[Iceberg, Photo Credit to Pixabay]

In January 2024, a British startup called Real Ice introduced an experimental  re-freezing technology to help stabilize sea levels and reduce global temperatures against accelerating climate change. 

The company founded in the United Kingdom is conducting both research and field trials aimed at slowing the melting of polar sea ice.

Its work falls under the emerging field of polar geoengineering which seeks to artificially cool Earth’s most vulnerable regions such as the Arctic and Antarctica.

Global warming is the long-term heating of Earth’s climate caused by greenhouse gases and carbon dioxide, making the reduction of the planet’s temperature the most important task for survival.

With the polar regions warming at roughly four times the global average, scientists and engineers are increasingly turning their attention to technological interventions once considered theoretical. 

As a result, universities, private labs, and venture-backed startups are proliferating to develop new approaches and investors are channeling funds into climate technology. 

Among many startups, Real Ice stands out for its focus on thickening Arctic sea ice.

The company’s system works by pumping seawater onto the ice surface in early winter so it can refreeze, effectively increasing ice thickness.

According to the company’s official website, green hydrogen-powered drones are used to spray seawater across frozen areas while also removing insulating snow layers that slow the freezing process.

At the end of winter, underwater drones restore the snow layer to protect the ice from sunlight, helping it last through summer.

The pilot project is currently underway in Cambridge Bay, Canada, where Real Ice is testing whether the process is both operational and environmentally sustainable. 

However, including the Real Ice, such technologies remain experimental and are not yet proven practical for large-scale use. 

Much of the current research aims to determine whether these ideas are feasible or could inadvertently worsen polar ecosystems. 

Tina van de Flierdt, head of the department of Earth Science and Engineering at Imperial College London, warned that “As somebody who has conducted challenging fieldwork in the Antarctic, I want to emphasize that all suggested methods are either scientifically flawed, unproven, dangerous or logistically unfeasible.”

She added that tampering with fragile and little-understood environments could lead to unpredictable outcomes.

Still, other researchers believe that controlled intervention could be essential to slowing ice melt and preventing catastrophic sea-level rise.

Pete Irvine, a research assistant professor at the University of Chicago, said that solar geoengineering, for example, wasn’t a substitute for emissions cuts, “but these interventions might make a significant contribution to the health of our planet.”

Even with the expected negative consequences, the search for ways to preserve polar ice is gaining urgency as global temperatures continue to climb.

With rigorous testing, Real Ice’s Re-freezing technology could one day offer a practical tool for reducing the effects of climate change.  

Scientists hope that the growing attention and investment in polar research will lead to other breakthroughs capable of protecting the planet from further warming and shielding humanity from the consequences of a rapidly changing climate.