Glass microspheres may be the key to saving the ice caps
Lauren Lukacs
Even if climate optimists’ greatest dreams come true, it will still be a while before the world reaches its ambitious climate goals. Humanity will have to do much more than simply reduce carbon emissions if it hopes to prevent climate disaster. The question is how.
Some scientists anticipate the answer lies in ice. By making the northernmost part of the world more reflective, it might be possible to hinder the greenhouse effect’s advancement.
“Sea ice is being lost at a rate not seen in at least 1,500 years,” wrote environmental reporter, Oliver Milman, “ according to NASA’s calculations it is disappearing by a rate of about 13% a decade.”
This melting of sea ice is a vicious cycle, the Arctic Ice Project website explains: “The more ice melts, the more radiation is absorbed by larger areas of open ocean; then the more the ocean heats, and the more the ice melts.” Old ice, which has the most reflectivity, is hit the hardest and has dwindled down by a staggering 95%.
Dr. Leslie Field, the founder of the arctic ice project, is working on fine, powder-like microspheres that have the potential to buy us 15 years to conduct and act on new research.
This situation is daunting, and the Arctic Ice Project recognizes that this is not a long-term solution. “This is the backup plan I hoped we’d never need,” Field said.
The small, hollow, silica microspheres reflect up to 90% of the sun’s powerful rays back into space. Testing began in 2015 above the arctic circle, and between 2017 and 2018 the scientists successfully developed their solution in Utqiaģvik, Alaska.
The goal of this sand is not to blanket the existing Arctic ice, but to preserve the most vulnerable areas: particularly along the Fram Strait. The goal would be sprinkling these microbeads on about 19,000 square miles of ice: land almost equal to the size of Costa Rica.
One of the main concerns regarding this new technology is that while it is considered “soft” geoengineering, it still has the potential to have adverse effects on the environment. However, the Arctic Ice Project assures that their materials are “safe, scalable, and reversible; the materials are designed to degrade into sand over time.” The microspheres are also engineered to be inoffensive when ingested, minimizing any negative side effects they might have on the environment. Since silica, the main material in these beads, is so abundant in nature, it should not be a problem. Research conducted by the Arctic Ice project has found that ingestion of these beads causes no ill effects on the species tested: sheepshead minnows and northern bobwhite birds.
These microbeads are offering a solution never thought of before. Instead of considered the ice caps the victims of climate change — perhaps it’s time we see them as the solution.
Lauren Lukacs is a member of VAYCC’s press team.
