Engineer Recommends Glass Beads To Help Stop Arctic Ice Melt

The Arctic is melting at unprecedented rates but one engineer thinks we might be able to save it using millions of glass beads.

Nonprofit organization Ice911 is proposing blanketing the Arctic with the beads so they will form a protective layer and reflect sunlight away.

The Arctic has lost 75 percent of the volume of its ice over the last four decades, according to expert analysis.

This not only contributes to rising sea levels but prevents a lot of sunlight being reflected back into space as we rely on the vast white ice sheets to do this.

Unfortunately less ice means less heat leaving the planet so even more melting.

However, Leslie Field, the founder of Ice911, thinks her bead idea could help.

Field told Business Insider: “We’re an awfully creative species and we need to slow the climate-change clock.”

The tiny beads Field proposes look like grains of sand.

They are made from a compound called silica, which is said to be harmless to humans and animals.

The material has been described like snow and it can float.

Silica beads have been designed to stick to ice and water and not attract oil-based pollutants.

Ice911 thinks they could restore ice reflectivity and help lower temperatures by 1.5 degrees if they cover a large part of the northern Arctic.

So far, the beads have only been tested in smaller field-tests.

The material was spread over a frozen lake in Alaska in 2018 and was said to increase ice reflectivity and thickness.

Ice911 doesn’t want to cover all of the Arctic sea ice with the beads but would select certain key areas.

Field has estimated that the technology would cost a staggering $5 billion (£3.9 billion) to spread on a large and meaningful scale but argues the cost of doing nothing is far greater.

For now, Ice911 will continue to conduct test and aim to get permissions from governments for larger scale experiments.

Source: Nypost