A geoengineering project that was testing a novel way of cooling the planet has come to an end amid criticism from local communities and concerns about its environmental impacts.
The Arctic Ice Project announced last month that it would conclude its research and begin winding down operations. The organization had spent more than a decade researching a controversial strategy to preserve the Arctic’s melting sea ice — by covering it with reflective substances designed to beam sunlight away from Earth.
The project’s main test material involved tiny silica beads, which the researchers compared to “reflective sand.” The beads were designed to prevent the ocean from absorbing the sun’s heat — stopping the sea ice from melting in the process.
The project’s operations have included a combination of modeling studies, lab testing and field testing. In one of its largest field experiments, the organization — which was then operating under the name Ice911 Research — in 2017 spread its materials over 45,000 square feet of ice on North Meadow Lake in Utqiagvik, Alaska.
