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Cited by 18Climate Change and GeoengineeringAtmospheric aerosols and cloudsMeteorological Phenomena and Simulations

Mixed-phase regime cloud thinning could help restore sea ice

Open access
Villanueva, D, Possner, A, Neubauer, D, Gasparini, B, Lohmann, U, Tesche, M·2022·Environmental Research Letters
DOI 10.1088/1748-9326/aca16d
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Abstract

Cloud geoengineering approaches aim to mitigate global warming by seeding aerosols into clouds to change their radiative properties and ocurrence frequency. Ice-nucleating particles (INPs) can enhance droplet freezing in clouds, reducing their water content. Until now, the potential of these particles has been mainly studied for weather modification and cirrus cloud thinning. Here, using a cloud-resolving model and a climate model we show that INPs could decrease the heat-trapping effect of mixed-phase regime clouds over the polar oceans during winter, slowing down sea-ice melting and partially offsetting the ice-albedo feedback. We refer to this concept as mixed-phase regime cloud thinning (MCT). We estimate that MCT could offset about 25% of the expected increase in polar sea-surface temperature due to the doubling of CO 2 . This is accompanied by an annual increase in sea-ice surface area of 8% around the Arctic, and 14% around Antarctica.

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  • In mixed-phase clouds, overseeding might over-glaciate supercooled liquid water, reducing precipitation efficiency and perturbing regional hydrological cycles.

    “Similarly, in mixed-phase clouds, overseeding might over-glaciate supercooled liquid water, reducing precipitation efficiency and perturbing regional hydrological cycles (Villanueva et al., 2022)”

    From Past Field Experiments of Solar Radiation Modification: A Review of the Scientific and Technical Aspects for Governance (2026) · cites this paper as Villanueva et al., 2022

    Section 3.3 (page unavailable) says very high freezing rates may prevent ice-crystal growth and sedimentation. Section 3.4 (page unavailable) reports reduced precipitation and a slower hydrological cycle in the optimal-seeding simulation, but attributes the precipitation decrease chiefly to increased thermal stability and cooling—not to overseeding. The paper therefore supports the proposed mechanisms separately, but not the claimed causal chain from overseeding to reduced precipitation and regional hydrological disruption. (LLM, conf=0.85)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • MCT targets specific cloud systems at lower altitudes, such as supercooled stratus or stratocumulus, to enhance glaciation and precipitation via localized INP injections.

    “This contrasts with MCT, which targets specific cloud systems at lower altitudes, such as supercooled stratus or stratocumulus, to enhance glaciation and precipitation via localized INP injections (Villanueva et al., 2022)”

    From Past Field Experiments of Solar Radiation Modification: A Review of the Scientific and Technical Aspects for Governance (2026) · cites this paper as Villanueva et al., 2022

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Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Villanueva, D., Possner, A., Neubauer, D., Gasparini, B., Lohmann, U., & Tesche, M.
Affiliations
  • ETH Zurich (CH)
  • Goethe University Frankfurt (DE)
  • University of Vienna (AT)
  • Leipzig University (DE)
Corresponding author
Villanueva, D
ORCID
Venue
Environmental Research Letters
Publisher
IOP Publishing
Published
2022-11-01
Volume
17
Issue
11
Pages
114057
ISSN
1748-9326 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1088/1748-9326/aca16d
OpenAlex
W4308735469
Cited by
18
References
3
Citations by year
2026: 3 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 1
FWCI
1.49
Type
journal article
Language
en
Update notices
correction (2026-04-28)
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Environmental Research Letters (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Qucosa (Saxon State and University Library Dresden) (publishedVersion, other-oa)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
  • Publication Server of Goethe University Frankfurt am Main (Goethe University Frankfurt) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • Repository for Publications and Research Data (ETH Zurich) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • ETH Zürich Research Collection (cc-by)
Funders
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (Walter Benjamin-Stipendium (1223/1-1))
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Global and Planetary Change › Climate Change and Geoengineering
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Global and Planetary Change › Atmospheric aerosols and clouds
  • Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Atmospheric Science › Meteorological Phenomena and Simulations
Keywords
ice nucleating particles, mixed-phase clouds, cloud thinning, sea ice, ice-albedo feedback, polar oceans, Arctic sea ice, Antarctic sea ice, sea surface temperature, CO2 doubling

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