Earth’s Ice
The world faces many problems, but the melting of the polar ice caps is an issue that we are incredibly passionate about solving, and solving soon.
Climate change is a real issue. Don’t worry, though -I am not here to talk about carbon emissions or anything that could be construed as politically related (you can go to the blog for that…). I am here to explain the nature of photons at wavelengths of about 250 – 2500 nanometers. This is the black body radiation spectrum of the Sun.
As you may have learned in grade school, the color white reflects sunlight, keeping things cool, and darker colors, like black, absorb all of the sunlight and make things really hot.
This is a simple fact. Earth is heating up (again, I am not here to talk about why at the moment). The heating of the Earth is causing the ice at the poles to melt more and more each year, and less of that ice is refreezing every winter. Ice is white, naturally reflecting sunlight. When the ice melts, it becomes dark, deep blue and black ocean. That water absorbs massive amounts of radiation from the Sun, heating up the poles even more. This creates a compounding, heating effect. It gets hot -> ice melts -> the poles become dark in color -> dark colors absorb and store more heat -> more ice melts -> more dark colors show, etc.
This is a dangerous cycle, and we can already see the impacts of rising oceans around the world. Many estimates predict that entire coastal cities will be underwater within the next 80 years. This doesn’t even begin to touch on second and third order effects to Earth’s ecosystems (that is a very important issue that we will discuss elsewhere.)
The problem is simple. It is easily identifiable.
Problem statement: The Earth’s poles are melting at a rate that threatens the stability of life on Earth within the lifetime of the current generation.
Now, it is up to us to solve this problem. We MUST find ways to slow the melting of, and refreeze, Earth’s ice. Luckily, the cycle I described above works in reverse, too. If we can generate more ice, and make the poles “whiter”, this will eventually kick off a natural cycle of cooling polar temperatures that will eventually become self-sustaining.
Solving the Problem
There are many different approaches that could be taken to generate more ice at the poles, and to keep that ice from melting. I am a strong proponent of implementing more than one of these types of solutions. This will both speed up the process, and create redundancy. The technologies exist, but like all large engineering projects, the difficult part is finding a funding source.
Controversial opinion: I am a huge proponent of nuclear energy (maybe that’s the bias of the space systems engineer in me -nuclear energy is already being used in many deep-space spacecraft and will be crucial when we send humans to Mars, and other distant planets). When used properly, nuclear is a zero-emission, clean energy source. I am also a big fan of harnessing solar energy, it is just sadly incredibly inefficient. The most efficient solar panel to date is only (reportedly) 47% efficient, and most are much lower than that at 15-18% efficiency. Wind and hydroelectric energy should be used when practical, as well.
Types of Solutions
There are a couple different approaches that can be taken to solve this problem. Here, we are grouping them into three main categories for simplicity: creating ice, preserving ice, and cooling the atmosphere.
Creating Ice
This is the approach I am most interested in exploring and implementing. When I first started brainstorming solutions to this problem, my thought was “why don’t we just create giant refrigerators to literally refreeze the poles at scale?” While this seems far-fetched, it is actually a viable solution. This will require a LOT of energy, though (recall my passion for nuclear energy). Think of your refrigerator. The bottom of it, near the floor, gets hot! It takes a lot of heat and energy to freeze things. I believe that nuclear energy can provide a viable solution, here.
An Indonesian engineering team has proposed “iceberg making submarines” deployed in the arctic and antarctic waters. “Led by 29-year-old architect Faris Rajak Kotahatuhaha, the group envisaged a submersible vessel capable of producing 16-foot-thick, 82-foot wide hexagonal icebergs.” Of this, I am a huge fan. Now we have to spread awareness of this idea find them some funding!
It should be said that “creating ice” is a complicated problem. Thermodynamically, one can not “add cold” to an area. One can only “remove heat” from an area. That means that creating ice in the arctic will require the removal of heat from the water -and that heat must go somewhere. Because of this, the net total heat in the arctic would theoretically stay constant, or may even increase as a result of this process. The goal is to use this only initially, to create more ice and “white space” in the arctic. This will catalyze natural cooling processes, as described above. I have also theorized a method in which the heat from the water is pumped into weather balloons and released into the upper atmosphere where the balloons will pop and release the heat into space. This creates ice and gets rid of the heat. What kind of solutions can you think of?
Preserving Ice
We need to preserve the ice we do have and keep the ice we generate from melting again. This consists of covering the ice in something to keep it frozen. The leading proposal in this arena involves spraying a special sand onto the ice.
