Pumping Water Onto Sea Ice Could Halt Ice Loss in the Arctic—Nonprofit Proves ‘Naive’ Idea Plausible

From the Netherlands comes the story of a man who realized we might delay the effects of climate change using the same method that Dutch landowners utilize every year to make ice skating rinks.

These so-called “IJsmeesters” or Ice Masters, pump water onto the surface of meadows and allow it to freeze overnight. They continue this process until the surface is thick enough to skate on.

One such IJsmeester wondered if you could do the same on the Arctic Ocean to preserve sea ice through until winter, and Arctic Reflections was born.

Fonger Ypma, the nonprofit’s chief executive, was interviewed about this crazy idea by the Guardian last year, and crazy though it may sound, Ypma actually got the project off the ground, and recently celebrated the completion of advanced field testing in t