--- title: "Could dimming the sun prevent ice melt?" description: "University of Bern researchers modelled whether dimming the sun could save the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. Rapid decarbonisation remains the most effective path." url: https://unibefoundation.ch/en/news/artificially-dimming-sun-prevent-ice-melt updated: 2026-09-16 --- # Could dimming the sun prevent ice melt? > University of Bern researchers modelled whether dimming the sun could save the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. Rapid decarbonisation remains the most effective path. News 11. August 2023 # Could artificially dimming the sun prevent ice melt? **Geoengineering methods could theoretically be used to artificially influence and cool the climate. Researchers in Bern have now investigated whether artificially “dimming the sun” could prevent the melting of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. The results show that such artificial intervention cannot do without decarbonisation and entails high risks.** *Read the original media release* [*here*](https://mediarelations.unibe.ch/medienmitteilungen/2023/medienmitteilungen_2023/koennte_ein_kuenstliches_abdunkeln_der_sonne_die_eisschmelze_verhindern/index_ger.html)*.* (in German) Geoengineering methods could theoretically be used to artificially influence and cool the climate. Researchers in Bern have now investigated whether artificially “dimming the sun” could prevent the melting of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. The results show that such artificial intervention cannot do without decarbonisation and entails high risks. Is there an emergency solution that could halt climate change? Technical methods for artificially influencing the climate have long been discussed under the term geoengineering. However, climate research has so far mostly viewed them critically: high risks, incalculable consequences for future generations. In a publication just released in the journal “Nature Climate Change”, researchers led by Johannes Sutter from the Climate and Environmental Physics division (KUP) at the Physics Institute and the Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research of the University of Bern now investigate whether artificially influencing solar radiation could prevent the ice in West Antarctica from melting. The researchers also warn of unforeseeable side effects of geoengineering. ## **Avoiding a key climate tipping point** [\#](#avoiding-a-key-climate-tipping-point "Direct link to Avoiding a key climate tipping point") “The window of time in which the global temperature rise can be limited to below 2 degrees is closing fast,” says ice modelling specialist Johannes Sutter, “so it is possible that technical measures to influence the climate will be seriously considered in the future.” It is therefore necessary to investigate the effects and risks of “managing solar radiation” in theoretical models. The term Solar Radiation Management (SRM) covers various methods that are intended to block solar radiation and thus make the Earth cooler. A key reason for the increased interest in geoengineering is the avoidance of tipping points at which the climate could change abruptly and irreversibly. These include the melting of the West Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets and the associated sea level rise of several metres. “Observations of ice flows in West Antarctica suggest that we are very close to a so-called tipping point or have already crossed it,” explains Johannes Sutter, “so with our study we wanted to find out whether a collapse of the ice sheet could theoretically be prevented with Solar Radiation Management.” ## **Artificially dimming the sun** [\#](#artificially-dimming-the-sun "Direct link to Artificially dimming the sun") Specifically, Sutter and his colleagues investigated what would happen if it were possible to keep solar radiation away from the Earth using aerosols – particles suspended in a gas – introduced into the stratosphere, dimming the sun, so to speak. Until now, research has mainly focused on the global effects of Solar Radiation Management (SRM). The Bern study is the first to use ice model simulations to show what effect such a measure would have on the Antarctic Ice Sheet. The study examines the possible development of the ice sheet under various future greenhouse gas scenarios and arrives at nuanced results: if emissions continue unabated and SRM is deployed in the middle of this century, the collapse of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet could be delayed somewhat, but not prevented. In a medium emissions scenario, SRM deployed by the middle of the century could prove to be an “effective tool” for slowing down or even preventing the collapse of the ice sheet. According to the model calculations, SRM works best if it is deployed as early as possible and combined with ambitious climate protection measures. However, the study authors stress that “our simulations show that the most effective way to prevent a long-term collapse of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet is rapid decarbonisation”. The chances of a stable ice sheet in the longer term are greatest if greenhouse gas emissions are reduced to net zero “without delay”. ## **Possible side effects still barely researched** [\#](#possible-side-effects-still-barely-researched "Direct link to Possible side effects still barely researched") But what would dimming the sun look like in practice? According to Johannes Sutter, an entire fleet of extremely high-flying aircraft would have to release millions of tonnes of aerosols into the stratosphere. However, this technical intervention in the climate would have to be maintained without interruption for centuries. If the intervention were stopped while the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere remained high, the temperature on Earth would rise abruptly by several degrees. Johannes Sutter points out that the consequences of such a termination shock are only one of the possible dangers posed by SRM. The potential side effects have not yet been sufficiently researched, but they range from a shift in monsoon patterns to changes in ocean and atmospheric circulation. Ocean acidification would also continue. Critics also warn of political and social effects: the use of techniques such as dimming the sun could lead to climate protection measures being slowed down or even prevented. Thomas Stocker, Professor of Climate and Environmental Physics at the University of Bern and co-author of the study, says: “Geoengineering would be another global experiment and a potentially dangerous human interference with the climate system, which, according to Article 2 of the [UN Framework Convention on Climate Change](https://unfccc.int/resource/docs/convkp/convger.pdf) (in German), should be prevented in any case.” --- ### Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research (OCCR) [\#](#oeschger-centre-for-climate-change-research "Direct link to Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research (OCCR)") The Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research (OCCR) is one of the strategic centres of the University of Bern. It brings together researchers from 14 institutes and four faculties. The OCCR conducts interdisciplinary research at the cutting edge of climate science. The Oeschger Centre was founded in 2007 and bears the name of Hans Oeschger (1927-1998), a pioneer of modern climate research who worked in Bern. 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