What to do against global warming? How to stop it? These questions force science to develop ideas never thought of before, in a scenario never seen before. Among these, the crazy plan to save the Arctic and protect its ice stands out.
One of the objectives of geoengineering is to intervene in the Earth’s climate to try to counteract the damage caused. What was intended for the Arctic is to thicken the sea ice. The aim is to stop or even reverse the melting already observed. This is said by Shaun Fitzgerald, whose team at the Center for Climate Repair, at the University of Cambridge.
Logistical problem
“We still don’t know if it’s a good or bad idea,” he admits. The researchers are in Cambridge Bay, a small Canadian village in the Arctic Circle. They are drilling a hole in the sea ice that forms naturally in winter. They then pump around 1,000 liters of seawater per minute to the surface.
Exposed to cold winter air, this seawater freezes quickly. This thickens the ice on the surface. Water also compacts snow. Fresh snow acts as a good insulating layer. “The thicker the ice in winter, the longer it will survive in the thaw,” they explain.
“The vast majority of polar scientists think that this will never work,” warns Martin Siegert. He is an experienced glaciologist at the University of Exeter, who is not involved in the project. It happens that saltier ice can melt more quickly in summer. In addition, it is a huge logistical challenge. They would need 10 million wind-powered pumps to thicken sea ice in just a tenth of the Arctic.
Other problems
There is a more fundamental and widespread concern with these types of projects. It is believed that there is no complete certainty about its results and it could raise new concerns.
Arctic researchers are well aware of this. They emphasize that they are simply testing the technology. They will not use it more widely until the risks are better known. They agree that geoengineering is not a silver bullet.
But they point out that even with quick action, the world still faces a difficult future. The crazy plan to save the Arctic could delay the inevitable: by 2050, the Arctic Ocean will be free of sea ice at the end of summer at least once. Possibly even earlier.
