First field test of seawater-pumping method to thicken Arctic ice shows promise but scalability questioned
By
Sascha Pare
Summary
Researchers conducted the first field experiment of a simple geoengineering technique to thicken Arctic sea ice by pumping seawater onto existing ice in winter to create a reinforcing frozen layer. While the method showed promise as a safer alternative to more controversial techniques like stratospheric aerosol injection, significant questions remain about its scalability to meaningfully slow Arctic ice melt.
Source
bskyFirst field test of seawater-pumping method to thicken Arctic ice shows promise but scalability questionedlivescience.comKey quotes
· 3 pulledA simple method to thicken Arctic sea ice has shown promising results in its very first field experiment, performed in Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, Canada.
Researchers are considering several controversial geoengineering techniques to slow the catastrophic melt of Arctic sea ice, including stratospheric aerosol injection, which involves shooting tiny sulfur particles into the sky to blot out the sun.
But in a new study, scientists evaluated the merits of a much safer and more straightforward approach: pumping seawater onto existing sea ice in winter and letting it freeze into a reinforcing layer.
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