Sea-Ice Thickening Trials Increase Thickness and Duration in Canada but Show No Melt Delay in Norway

Real Ice flooded and froze snow over 250000 square metres at eight sites in the Northwest Passage south of Cambridge Bay, Canada, between December 2024 and February 2025. 62 metres. The company estimated the thickened ice lasted seven to 10 days longer than the historical average before melting.

Arctic Reflections conducted a smaller test in April 2024 in a Svalbard lagoon. The team drilled through nearly a metre of ice, pumped seawater onto a 20-centimetre snow layer for slightly more than an hour on two consecutive days, and created a 1500-square-metre slush layer that froze solid. 16 metres.

A camera left at the Arctic Reflections site recorded that the treated ice melted on the same day as an untreated control area, despite starting to rot later. Both trials produced brighter ice surfaces, visible as white patches in June satellite images from the Canadian sites.

Christian Haas at the Alfred Wegener Institute analysed the Norway results and stated that while thickness increased, the effect on the timing of ice disappearance remains an open question.

Andrea Ceccolini of Real Ice said the work contributed to reducing planetary heating. The Arctic Reflections study calculated that the cooling benefit barely offset emissions from the pumps and vehicles used. 9 million UK government grant that also supports both companies.

He noted that local success raises questions about scaling to 10 or 100 kilometres. Real Ice has suggested that 500000 underwater drones could eventually treat 1 million square kilometres, while Arctic Reflections is examining targeted straits where ice flows south.

Last year 42 scientists published an article stating that polar geoengineering approaches including sea-ice thickening are unfeasible at scale and risk diverting attention from emissions reductions.

Michael Meredith at the British Antarctic Survey said the technique might serve only as a limited local stopgap.