Geoengineering interventions in the Antarctic ice sheet: A potential solution to the effects of global warming, or a scientific utopia?

One of the main causes of sea-level rise is the melting of ice and, above all, the Antarctic ice sheet. Over the past three decades, the loss of ice sheet mass has more than tripled. Some researchers propose reducing ice melting through large-scale geoengineering interventions that change the processes of heat transfer in coastal oceanic waters and the parameters of the ice sheet, or slow down the flow and change the basal hydrology of ice shelves and ice streams. Methods of solar geoengineering have also been proposed to control the amount of solar radiation reaching the Earth’s atmosphere and reduce the surface temperature of the ice sheet. Despite some progress made towards the theoretical and technological validation of these interventions, there are fundamental problems with their technical feasibility, uncertainty and high risks. The potential environmental consequences of geoengineering interventions are extraordinary. At present, our understanding of glacier geoengineering is not sufficiently advanced to support the deployment and implementation of glacial geoengineering technologies.