00:00The Arctic is disappearing.
00:02In just a few years, the North Pole could see its first ice-free summer in the last 125,000 years.
00:10But a bold new experiment might turn back the clock.
00:13Scientists are refreezing the Arctic.
00:16If they succeed, they could save the North Pole.
00:19But if they fail, they could trigger unforeseen disasters.
00:23So, which way would things go?
00:25Well, here's some backstory.
00:26Deep in the Arctic, temperatures drop so low that metal cracks and winds scream across the ice.
00:33In winter, it's minus 30 degrees Fahrenheit on average.
00:37But despite the seemingly extreme cold, it's actually melting, warming two to three times faster than the rest of the planet.
00:45Now, ice is like Earth's natural mirror.
00:48It reflects sunlight back into space, keeping the planet cool.
00:51When it melts, it exposes the dark ocean underneath.
00:54The ocean absorbs sunlight instead of reflecting it, and it spreads all across the planet.
01:01This warms the planet even faster, melting even more ice.
01:05It's a vicious cycle.
01:07And if it continues, we'll reach a point where the ice won't come back.
01:11That thick, ancient ice that has covered the North Pole for thousands of years is already 95% gone.
01:17It's been disappearing since the 1980s.
01:20The ice that remains there now is thin and fragile.
01:24And when it disappears, it will trigger a dangerous chain reaction.
01:28Meanwhile, a group of researchers from a UK startup called Real Ice is out there trying to slow down or even reverse the melting of the Arctic.
01:37The project takes place in a tiny frozen village in Canada called Cambridge Bay.
01:43Real Ice wants to break the vicious cycle.
01:46And here's their plan.
01:47First, they drill through the existing ice and place an underwater pump beneath it.
01:52Then they pump seawater onto the ice surface, where it quickly freezes into an extra thick layer.
01:57Finally, they remove snow from the ice, which usually acts like a blanket, preventing further freezing.
02:04After that, ice keeps growing.
02:06Stronger, thicker, and harder to melt.
02:09It's a simple idea inspired by nature itself.
02:12Ice naturally forms its way in some Arctic regions.
02:15But now, scientists want to do it on a massive scale.
02:19So far, it appears to be working.
02:21Between January and May 2024, they covered around 44,000 square feet of ice.
02:27And it became 20 inches thicker, on average.
02:30And in November 2024, they started a new round of tests.
02:34In the first 10 days of the trial, the ice was already 4 inches thicker.
02:39Now, they'll return in May 2025 to check out how things are going.
02:44They think it's going to get between around 16 to 31 inches of it during the Arctic winter.
02:50It's a small start, admittedly.
02:52But if they can prove it works, their plan is to expand across an area more than twice the size of California,
02:59about 386,000 square miles of ice.
03:03And they're not stopping there.
03:05The big idea is to send in 500,000 underwater drones, powered by clean energy, to automate the entire process.
03:12These drones would drill holes, pump water, and refreeze the ice without human intervention.
03:19But not everyone is convinced.
03:22Some scientists think this whole idea is a disaster waiting to happen.
03:26First, they point out that saltier ice, the one from seawater pumped onto it, melts faster in the summer.
03:32So if this new ice melts too quickly, we could end up making the situation worse.
03:37Some of them also think this is a dangerous distraction from the core problem, like treating the symptoms instead of the root causes.
03:45Besides, making a small patch of ice thicker is one thing.
03:48But doing this across the entire Arctic?
03:50That's another challenge entirely.
03:53Another thing they're worried about is the ecosystem.
03:56The Arctic is one of the most fragile ecosystems on Earth.
03:59Changing ice thickness could affect marine life, disrupt algae growth, and impact the food chain in ways we don't fully understand.
04:08There's also the question of money.
04:10Realize estimates that refreezing the entire Arctic will cost about 5 to 6 billion dollars per year.
04:17Who's paying for this?
04:18Right now, they're self-funded with some investors backing them.