“The US non-profit group Ice911 has spent the last decade developing a highly reflective sand-like material that can be scattered on ice to protect it from the sun’s rays.
Last year, the group tested its “hollow microspheres,” which are made from silicate glass, over 15,000 square meters (3.7 acres) of frozen lake in Alaska. Researchers found that treated ice was thicker and more reflective than untreated ice.”
Another proposed solution is to build a large array of wind-powered pumps that spray ocean water onto the top of the ice, freezing the water into an “insulation layer” on top of the ice.
Cooling the Atmosphere
Cooling the atmosphere is key. Regardless of what else we do, one or more of these atmospheric techniques needs to be implemented. There are a lot of different ways to cool the atmosphere above the poles. The leading proposals include spraying aerosols into the upper atmosphere to reflect sunlight back into space (likely using aircraft), and blasting ocean water into clouds to make them more reflective.
In addition to the mentioned techniques, we could (this is just my own, personal brainstorming) deploy high-altitude balloons to carry critical technology. We could possibly use these balloons to tether an array of ultralight, reflective material -like a giant upper-atmosphere mirror. Solar sails use ultralight, super-reflective, large-surface-area materials for this. What about utilizing polar orbits? This theory will take some work, but space mirrors in polar orbits could theoretically be used to cool parts of the Earth (though it would likely be ineffective unless implemented at large scale… think of a reverse Dyson sphere…). What are your thoughts? Please let us know in the “contact us” section!
Together, we can do this.
It should be said that it is impossible to impose any of the mentioned techniques and not have unforeseen second and third order effects. Changing the environment in any way necessarily changes it in other ways. Environmental impact studies need to be conducted. The key is to find a solution that is more helpful than harmful. Once we find that, in my opinion, there is no reason not to get started as soon as possible.
I’d like to reiterate a few points and propose a funding source. I am a huge proponent of nuclear energy. Solar energy, after all, is just nuclear energy at a distance. We need to start these healing processes as soon as possible. We need to implement more than one solution, to get the greatest effectiveness.
I think the best candidate, right now, to fund and tackle these problems is NASA. I have some experience with government funding and NASA budgets. The Decadal Survey is simply about identifying the most important questions in planetary science, and it directly affects NASA’s budget. I think the next Decadal Survey should reflect an outright necessity and urgency to heal the Earth’s poles. I think this should be followed by Congress implementing an emergency NASA budget that they MUST use to implement solutions to this problem over a 5-10 year period. NASA still has many of the world’s best engineers, and the influence of a national budget. I think some of the billions of dollars that are currently devoted to manned space flight can be diverted, under an emergency clause, to work to refreeze our ice. (The DS already addresses climate change solutions, but I think a more direct and urgent approach is necessary with regards to our ice).
Arctic Wildlife
Do you know why the northern ice is called “The Arctic” and the southern ice is called “The Antarctic”? The Ancient Greek word “arktos” means bear! The northern ice has bears, so we call it The Arctic. And the southern ice? No bears! Hence, Antarctica. The southern ice is mainly known for its penguin inhabitants. Both regions, however, are teeming with wildlife. The term “arctic wildlife” often encompasses both ice regions.
If you are interested in finding out about the effect climate change is having on our arctic wildlife, I highly recommend watching the “Frozen Worlds” episode of the Netflix series “Our Planet” (you can click on the penguin image for a YouTube link to this episode). Penguins are my favorite ice animal, scientifically (check out my projects in the citizen science tab), but I am also really interested in whales, polar bears, sea spiders, and deep sea plant life. I believe that spreading awareness about arctic wildlife will inspire more humans to solve the ice problem! I will talk about this periodically in the blog.
Another reason to study life on the ice
Alien Oceans
It’s no secret that frozen moons in our solar system are prime targets in the search for life off Earth. The better we understand how life thrives on our own poles and in their subsurface oceans, the better we will understand the conditions required for such life, and where to look elsewhere.
How can you help right now?
Take Action
1) Spread awareness!!! In order to fix the problem, we need people to understand that there is a problem. Use your social media platforms to spread information about Earth’s ice.
2) Donate to, or just check out ways to help with Polar Bears International.
3) Find an organization of your choice (such as the World Wildlife Foundation, Greenpeace, etc.) that is fighting to save our ice, and get on board.
4) Head to the contact section and let us know your ideas! We can help spread awareness and get you pointed in the right direction.