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Arctic sea ice registered a massive dip this summer and likely melted to its minimum extent for the year on September 11, 2024, according to researchers at NASA and the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC). Ice typically thaws and regrows between seasons in the region, but in the past 46 years, more of it has melted in the summer and less ice has formed in winter, satellite data shows. 

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Last week, scientists from the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) revealed that Thwaites Glacier, also known as "Doomsday Glacier", is inching dangerously close to collapsing. Their data suggested that it could completely vanish by the 23rd century. If this happens, global sea levels can rise by two feet (65cm), sinking several cities, the study says.

Amid this, a glimmer of hope has emerged as scientists say they have found a way to rebuild ice under the ocean. As per initial trials, researchers have found that pumping seawater onto snow in the Canadian Arctic can potentially make the ice beneath thicker. 

The field trials were conducted by UK start-up Real Ice earlier this year which aims to thicken ice sheets in the Arctic that are essential for the survival of polar wildlife and Inuit communities.

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The experiment involves drilling through the ice to the ocean after which water is pumped onto the snow above. The air pockets in the snow fill up with this water which freezes and gradually turns into ice. 

Also Read: Antarctica's 'doomsday glacier' might completely vanish by 23rd century

“Our objective is to demonstrate that ice thickening can be effective in preserving and restoring Arctic sea ice,” Andrea Ceccolini, co-CEO of Real Ice told New Scientist. The company collaborated with the Centre for Climate Repair at the University of Cambridge.

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The results are promising and the researchers were able to grow 25 cm of natural ice on the underside of the ice.

“The results in May confirm that actually, yes, you do get this additional rate of growth of new sea ice from the underside,” Shaun Fitzgerald, director of the Centre for Climate Repair, told New Scientist. 

Shrinking Arctic ice

Arctic sea ice this year has shrunk to a minimal extent of 1.65 million square miles, about 750,000 square miles below the 1981 to 2010 end-of-summer average of 2.4 million square miles. This loss is equal to an area larger than the state of Alaska. 

The region has been predicted to be completely ice-free in the summers by the 2030s. 

Along with shrinking, sea ice is also getting younger, Nathan Kurtz, lab chief of NASA’s Cryospheric Sciences Laboratory at the agency’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, said. 

“Today, the overwhelming majority of ice in the Arctic Ocean is thinner, first-year ice, which is less able to survive the warmer months. There is far, far less ice that is three years or older now,” Kurtz said.