04:21But eventually, they hope that countries, global funds, and even corporations will finance the project.
04:27Realize argues that doing nothing could be far worse.
04:32If we don't act, we could lose the Arctic within our lifetime.
04:36That could at least help to buy more time to fix the planet.
04:39Desperate times call for desperate measures.
04:42Now, the idea of saving the Arctic ice isn't new.
04:45Over the years, scientists have suggested some pretty wild plans to stop the melting.
04:50In 2017, there was the initial wind-powered pump plan.
04:54Physicist Stephen Desch proposed installing about 10 million wind-powered pumps in the Arctic.
05:00These pumps would pull seawater up onto the ice, kind of like real ice.
05:04It would freeze in the cold winter months, creating a thicker ice layer.
05:08The biggest problem is that someone would have to run this entire show.
05:12And what happens if something goes wrong?
05:14In 2018, there was the Glass Beads Plan, which was supposed to start in 2020s.
05:20A team called the Arctic Ice Project suggested covering the Arctic with tiny reflective glass beads.
05:27Yep, glass balls.
05:29The idea was basically to replace the ice's mirror effect.
05:33The beads would bounce sunlight away, keeping the ice colder for longer.
05:36The plan is being tested by a group of scientists working with the Arctic Ice Project.
05:42They say the glass balls are made of a material that's safe for animals.
05:46They even claim birds use similar materials to help them digest food.
05:50The glass used in these microspheres is the same material used in lab equipment and light bulbs.
05:56Sounds safe, right?
05:57Well, not so fast.
05:59There's also the environmental risk.
06:01These glass balls are tiny, and they could easily get into the ocean, impacting everything from fish to plankton.
06:08We still need more research to understand how this material breaks down in the ocean and whether it could affect marine life.
06:15But where things get really crazy is when we start talking about scaling this up.
06:20To cover just a tiny fraction of the Arctic, they would need millions of tons of these tiny microspheres.
06:27And that's just for starters.
06:28And they'd have to be working 24-7 through freezing temperatures and snowstorms.
06:34The scientists believe this could help keep the ice thick enough to survive summer and even slow the melting.
06:40But can it really work?
06:42Then there's also the Bright Ice Initiative, founded by the same folks behind the Arctic Ice Project.
06:49Instead of focusing on the Arctic Ocean, they want to use the same glass microspheres to restore glaciers.
06:54They've even tried this out on a glacier in Iceland.
06:58But experts are still skeptical.
07:00They say it could just speed up melting instead of reversing it.
07:03Now, another idea was cloud seeding with water particles.
07:06This would involve spraying ocean water into the sky itself.
07:10This would form clouds, and they'd reflect more sunlight.
07:14So, as you can see, some of these plans were too expensive, too complicated, or just straight-up wild.
07:20The real ISIS plan borrows ideas from earlier projects, but is much cheaper and more practical.
07:27Most importantly, it's working.
07:30But all this Arctic disaster is already affecting people.
07:33In the village of Newtok, Alaska, the land is disappearing.
07:37Each year, about 70 feet of the riverbank erodes, taking homes and history with it.
07:43That's all because of the erosion and the thawing permafrost.
07:46Now, these people had to move to a safer place called Myrtevek, just 9 miles away.
07:53But it's a long and challenging journey.
07:55The relocation is taking years of planning, with Newtok residents already starting this shift in 2019.
08:02The new village offers better health and safety, but it's still a work in progress.
08:07Things like the school and grocery store remain in the old village, which makes things harder.
08:12Water and sewage systems are being set up, and for now, most residents are using a honey bucket system.
08:19But at least, they have a chance to rebuild.
08:22It's still unclear whether these geoengineering ideas are a lifeline or a disaster.
08:27For now, we can just keep an eye on them.
08:30That's it for today.
08:31So hey, if you pacified your curiosity, then give the video a like and share it with your friends.
08:36Or if you want more, just click on these videos and stay on the bright side.
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