It is now known that the accelerated loss of Arctic Ice has a profound global effect, causing extreme weather events and driving up global temperatures.Ice911 is a nonprofit based out of Silicon Valley with the mission of restoring Arctic sea ice. Currently, Ice911 is acknowledged as the furthest ahead Arctic restoration effort in the world.
The idea behind this technology is to help vulnerable first year sea ice to survive the melt season and become thick, bright white multi-year ice. This is achieved by applying a thin layer of reflective glass microspheres on thin first-year ice in the Arctic. This material is made of floating hollow glass microspheres. This does not attract oil based pollutants and the particles are too big to cause respiratory harm.
Life on earth has co-evolved with silica, the main ingredient, and all biotoxicity studies to date have shown the material to be non-toxic. Small field studies, including in the Arctic, coupled with climate modeling, have shown promising results. The modeling results show that cooler temperatures in the Arctic and reduced global temperature rise can be achieved with deployment over even limited strategic areas of the Arctic.
But of course the Ice911 technology is not an end all solution to the climate crisis. The aim remains to stabilize global climate and slow the devastating effects of climate change, while giving the world much-needed time to implement long-term sustainable energy and conservation solutions.
www.ice911.org
