Can a simple geoengineering approach restore dwindling Arctic ice?

In the throes of climate change, the Arctic is warming faster than any other part of the planet—nearly four times the rate of the global average (1). This year, the region had a record low amount of sea ice (since satellite observations began in 1979) (2), and summertime ice at the North Pole is on track to disappear entirely by 2050. The air, water, and ice in the Arctic also shape weather, ocean currents, and ecosystems at lower latitudes in ways that scientists are still trying to understand.

A rapidly warming Arctic has prompted a group of enterprising researchers to consider ways to restore crucial Arctic ice. Image credit: Science Source/Peter J. Raymond.

These rapid shifts have prompted heated debate about the prospects of geoengineering. The idea of deliberately altering geophysical systems is fraught with technical challenges, scientific uncertainties, and unresolved issues of accountability.

But some scientists are forging ahead. One of the most active frontiers is saving and potentially restoring Arctic sea ice, what some researchers see as a benign climate intervention because many of the proposed tactics are reversible and confined to designated regions (3). From creating new ice to altering ocean currents to changing the energy balance of the atmosphere, researchers have started modeling and testing interventions to slow, stop, and reverse the melt. They still, however, must figure out how to greatly scale up these experiments in a brutally cold, remote region. Just as challenging: finding reliable funding and building a trustworthy oversight system to pursue an unprecedented tactic for a huge problem.