Startup to test unusual method of restoring Arctic sea ice: 'We have to start somewhere'
A Dutch company called Arctic Reflections is one of many looking for a way to restore rapidly melting polar ice caps — and it all started with the Netherlands' traditional winter pastimes, the Guardian reports.
When the weather gets cold enough, the "IJmeesters" (ice masters) in Dutch villages work to create outdoor skating rinks. They pump out water across a meadow, creating layers thin enough to freeze rapidly. This helps build up ice more quickly than when a deep pool freezes from the top down.
Fonger Ypma, chief executive of Arctic Reflections, wondered if he could do the same in the Arctic.
Arctic ice is melting away, decreasing by about 13% every 10 years, according to data from the World Wildlife Fund cited by the Guardian. This year was especially bad, as ice that melted in the summer in polar regions didn't re-form in the winter as usual.
Not only is that a problem for arctic animals and sea life, but it also is a huge issue for humanity. First of all, the arctic permafrost has trapped a lot of chemicals like mercury that will be released if that ice melts. Second of all, melting glaciers and ice caps could raise the sea level and cause unimaginable damage to communities all along the coast.
Third, ice is vital to the Earth's "albedo," or the amount of light it reflects instead of absorbing as heat. The more ice melts, the more absorbent the Earth gets, and the faster we reach a tipping point where we can't cool the Earth down again.
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Arctic Reflections doesn't have a perfect solution for all those issues, but it does have an idea that may help, the Guardian reports. The company is looking to pump water up from below the arctic ice and spread it thinly over the surface so that it will freeze, thickening the ice and creating a clean, bright layer with a high albedo.
Not only that, but Arctic Reflections hopes to identify key points in the region where ocean currents will carry new ice away and distribute it over a wide area, the Guardian added.
Hayo Hendrikse, assistant professor at Delft University of Technology, has worked with Arctic Reflections on trials of its technology.
"I see a potential for this on a smaller scale," he told the Guardian. But he added, "It's not a solution — it's a [Band-aid]."
"The speed at which things are going wrong is such that we have to resort to these kinds of [measures] to at least buy some time," added Dutch Wubbo Ockels innovation prize jury member Maurits Groen. "It's a proven technology and cost-effective compared with alternatives — we have to start somewhere."
The only real long-term solution is to bring down the temperature of the planet, and phasing out dirty energy is the most important part of doing just that.
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