Scientists are sprinkling millions of tiny glass beads on glaciers to prevent them melting by reflecting the sun’s rays
- Ice911 wants to use silica beads to help prevent rapid glacier melt
- The glass-like sand would help to reflect the sun and stave off warming
- Researchers say the silica substance is safe for natural environments
- Beads are already being tested in Alaska where they increased reflectivity
- Critics cite the $5 billion price tag and potential impact on the environment
A newly devised type of silica bead could help save melting glaciers from the onslaught of climate change, scientists say.
The innovative new approach, developed by a company called Ice911, employs minuscule beads of ‘glass’ which are spread across the surface layer of glaciers.
There they help to reflect light beating down on them and slow what has become a tremendous pace of melt throughout the last several years.
‘I just asked myself a very simple question: Is there a safe material that could help replace that lost reflectivity?’ Found of Ice911, Leslie Field, told Mother Jones.
Leslie Fields (pictured above) wants to cover glaciers in a sand-like mixture of silica beads that are capable of reflecting the sun’s rays and slowing rapid ice melt
The mixture from Ice911 is made up of tiny spheres of silica – a material found commonly in rocks – which they say would be environmentally safe
What they landed on was a silica-based substance – silica being a common ingredient in many rocks – that is able to safely supplement thinning ice and help bolster its resilience against the sun and increasingly warmer weather.
So far, the novel new method, which is being tested in Alaska, has been shown to be surprisingly effective.
In a paper published by the American Geophysical Union, one field test reported seeing a 15 to 20 percent increase in reflectivity due to the beads.
In the Arctic, that could translate into a reduction in 1.5 degree Celsius temperature reduction, a 3-degree reduction in sea temperatures, and an increase in ice thickness up to 20 inches, according to a report from Mother Jones.
For an embattled climate, Ice911’s solution for melt mitigation has come not a moment too soon.
Earlier this summer about 90 percent of the surface of Greenland’s ice sheet melted between July 30 and August 2, during which time an estimated 55 billion tons of ice poured of the island and into the ocean, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center.
In just one five-day wave of heat this summer, Greenland lost 55 billion tons of ice.
The melt of Greenland’s ice sheet is one of the more visible signs of man-made climate change spurred by the burning of fossil fuels, and has contributed to a rapid sea level rise which puts many coastal areas at risk.
The Arctic is testing ground for Ice911’s solution which they say has increased reflectivity by 15 to 20 percent
Despite the apparent efficacy of Ice911’s silica-based solution, there are still major obstacles preventing its widespread deployment.
For one, not everyone is convinced that coating glacial landscapes with glass beads will have a mild impact on natural environments – among the most concerned on this front are native populations in areas like Alaska, reports Mother Jones.
Secondly, despite Ice911’s idea being relatively cheap compared to other, larger, geoengineering projects, the deployment would still cost an estimated $5 billion.
Scientists have also long frowned on technical solutions to climate changes like the one proposed by Ice911, citing their potential to distract from addressing the underlying issues that create climate change.
‘We never have intended nor could we replace the need to do emissions reduction and get sustainable energy sources in place,’ Field told Mother Jones.
‘This is part of a much larger picture that needs to happen, but it’s an essential part. As far as we can tell, this is the largest single lever that one could safely address on climate change right now.’
