Sea ice growth management

Sea ice & icebergs

Sea ice, North-West Spitsbergen National Park, Svalbard

In 2010, Veli Albert Kallio suggested the use of ‘floating cables or levees, even platforms’, to act as ‘seeding points to fasten the seasonal growth of the Arctic Ocean's sea ice’ (Geoengineering Google Groups n.d.)

Even if multiyear ice disappeared, he claimed such schemes might be used to stimulate the growth of ice, which would then lead to thicker ice the next year which would reflect more sunlight for a longer time.

Technological Readiness Level (TRL)

Low 1

This idea was probably not 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

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Scalability

Low 1

Scalability

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

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Timeliness for near-future effects

Low 1

Timeliness for near-future effects

Implemented too late to make a significant difference

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Northern + Arctic potential

Low 1

Northern + Arctic potential

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

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Global potential

Low 1

Global potential

Insignificant to be detected at a global scale

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Cost - benefit

Cost-effective 3

Cost - benefit

Low investment cost compared to the avoided damage cost (e.g., a few %) and/or inexpensive relative to other measures with similar impact

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Environmental risks

Some risk 2

Environmental risks

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

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Community impacts

Unknown 0

Ease of reversibility

Easy 3

Ease of reversibility

Easily reversible naturally

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Risk of termination shock

Low risk 3

Risk of termination shock

Low or insignificant termination shock or damage

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Legality/governance

Challenging 2

Legality/governance

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

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Scientific/media attention

Low 1

The idea seems not to have been picked up after having been suggested.

Scientific/media attention

Very low attention from individuals and/or abandoned ideas; low media attention; no commercial interest.

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References

Geoengineering Google Group. n.d. Annex - Comments from Geoengineering Google Group. In: Compendium to the University of the Arctic Rapid Response Assessment: Frozen Arctic. A. van Wijngaarden, B. Alfthan, J. Moore, L. Kullerud, T. Kurvits, O. Mulelid, and E. Husabø, 2023. Compendium to the University of the Arctic Rapid Response Assessment: Frozen Arctic. UArctic, GRID-Arendal, and Arctic Centre/University of Lapland. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8408608

Related ideas

Agriculture landscape with small villages and forests in Baden Würtemberg, Germany

Industry

Bio-geoengineering to increase crop albedo

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Old whale bone providing fertile conditions for vascular plants, Antarctic Peninsula

Industry

Biochar

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Sea ice melting, North of Dickson, Taymyr, Russia

Sea ice & icebergs

Pykrete usage

Pykrete is a 6:1 mix of ice and sawdust that has the property of melting slower than regular ice. Several references have been made online to the use of pykrete as an artificial barrier, as artificial sea ice, or as blockers of moulins.

Sea ice covered Coast in July, Sterlegova, Taymyr, Russia

Sea ice & icebergs

Sea ice thickening

Sea ice thickening is an idea to slow or reverse the decline of Arctic sea ice by artificially thickening it.

Oceans & marine

Enhancing oceanic light availability below the photic layer

Ocean bioproductivity through photosynthesis stops beyond the photic layer as no more energy from the sun can penetrate beyond that point.

Land-based measures

Afforestation, reforestation and forest management

Although the rate of deforestation has slowed over the last few decades, the world is still losing forest cover (FAO 2020). Adequate management, protection, and restoration of existing forests, and the planting of unforested areas, play a crucial role in climate mitigation scenarios (IPCC AR6 WG3), and many countries now include forests in their climate mitigation targets (NDCs).The Northern and Arctic regions are essential in this endeavor since they are home to large swaths of boreal forests that make up 27% of total global forest area (FAO 2020).

Ice sheets and glaciers

Increasing humidity around glaciers and ice sheets

Engineer Paul Klinkman has suggested increasing the water content around glaciers and ice sheets to increase precipitation over them (see Klinkman Solar Design, U2).

Clouds over peaks in Uummannaq, Greenland

Atmosphere / solar radiation

Arctic winter high-latitude seasonal stratospheric aerosol injection

Stratospheric aerosol injection (SAI) is an idea to inject particles in the stratosphere to reduce the amount of incoming solar energy (Rasch et al. 2008; Irvine et al. 2016).