The Arctic, the region surrounding the North Pole of our planet, is seriously threatened by global warming. A critical situation, prompting scientists to explore increasingly radical methods to preserve this essential region of the globe, just as they are doing in Antarctica. In recent years, ideas have been flowing, all more or less feasible: sending reflective bubbles into space to reduce the solar radiation reaching our planet, giant parasols to cool the Earth, etc.
Save ice cream with a heat shield
Inspired by the ingenious process of ice technicians (or glacier masters), who flood a given area to form ice rinks, this technique consists of pumping seawater onto strategic locations on the Arctic ice floe.
Fonger Ypma, CEO of Arctic Reflections (see video below) explains: “They (editor’s note: the master glaciers) add thin layers of water to the ice so that it freezes more quickly. If we can thicken the ice enough, we might be able to slow its melting long enough to reduce CO2 emissions and allow the ice to regenerate on its own. »
From then on, this frozen seawater will form an additional protective layer on top of the pre-existing ice, allowing the Arctic ice to slowly regenerate beneath it, under cover. By doing this, the researchers hope to form a natural sea ice shield, which will act as a thermal barrier. A method with the added advantage of not requiring any harmful chemicals to lower the temperature of the ice cream.
Testing has already begun in Svalbard, a Norwegian archipelago in the Greenland Sea, and the start-up is working with scientists from two different universities to test this method of ice thickening.
Saving time in the face of the climate emergency
Although this innovative approach cannot stem the thawing of the immense Arctic expanse in the long term, it could nevertheless offer a salutary reprieve. By allowing, in fact, the creation of an environment conducive to the slow reformation and progressive thickening of the ice pack during the winter period, scientists hope to slow down the effects of atmospheric warming.
This ingenious solution could therefore provide precious time, essential to the global reduction of carbon emissions and the stabilization of temperatures. There is no question of freezing the Arctic forever; it is completely unimaginable; but simply to save time.
The Arctic Reflections project is a mitigation measure and will not solve the problem at the source: the increase in greenhouse gas emissions due to anthropogenic activities. But any new weapon is good to grab in this race against time.
