Can we grow more sea ice in the Arctic?

This seminar will outline the fundamental ideas for potentially helping refreeze the Arctic involving growing more sea ice in the Arctic winter. The action of pumping of sea water onto the top of pre-existing but relatively thin ice could potentially enable more ice to grow and thereby last longer over the Arctic summer.

The seminar will include explanations of the potential for growing more ice i) naturally by consolidating any snow which falls on to the surface of sea ice and ii) through promoting freezing of sea water on top of ice. We will explain the physical processes involved and present some initial modelling analysis as well as results from laboratory experiments in Cambridge.

We will also describe the field expedition to Cambridge Bay in January 2024, led by Real Ice and supported by Arctic Reflections, the Centre for Climate Repair, and the Canadian High Arctic Research Station. The team undertook a series of pumping experiments, with initial observations revealing how the sea water flows through/over the snow layer before freezing. We will also describe the engagement with the local community, and how they are supporting the project going forwards with ongoing data collection.

Speakers: Shaun Fitzgerald, Centre for Climate Repair (Director), Andrea Ceccolini, Real Ice (co-CEO), Jacob Pantling, Centre for Climate Repair (PhD student)

Location: MR5, DAMTP, University of Cambridge

Please RSVP: info@climaterepair.cam.ac.uk. Note, this is an in-person event. We will record the session for those who cannot attend.