Despite the skepticism of some experts, the Dutch startup Arctic Reflections wants to restore the Arctic ice caps and increase the “albedo” of the sea ice using an ancestral technique. Find out which one!
The Arctic plays a major role in regulating global climate, helping ocean currents (warm and cold) circulate around the globe. However, due to global warming, its glaciers are melting at an accelerating rate. This risks compromising its role as a “climate moderator” and leading to extreme weather phenomena. According to the IPCC, the Arctic sea ice is warming twice as quickly as the rest of the globe and it would be very likely that it will disappear completely in summer, from 2050. Every decade, the Arctic sea ice loses 13% of ice, indicates the WWF. Faced with this situation, the Dutch startup Arctic Reflections is offering a somewhat unusual solution: restoring the ice caps of the Arctic Ocean based on the techniques used by the so-called IJsmeester ice masters…
The same technique used by the IJsmeester
Arctic Reflections is based on an ancestral technique used by these ice masters from the villages of the Netherlands to create outdoor ice rinks. Each winter, they transform a meadow into a vast ice rink capable of hosting a skating marathon, notably by flooding it with water in order to obtain a layer of thin layers of ice. “Every night they put thinner layers on it and once it’s thick enough they start to skate. A real cultural heritage in the country,” says Fonger Ypma, managing director of the Dutch start-up. The latter also highlighted that a series of tests, established on the same principle, had already been carried out in Cambridge Bay, Canada, in collaboration with Real Ice. This drilled through the ice, pumped seawater and let temperatures close to -50°C refreeze it on the surface. For information, this spin-off company from Bangor University plans to develop underwater drones capable of navigating in water at -1.5°C and carrying out different tasks: measuring the thickness of the ice, drilling a hole, pump water, etc.
Recreating ice cream with the IJsmeester method.
Recreating ice cream with the IJsmeester method. Photo credit: Arctic Reflections
Increasing the “albedo” of ice in the Arctic
With this project, Arctic Reflections also aims to increase the “albedo” of the sea ice which, due to the melting of glaciers, has greatly decreased. It should be noted that this index represents the reflective power of a surface and plays an important role in the planet’s climate. Indeed, a drop in the Earth’s global albedo strongly contributes to global warming. Aside from this, the Dutch company wants to explore other avenues, such as the propagation of thick ice in strategic locations using Arctic currents. According to Fonger Ypma, this is roughly the method used in the Sand Motor Project to nourish the beaches. This uses sea currents to naturally spread sand, in order to strengthen the coastal defenses of the Netherlands. “If we position the ice manufacturing sites in the right places, we can then really take advantage of these flows,” he adds.
A big threat to indigenous people and polar bears
The Arctic is home to polar bears and Inuit, and their survival depends greatly on glaciers. This is what partly pushed Arctic Reflections to consider this somewhat “offbeat” project on so-called “good fishing” sites. Indeed, in recent years, the Inuit have been forced to travel nearly 300 km to hunt their “traditional food”. This is also why the startup plans to give them the technology used to restore the ice cream, with partial philanthropic funding.
The pumps delivered to the testing location for the ice restoration project.
The pumps delivered to the testing location for the ice restoration project. Photo credit: Arctic Reflections
“Much of our success will depend on how we engage with the local community,” says co-chief executive Cian Sherwin. It remains to be seen whether this will work! In any case, for Arctic Reflections and Maurits Groen, member of the jury of the Dutch Wubbo Ockels innovation prize, we must resort to this kind of “crazy measures” to at least save time…
