ICE 911

Protecting melting Arctic ice to slow climate change.

The Problem

We need action now to ease climate change. The most reflective type of ice in the Arctic — multiyear ice that survives arctic summers —has melted rapidly over the last few decades, as the poles warm even faster than the rest of the planet. As the climate-stabilizing ice cap disappears, freshly exposed parts of the Arctic Ocean soak in heat from the sun, accelerating local ice melt and global temperature increases. Lost ice has already contributed to one-third of the global rise in temperature. The longer we wait, the more temperatures will rise, and the more devastating the impacts will be.

The Solution

The goal of ICE911 is to slow climate change by protecting arctic ice with eco-friendly materials that reflect away the sun’s heat. The nonprofit organization, with a core team of experienced engineers and scientists with expertise in materials and electrical engineering, electronics, optics, instrumentation, open source software, and more, has developed “bright ice” materials that dramatically reduce the rate of melting in field tests. When ice lasts longer, the Arctic stays cooler, and so does the planet. Their 3-year plan, called Mission 2020, has the potential to save multiyear ice and help turn new winter ice into multiyear ice, significantly reducing global temperature rise. “By acting to slow the melt now, we are working to give ourselves the chance for a healthy future on planet Earth.”