Why the Arctic Matters
We chose to focus on the Arctic because it's the area where we can make the largest impact on the Earth’s temperatures. The ice in the Arctic acts as a global heat shield, playing a critical role in maintaining a safe and stable climate.
The Arctic is made up of two different kinds of ice: seasonal (“young”) ice that grows during the winter and melts during the summer, and permanent (“old”) ice that stays all year-round.
This permanent ice acts as the backbone of the entire region, while younger seasonal ice forms and retreats every season.
The younger ice is more vulnerable to the harsh Arctic environmental elements. Today, 70% of the Arctic’s seasonal ice cover forms and melts within a single year.
The Arctic's oldest ice is vanishing
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Arctic report card communicates that the oldest, thickest Arctic sea ice (the Earth’s natural heat shield!) has declined by 95%.
With the region’s ice declining, research shows an icefree Arctic summer by as early as 2030.
The below NOAA video tracks the relative amount of ice of different ages from 1990 through early November 2016. Seasonal ice is darkest blue. Ice that’s 9+ years old is white.
Over the years, satellite-based passive microwave images of the sea ice have provided scientists a reliable tool for continuously monitoring changes in the Arctic ice. Every summer the Arctic ice cap melts down to what NASA scientists call its "minimum" before colder weather begins to cause ice cover to increase.
The below NASA video shows a rapid decline in Arctic Sea ice over the last 35 years. In the first week of January 1988, over 1.2 million square miles were covered by sea ice four years of age or older, compared with just over 44,000 square miles in the same week in 2019.
Reflectivity of Arctic ice
Because the ocean absorbs 94% of the heat that comes its way, the Arctic could become a global heater if we let its ice melt.
There are three ways Arctic ice reflects all solar radiation:
Open ocean. Only reflects 5% of solar radiation.
Young ice. Reflects approximately 30% of solar radiation.
Old, permanent ice. In years past, this ice reflected 80% of solar radiation. However, as stated above, 95% of the thickest, oldest ice has melted and is now gone.
Young Arctic ice with our solution
We’ve spent the past decade testing and developing material approaches that could be used to make young, thin ice reflective. Our team now focuses on using reflective hollow glass microspheres, chosen for its safety, effectiveness, and practicality.
These microspheres reflects heat and mimics young, bright ice. It’s our goal to keep more ice in the Arctic during the summer and restore the region’s ice sheet to its previous size over time.
This material choice would mimic young, bright ice to reflect the most solar radiation possible -- keeping more ice in the Arctic and the planet cooler for everyone.
Learn more about our proposed, most-promising material of choice.