Arctic Sea Ice Thickening Experiment Offers in the Fight Against Climate Change

Scientists are testing an ambitious geoengineering project in the Canadian Arctic that aims to slow the loss of sea ice by artificially thickening it during winter. Early results suggest the technique could help preserve Arctic ice for longer during the summer melt season, although researchers stress that much more testing is needed before it could ever be used on a larger scale.

The project, led by the company Real Ice and supported by UK government funding, is exploring whether pumping seawater onto existing sea ice can strengthen it and delay melting. As Arctic temperatures continue to rise because of climate change, researchers hope the work could contribute to protecting one of the planet’s most important climate regulators.

Scientists Test Artificial Sea Ice Thickening in Northern Canada

“This would have been a wild dream a year ago,” says Andrea Ceccolini, standing on Arctic sea ice just a four-mile snowmobile ride from the Inuit town of Cambridge Bay in northern Canada.

He points towards two dramatically different landscapes. On one side are bright blue melt ponds created beneath the continuous Arctic summer sunlight. On the other, the experimental area remains covered in brilliant white ice.

“It’s incredibly different, the boundary – I mean, you can point to it,” he says.

The striking contrast is the result of a geoengineering trial conducted by Real Ice, which has been testing whether pumping seawater onto frozen sea ice during winter can make it thicker and more resilient during the warmer months.

How the Arctic Ice Thickening Project Works

Five months before the summer thaw, researchers endured temperatures of -40°C while drilling holes through the sea ice and pumping approximately 50,000 tonnes of seawater onto its surface.

The water froze almost immediately, increasing the ice thickness by around 50 centimetres on top of the existing 1.5 metres of sea ice.

The additional ice appears to have protected the surface during the early stages of the melting season, raising hopes that similar methods could one day help preserve larger areas of Arctic sea ice.

However, researchers emphasise that these are still early experimental results.

Why Arctic Sea Ice Matters

Across the Arctic, sea ice has been disappearing rapidly as global temperatures continue to rise.

Summer sea ice has declined by around 40% in the last 45 years, creating a dangerous climate feedback loop.

Unlike dark ocean water, which absorbs most of the Sun’s energy, sea ice reflects around 70% of incoming solar radiation back into space. Open water reflects only about 7%.

As more ice melts, more heat is absorbed by the ocean, accelerating further warming and causing even more ice loss. Scientists warn that Arctic summer sea ice could disappear entirely during the 2030s, potentially triggering irreversible climate tipping points.

Monitoring the Effects of Thicker Ice

Researchers are carefully measuring every aspect of the experimental site to understand whether the thickened ice behaves differently from surrounding natural ice.

The team is collecting detailed information including:

• Ice temperature every two centimetres
• Salinity levels
• Ice structure
• Biological samples
• Surface reflectivity (albedo)

Drones also fly regular surveys above the site, producing detailed imagery with a resolution of five centimetres.

These measurements will help determine whether artificially thickened sea ice survives longer and reflects more sunlight than naturally formed ice.

Working in One of Earth’s Harshest Environments

Although the Arctic summer appears calm under blue skies, fieldwork remains extremely challenging.

“The coldest day was -63C with wind chill,” says Simon Woods, Real Ice’s co-founder alongside Cían Sherwin.

During winter operations, researchers worked in temperatures approaching -40°C while constantly monitoring one another for signs of frostbite.

Ceccolini explains that even travelling safely across the frozen landscape depends heavily on local knowledge.

“In a whiteout, without the Inuit guides we would not know how to get home – you can’t see anything 10m in front of you.”

Researchers must also remain alert for wildlife, including polar bears and Arctic foxes, which have occasionally damaged scientific equipment.

Encouraging Early Results

Between January and February, the pumps operated for a combined total of 1,080 hours, covering an area approximately 450 metres across.

The equipment itself requires surprisingly little energy.

Rather than lifting water over great distances, the pumps simply move seawater from beneath the ice to its surface, using less electricity than a household toaster.

Satellite imagery now shows the treated area standing out clearly against surrounding melting sea ice, appearing as a bright white island amid increasingly blue conditions.

Researchers have also discovered that pumping seawater transforms the insulating snow layer into ice, allowing freezing air to penetrate more effectively and encourage additional ice growth underneath.

