Scientists unveil bizarre plan to refreeze the North Pole with 125 jets

Scientists have come up with a strange new plan - and it involves refreezing the North and South Poles and dialing down the global thermostat with 125 jets.

The high-flying jets could spray microscopic aerosol particles into the atmosphere to help reflect sunlight and cool down the melting icecaps.

Roughly 175,000 flights a year would be needed to accomplish this, releasing tonnes of millions of carbon dioxide.

However, a former UK chief scientist backed the plans and told Sky News that polar warming is essential- and refreezing the ice could quell global sea levels rising.

Wake Smith led this new study at Yale University in the United States.

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He said the plan would treat an acute symptom of climate change but not the ultimate cause.

"It's aspirin, not penicillin. It's not a substitute for decarbonisation," he said.

In this plan, 125 military air-to-air refuelling tankers would release a cloud of microscopic sulphur dioxide particles at an altitude of 43,000ft (13km) 60 degrees in both hemispheres.

The particles will then slowly drift towards the poles on high-altitude winds, which would slightly shade the Earth's surface beneath.

The plan is controversial due to the vast number of flights which is around two days of global air traffic in 2021.

It would release greenhouse gases into the upper atmosphere, causing more damage.

Also, th £10bn a year cost of the initiative would be far less than carbon capture or other ways of adapting to change, researchers add.

"Any intentional turning of the global thermostat would be of common interest to all of humanity," Smith said.

Both poles are significantly getting warmer several times faster than the global average.

And earlier this year, record-breaking heatwaves were reported in both the Arctic and the Antarctic.

The Centre for Climate Repair (CCR) is working on a strategy in its labs to help brighten up the clouds over the Arctic Ocean.

Also, a fleet of ships pumps seawater into the atmosphere. The clouds would reflect sunlight back into outer space, resulting in ice cooling.

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