Yale scientists proposed a budget project to freeze the poles

Global warming is most strongly reflected at the poles: the Arctic and Antarctica are warming several times faster than other points on the Earth's map. This carries a great risk for coastal residents: melting ice and the destruction of glaciers at the poles will lead to sea level rise across the planet. However, according to a study by Yale scientists published in the journal Environmental Research Communications, the poles can be frozen again. This project is quite feasible and surprisingly cheap.

To do this, jets from high altitudes must spray microscopic aerosol particles into the atmosphere at 60 degrees north and south latitude - approximately Anchorage and the southern tip of Patagonia. The flight must take place at an altitude of 13,000 meters - this is higher than the cruising altitude of the airliner. Then the aerosols will slowly drift towards the poles, slightly shading the surface of the Earth.

"There is a widespread and reasonable concern about the use of aerosols to cool the planet", - lead author Wake Smith told phys.org. “But if in some place the benefits outweigh the risks, then it is at the poles”.

"Injections" could be done seasonally - in spring and early summer. At the same time, the same fleet of jet aircraft could serve both hemispheres, crossing with the change of seasons to the opposite pole. Scientists have calculated that 125 aircraft would be enough to cool regions above 60°N by 2°C per year, bringing them back to pre-industrial average temperatures. The costs are estimated at $11 billion a year, less than a third of the costs planned to cool the entire planet by the same 2°C.

Cooling at the poles would provide direct protection for only a small part of the planet, although some reduction in temperature should also be observed in the middle latitudes.