Arctic Reflections, a research company based in the Netherlands, announced that it has increased the thickness of roughly 17 hectares of sea ice off the coast of Nunavut, Canada, by using a pump system that lifts relatively warm seawater from beneath the existing ice and sprays it upward where the cold air causes it to freeze into a new layer.

How the pump method works

The process draws water from below the ice, a layer that is warmer than the surface, and projects it into the frigid air. The water solidifies on contact, creating an additional ice sheet. The company’s founder explained that similar pump technology has been employed for decades to construct temporary ice roads.

Potential local benefits

According to the founder, even if the technique cannot be expanded to cover the entire Arctic, it could serve as a climate‑adaptation tool for Inuit settlements that rely on sea ice for hunting, travel and cultural activities. He also suggested that a failed trial would still constitute scientific progress.

Environmental safeguards and parallel efforts

Arctic Reflections says it selects test sites that are rarely visited by marine mammals in order to limit ecological impact. A German start‑up, Real Ice, is conducting comparable pump trials, while other research groups are exploring underwater drones and amphibious vehicles equipped with larger pumps to spread seawater over broader ice areas. All of these initiatives remain experimental, with no commercial deployment reported.

Scientific criticism

More than 40 climate scientists signed a letter in September condemning pump‑based ice thickening as dangerous geoengineering. Among the signatories, a glaciologist described the concept as science fiction and warned that moving water upward could introduce heat to the ice surface, potentially accelerating melt. A geophysicist from the University of Bremen, who leads sea‑ice physics at the Alfred Wegener Institute, warned that the process could add heat and moisture to the lower atmosphere, leading to warming, and noted that the salinity of seawater can make the newly formed ice less stable and prone to internal melting. He argued that the physics, and perhaps even the philosophy, oppose the method and cautioned that such experiments might distract from the urgent need to cut carbon emissions.

Broader climate context

Satellite observations show that Arctic summer sea‑ice volume has declined by at least 75 % since the 1970s. Sea ice reflects roughly 85 % of incoming sunlight, whereas open water reflects only about 7 %, meaning that loss of ice increases heat absorption by the ocean and raises the risk of crossing irreversible climate thresholds. The Arctic Ocean spans about 14 million square kilometres, so the 17‑hectare thickening represents an extremely small fraction of the total area.

Governance and future plans

The European Commission’s climate‑action unit has stated that any large‑scale geoengineering project must undergo strict governance, transparent funding and thorough environmental impact assessments before receiving EU support. Environmental NGOs have called for an international moratorium on large‑scale Arctic geoengineering until a robust regulatory framework is in place.

Arctic Reflections plans additional field trials next year to improve pump efficiency and test the durability of the ice created, with an intention to publish the results in peer‑reviewed journals.