The team has since refined the technique by pumping later in winter and completing two separate pumping cycles, both of which appear to improve results.

Unexpected Discovery: Brighter Ice Reflects More Sunlight

One of the most surprising findings has been that the artificially thickened ice appears to be brighter than surrounding natural sea ice.

Last year’s experiment added about 30cm of additional ice, while this year’s trial increased thickness by around 50 centimetres.

“That was totally unexpected,” Ceccolini says.

Researchers believe the rapidly frozen artificial ice may trap more air bubbles than naturally formed ice, making it more reflective and increasing its ability to bounce sunlight back into space.

Scientists from the University of Washington are independently investigating this phenomenon.

Professor Roger Marchand and polar scientist Melinda Webster are measuring both the reflectivity and salinity of the experimental ice to better understand its long-term behaviour.

Webster, who has conducted Arctic fieldwork every year since 2009, says the effects of climate change have become impossible to ignore.

“It looks so different because the ice has been thinning over the decades.”

Testing New Ways to Slow Arctic Ice Melt

Alongside thickening the sea ice, Real Ice researchers are also testing another technique that could help preserve Arctic ice during the summer.

Cían Sherwin has been experimenting with drilling small holes through the ice to allow meltwater pools to drain away naturally. Researchers first noticed similar holes occurring naturally and decided to investigate whether creating them deliberately could slow melting.

After drilling several 5cm-wide holes, water quickly began flowing through the ice.

“It’ll be the size of a dinner plate in 45 minutes,” Sherwin said.

Within a day, the holes had expanded to the size of maintenance covers as warmer meltwater widened the openings.

By draining the melt ponds, the brighter ice beneath is exposed once more, increasing the amount of sunlight reflected back into space.

Drone imagery has already shown that the six experimental holes noticeably brightened the surrounding area.

Although the research remains at an early stage, Ceccolini is optimistic.

“Perhaps that will give the ice an extra week.”

Inuit Communities Play a Central Role

The project has been developed in close collaboration with the Inuit community of Cambridge Bay, where approximately 83% of residents are Inuit.

For local people, sea ice is far more than frozen water—it’s a vital transport route and an essential part of daily life.

“The ice is very important to us,” says Inuit guide Kyle Weese.

“Everybody uses the ice for transport, gathering food, fishing. You use it to get across to the mainland and do some good caribou or moose hunting. It’s very plentiful there.”

However, Weese has witnessed dramatic environmental changes first-hand.

“The ice is thinner. The freeze-up takes longer than normal and the thaw happens faster now. It’s definitely changing.”

He also notes that warming temperatures are bringing new wildlife into the region.

“Grizzly bears are coming around too.”

Despite the unusual nature of the project, Weese supports the research.

“At first, the idea does sound crazy but it is not trying to hurt the environment, it’s actually trying to help it. It’s good to know how it’s changing so we can try to adapt with it and try to preserve it.”

Community Support and Local Knowledge

Real Ice received a £3.5 million grant from the UK’s Advanced Research and Invention Agency (ARIA) and sought approval from local authorities as well as the Ekaluktutiak Hunters and Trappers Organization before beginning fieldwork.

The researchers also relied heavily on Inuit expertise when selecting safe locations and travelling across the ice.

“The biggest thing is that we learn from the Inuit,” says Sherwin.

Community engagement has been widely praised throughout the project.

One local official told the Guardian:

“Their local engagement is the best I have seen – it’s been community-first from the beginning.”

Could Underwater Drones Scale Up the Technology?

While manually pumping seawater onto sea ice is suitable for small-scale research, it would be impractical across the vast Arctic.

To overcome this challenge, Real Ice is developing autonomous underwater drones capable of carrying out the same work.

A prototype has already completed trials in Finland’s Gulf of Bothnia, where it successfully drilled holes through sea ice using a heated probe.

Researchers are now refining the technology alongside the BioRobotics Institute in Pisa, Italy.

Ceccolini believes operating beneath the ice could actually simplify the engineering challenges.

“Everything works comfortably: electronics, batteries, pumps – you just stick your nose out of the ice, pump water and go back in,” he says.

