The geoengineering experiment to save Arctic ice:«We create it with sea water»

Scientists hope that thicker ice could survive longer into the summer, potentially reversing the melting trend.

A deep hole in the Arctic ice cap.Inside there is a tube, connected to a pump that takes sea water and shoots it onto the ice.An idea as simple as it is ambitious that of some scientists from the Climate Repair Center at the University of Cambridge:thicken the ice to slow down its melting.Specifically, as Shaun Fitzgerald, director of the center cited by, explains BBC, “the ultimate goal of the Arctic experiment is to thicken sea ice enough to slow or even reverse the melting already observed.”One of the scientists on the team called the idea “pretty crazy.”In fact, “we really don't know enough to determine whether this is a good or bad idea.”

Salted ice

The experiment takes place in Cambridge Bay, a small village in the Canadian North, almost the same name as the English university city from which the researchers started.The temperatures there are not lenient even at this time of year.In the days of the March 2024 experiment, maximum temperatures were recorded around 20 degrees below zero and minimum temperatures around 40 degrees below zero.With these values, even salty sea water freezes quite quickly.That's why scientists are spraying a thousand liters of it per minute onto the ice sheet, in the hope that the thickening will help the ice survive during the warm season.Indeed, in the small area dedicated to the study, the ice rose by several tens of centimeters.But there is a risk that saltier ice, compared to that which forms with snowfall, could melt more quickly during the summer.

The skepticism of colleagues

The researchers are aware of the skepticism of many colleagues regarding the project according to which if implemented on a large scale, the experiment could change the saline composition of the Arctic Sea with unexpected effects.“We're not here to promote this as the solution to climate change in the Arctic,” Fitzgerald emphasizes.“We're saying it could be part of it, but we need to go and find out a lot more before society can decide whether it makes sense or not.”Clearly, this geoengineering experiment will be of little use if it is not supported by a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere.In fact, according to current trends it is likely that the Arctic Ocean will be free of ice by the end of summer at least once by 2050, and perhaps even earlier.