Cold cuts

Scientists are alarmed by the fast-melting and thinning ice sheets at the North and South Poles. Using an experimental method, they are trying to slow down the melting being caused by global warming.

Dr. Shaun Fitzgerald and his team of researchers from the University of Cambridge’s Center for Climate Repair are behind a hole drilling project in Cambridge Bay, a tiny Canadian village in the Arctic Circle where temperature ranges from -30 degrees Celsius to -45C. Through a pipe inserted into the hole, 1,000 liters of seawater are pumped out and sprayed over the icy surface.

The seawater quickly freezes and thickens the surface ice exposed to the cold winter air. The additional layer of ice prevents the icy ground from quickly melting during summer.

BBC reports that Andrea Ceccolini of Real Ice, a British company leading the experiment, said, “The idea is that the thicker the ice (at the end of winter) the longer it will survive when we go into the melt season.”

Meanwhile, startup company Arctic Ice focuses on icebergs in Greenland that have detached from the ice sheet. “We are looking for the clearest and thereby also oldest and purest ice,” BBC quoted Malik V. Rasmussen, one of the co-founders of Arctic Ice.

The process involves hauling drifting icebergs into a ship using a crane, cutting them into smaller pieces, testing their cleanliness, and packing them into insulated crates. The tons of cut Greenland icebergs are then put inside a steel container and shipped to Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

In Dubai, the cut iceberg is repacked and sold to glitzy bars for chilling sipping drinks. In effect, ancient Arctic ice carved from a Greenland iceberg no longer melts into the ocean but in a very expensive drink.