The long-term vision is for swarms of hydrogen-powered drones to target regions where Arctic sea ice is disappearing most rapidly.

Can Arctic Sea Ice Restoration Be Achieved at Scale?

Since 1979, the Arctic has lost around three million square kilometres of summer sea ice—an area roughly the size of India.

A further 80,000 square kilometres disappear every year on average.

Ceccolini believes preserving even relatively thin ice could make a meaningful difference.

“So that’s a possible start,” he says.

“Even if you have just 20cm of ice, you still reflect the sun.”

Real Ice estimates that halting the annual decline in Arctic sea ice could eventually cost around $10 billion using autonomous drones.

If the simpler drainage-hole technique proves effective on its own, the overall cost could be substantially lower.

Scientists Urge Caution Over Geoengineering

Despite encouraging early findings, many scientists remain cautious about large-scale geoengineering.

Professor Roger Marchand believes further evidence is essential before the technology could ever influence the climate significantly.

“Whether you can do this on a scale that’s large enough to be climatically important is a difficult and open question.

“But I feel like Real Ice are doing the right things. They’re trying to understand the physics of what’s going on and then using that knowledge to answer the question, rather than just assuming that this is doable. They’re going step by step.”

Some polar researchers argue that sea ice thickening could be environmentally risky and distract governments from the urgent need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Professor Shaun Fitzgerald agrees that emissions reductions remain the priority but believes carefully controlled research is worthwhile.

“Anything new has the potential for unintended consequences,” he says.

“I liken it to clinical trials: new drugs have the potential to really help people, but we have to go incredibly carefully and understand what the risks are.”

He also acknowledges concerns that geoengineering could become viewed as a substitute for cutting emissions.

“I think doing research is the right thing to do. But I do respect those who have a different viewpoint.”

Ceccolini says the research aims to answer fundamental scientific questions rather than promote a ready-made solution.

“We are here to resolve the research questions. Is ice thickening effective, does it have side-effects and can it be scaled economically? Then there are bigger questions, like: are governments, policymakers, communities interested? Is a society open to this type of solution?”

Understanding the Environmental Risks

Researchers are also investigating how pumping seawater onto sea ice may affect Arctic ecosystems.

Although natural sea ice contains very little salt, pumping seawater onto the surface introduces salt, nutrients and microscopic organisms that could alter local ecological conditions.

Scientists are analysing biological samples to understand any long-term effects.

Researchers are also considering whether flooding snow with seawater could interfere with the denning behaviour of polar bears and seals, although the current study site is not used for breeding.

Sherwin stresses that environmental safety remains a priority.

“It’s all research that has to be done and will be done as we go forward.”

A Long-Term Vision for Arctic Conservation

When Real Ice was founded in 2022, the team’s first step was to consult Arctic communities.

“We went up to Iqaluit [the capital of Nunavut in Canada] and simply asked key stakeholders the question: ‘Is this interesting or valuable to your community?’,” says Woods.

“We got an overwhelmingly positive answer and thought, OK, let’s try to do this.”

Real Ice is not the only organisation exploring ways to preserve Arctic sea ice. Other projects are investigating alternative approaches, including strengthening naturally occurring “ice arches” that help retain sea ice within the Arctic Ocean.

Ultimately, researchers acknowledge that only continued scientific testing will determine whether any of these approaches can contribute meaningfully to climate resilience.

Sherwin summarises the team’s goal simply:

“We’d like to see the research just continue to go forward in a way that we can have an informed opinion on what this looks like at scale, if it scales at all.”

Ceccolini hopes any future technology could directly benefit Indigenous communities.

“The dream is that sea ice thickening will be undertaken by the Indigenous communities. Imagine what they are going through, with the risk of losing their culture, losing their youth, people just moving away.

“They could do something that can help preserve their culture, basically doing conservation, because this is what we are talking about. This is an ecosystem conservation project.”

Supporting Arctic Conservation and Climate Action

At Natural World Fund, we recognise that protecting the Arctic is essential for maintaining Earth’s climate balance and preserving unique ecosystems that support wildlife and Indigenous communities. While innovative research into sea ice restoration may provide valuable new tools, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and protecting natural habitats remain fundamental to tackling climate change.

If you care about restoring native wildlife, support the work of Natural World Fund today.