This 'Crazy' Plan To Save Arctic Sea Ice Might Just Work—And Scientists Are On It

The race is on.

Damjan

• Published in Technology
• October 4, 2024

Positioned on sea ice off Canada’s northern coast, a group of parka-clad scientists observes saltwater pumping over the frozen ocean, hoping their experiment will slow the effects of global warming.

The researchers’ objective is to thicken the sea ice to prevent it from melting away, as thinning ice leaves dark ocean surfaces exposed, which in turn absorbs more of the Sun's energy and accelerates warming.

This project is one of the more unconventional methods of geoengineering—a field focused on deliberately altering Earth's climate system to counteract the damage caused by human activity.

Geoengineering encompasses familiar strategies like planting more trees and burying carbon underground, but these scientists are venturing into experimental territory by aiming to reduce the energy the Earth absorbs.

Many in the scientific community are critical of such approaches, arguing that they distract from the crucial goal of reducing carbon emissions and pose unknown risks.

One researcher summed up the debate by calling it “quite insane.”Dr. Shaun Fitzgerald of the University of Cambridge’s Centre for Climate Repair, however, believes these efforts could provide temporary relief while society works on larger solutions.

"We don't actually know enough to determine whether this is a good idea or bad idea," admits Dr. Fitzgerald, acknowledging the uncertainty surrounding their efforts.

The situation is:

The pumps are working

"It's quite cold," the researchers say. Wind chill in Cambridge Bay can make it feel like -45C

The Cambridge team’s Arctic experiment aims to thicken sea ice to slow or reverse its ongoing melt.

Their fieldwork is based in Cambridge Bay, a remote Arctic village in Canada. Andrea Ceccolini, of Real Ice, a British company leading the field trip, describes the harsh conditions they are working in: "It's about -30C with a strong wind, which brings the temperature to -45C with wind chill factor." The team is drilling through the naturally forming sea ice and pumping roughly 1,000 liters of seawater per minute onto the surface. The cold air freezes the water quickly, adding layers of ice, while the snow compacts, allowing more ice to form underneath in contact with the ocean.

"The idea is that the thicker the ice [at the end of winter], the longer it will survive when we enter the melt season," explains Ceccolini. Already, scientists have observed the ice thickening by several centimeters in their small study area, and local residents will monitor the ice in the coming months to assess any lasting impact. However, it remains unclear if this strategy will meaningfully slow the rapid decline of Arctic sea ice.

A pump is used to flood the sea-ice surface with seawater, which will then freeze

Many polar scientists are skeptical. Martin Siegert, a glaciologist from the University of Exeter, warns that scaling up this experiment would be incredibly challenging and costly. "The vast majority of polar scientists think this is never going to work out," he says.

There is also concern that the saltier ice produced by this method could melt faster in the summer. An estimate suggests that it would take around 10 million wind-powered pumps to thicken just a tenth of the Arctic’s sea ice—a daunting task in both logistics and scope.

Dr. Fitzgerald and his team are well aware of these challenges and emphasize that they are only in the early testing phases of this technology. “We’re not here promoting this as the solution to climate change in the Arctic,” says Dr. Fitzgerald. “We’re saying that it could be [part of it], but we’ve got to go and find out a lot more before society can then decide whether it’s a sensible thing or not.”

Although they acknowledge that geoengineering is far from being a comprehensive solution to climate change, they argue that it could complement more traditional methods. Drastic reductions in fossil fuel use and carbon emissions remain the highest priority to avoid the worst effects of global warming. However, they also recognize that even with swift action, the future will present difficult challenges.

Damjan