipulate the Arctic to fight climate change may do more harm than good. Leading polar scientists, including Professor Martin Siegert, warn that artificial geoengineering could cause severe environmental damage. Discover why experts say focusing on net zero is the only proven solution to global warming." Arctic, Geoengineering, Climate Change, Global Warming, Net Zero, Polar Scientists, Climate Warning, Environment, Ice Melting, Climate Solutions

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00:00Protect Arctic from dangerous climate engineering, scientists warn.

00:03Plans to fight climate change by manipulating the Arctic and Antarctic environment are dangerous,

00:08unlikely to work, and could distract from the need to ditch fossil fuels,

00:11dozens of polar scientists have warned. These polar geoengineering techniques aim to cool

00:16the planet in unconventional ways, such as artificially thickening sea ice or releasing

00:20tiny, reflective particles into the atmosphere. They have gained attention as potential future

00:25tools to combat global warming, alongside cutting carbon emissions. But more than 40

00:29researchers say they could bring severe environmental damage and urged countries to

00:33simply focus on reaching net zero, the only established way to limit global warming.

00:38Geoengineering, deliberately intervening in the Earth's climate system to counter the impacts

00:42of global warming, is one of the most controversial areas of climate research.

00:46Some types are widely accepted. Removing planet warming carbon dioxide from the atmosphere

00:50via planting trees or using machines, for example, are recognized parts of net zero efforts.

00:55Net zero means balancing the amount of planet-warming greenhouse gases produced by human activities

01:00with the amount being actively removed from the atmosphere. But some more radical geoengineering

01:05ideas, like reflecting sunlight, are dealing with the symptoms of climate change rather than the

01:09causes, said lead author Martin Siegert, professor of geosciences at the University of Exeter.

01:13For supporters, it is worth exploring techniques which could help rain in rapidly rising temperatures,

01:18which are already bringing severe impacts for people and ecosystems around the world.

01:22But for opponents, the risks are simply too great, particularly for the fragile polar regions,

01:27about which much remains unknown.

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