Ice shields and “volcanoes”

Sea ice & icebergs

Arctic sea ice extent has rapidly decreased over the last few decades, with most multi-year ice disappearing altogether. This has already had major effects on local communities and ecosystems. The disappearance of the relatively reflective sea ice also leads to a dramatic decrease of albedo in the Arctic and subsequent high energy uptakes by the darker water during the Arctic summers.

Similar to other ideas to pump water on sea ice (see Sea ice thickening), engineer Sev Clarke (Planetary Restoration n.d.) and engineering student Katy Cartlidge (University of Cambridge 2022) both came up with designs to artificially produce sea ice. In both schemes, water is pumped up through a central pipe and allowed to freeze onto previously-grown ice. This ongoing process then slowly forms a thicker mass of ice that would hopefully be able to survive over longer periods. Many of these 'icebergs', which Clarke calls Ice Shields and Cartlidge dubbed ice volcanoes, could together form larger surface areas that could have multiple benefits for ecosystems and the climate.

Technological Readiness Level (TRL)

Low 1

Both ideas have been suggested by their authors but have not been explored further.

Technological Readiness Level (TRL)

A technology with a TRL of 1-3: TRL 1 – Basic; TRL 2 – Concept formulated; TRL 3 – Experimental proof of concept

Scalability

Low 1

Scalability

Physically unable to scale; sub-linear/logarithmic efficiency of scalability

Timeliness for near-future effects

Low 1

Timeliness for near-future effects

Implemented too late to make a significant difference

Northern + Arctic potential

Low 1

Northern + Arctic potential

No noticeable extra positive effect beyond the global average; technology is unsuited to the Arctic

Global potential

Low 1

Global potential

Insignificant to be detected at a global scale

Cost - benefit

Medium 2

Hao et al (2023) estimate that the melting of the sea ice would in any case costs the world an average of 6.7–13.3 trillion USD annually over the period 2020 to 2100, when the costs of the forcing effects of the ice are calculated in terms of equivalent costs of the forcing that is the result of GHG emissions.

Cost - benefit

Significant investment costs needed, but still much cheaper than the avoided damage costs (e.g., 30%).

Environmental risks

Medium 2

Environmental risks

More widespread and possibly regional impacts that extend beyond the immediate solution deployment location

Community impacts

Unknown 0

Ease of reversibility

Medium 2

Ease of reversibility

Possible with significant investment

Risk of termination shock

Medium 2

Risk of termination shock

Medium or relatively significant termination shock or damage

Legality/governance

Medium 2

Legality/governance

Fits within existing structures to a certain degree, but some policy changes are needed to deploy at scale

Scientific/media attention

Medium 2

Both ideas are isolates and have not yet been subject to further study.

Scientific/media attention

Some attention within the scientific community, including published research and funding programmes; some media attention; some commercial interest

References

Clarke, S. n.d. Planetary Restoration blog: #4 Ice Shield/Ice Thickening. https://planetaryrestoration.net/f/sev-clarke-more-climate-solutions [Accessed 9 July 2024]

Hao H., Su B., Liu S., and Zhuo W. 2023. Radiative Effects and Costing Assessment of Arctic Sea Ice Albedo Changes. Remote Sensing. 15(4):970. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs15040970

University of Cambridge. 4 Oct. 2022. Undergraduate project: Can an 'ice volcano' help to regenerate sea ice? Dept. of Eng. News. http://www.eng.cam.ac.uk/news/undergraduate-project-can-ice-volcano-help-regenerate-sea-ice?s=03 [Accessed 9 July 2024]

Related ideas

Melting glacier ice, Rødefjord, Northeast Greenland National Park (1)

Ice sheets and glaciers

Ice sheet stabilization via seabed curtains

One of the potentially most catastrophic effects of contemporary global warming would be the dramatic increase in sea levels as a result of the melting Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets. Even if all current emissions were immediately stopped, sea level rise could still occur because of locked-in warming (State of the Cryosphere report 2022).

Nickel Smelters, Norilsk, Siberia, Russia

Industry

Carbon capture and storage

Both emission reductions and CDR measures that actively reduce carbon dioxide are essential to reduce the amount of GHGs in the atmosphere and mitigate the effects of climate change. However, some carbon emissions, especially in the industrial and energy sectors, will be difficult to fully decarbonise.

Fishing boat in between icebergs, Disco Bay, Greenland

Oceans & marine

Improved fishing practices and management

Fisheries contribute to global CO2 emissions by the extraction of fish, disturbance of coastal and oceanic blue carbon ecosystems, and the use of fossil fuels as their main energy source. Fishing vessels are moreover a major source of short-lived climate forcers like black carbon (McKuin and Campbell 2016), which can have a major effect in Arctic and Northern regions (see Black carbon reduction).

Industry

Built-environment albedo enhancement (white roofs etc.)

An increase in GHGs in the atmosphere leads to a greater amount of outgoing infrared radiation from the earth being retained. There are several SRM ideas that seek to compensate for this by reflecting more radiation back to space.

Sea ice & icebergs

Ice shields and “volcanoes”

A school of juveniles of the Dusky spinefoot Siganus luridus (second)

Oceans & marine

Artificial upwelling

Oceans play an important role in global heat transfer and carbon storage processes. As global temperatures and atmospheric carbon levels rise, some have suggested artificially modifying the vertical movement of water to enhance these processes.

Clouds over Setesdalsheia, Norway, October 2013

Atmosphere / solar radiation

Cirrus cloud thinning

Cirrus clouds are high altitude ice clouds. They influence the Earth’s radiation budget as they reflect both incoming and outgoing radiation. However, they ultimately have a warming effect as they are more efficient at trapping outgoing longwave radiation (Kärcher 2017).

Sea ice & icebergs

Iceberg management

With rising Arctic temperatures, there have been major changes in iceberg production rates from marine terminating glaciers. These icebergs drift into warmer sea waters where they will slowly melt.