April 22, 2008, 3:00 – 4:00
Packard 101
Stanford University
Ice911: A Proposal to Reversibly Rebuild Polar Ice and Habitat
Dr. Leslie Field
Abstract: In this talk a proposal will be described that is aimed at locally and reversibly
reducing the melting rate of, and perhaps even rebuilding, polar and glacial ice. This
proposal, developed over the last two years as independent non-institutional work by Dr.
Field, is aimed at providing an interim fix to help stabilize polar ecosystems while
longer-term solutions are developed and implemented. Reversibility and relatively low
cost per area were designed in as essential elements meant to allow the interim fix to be
removed or even reversed. Such reversibility is critical in such a system, in case current
climate predictions have missed some key factor, or in case this and other implemented
solutions eventually overcorrect.
The proposed system should optimally be equipped with a variety of sensors to study its
effects on ice and climate, in order to document and improve its performance. The
proposed system is intended to reduce the melting rate of polar and glacial ice, and to
provide for adjustments that can be made locally and reversibly within arctic, antarctic or
glacial regions, at a relatively low cost per area. It is meant to provide a tool that can be
implemented over the course of a very few years to help mankind cope with, and possibly
alleviate and reverse, one of the effects of global environmental change.
Background: It is widely, though not universally, accepted that ongoing climate change
has raised the earth’s global average temperature, and that current and future effects may
include an increase in sea level, a reduction in the percentage of the earth’s surface
covered by the polar ice caps, and a shifting of weather patterns. These changes may in
future lead to effects on the oceanic currents and further changes in weather patterns that
could in turn lead to changes in the distribution of habitable land areas for various
species, changes in the distribution of areas suited to agriculture, and changes in locations
of usable coastal ports and shipping routes. A positive feedback loop known as the IceAlbedo Feedback Effect is involved in the reduction of icecap area, whereby the more the
ice melts, the faster the remaining ice melts, because the increased areas of open ocean
absorb more solar energy (have a lower albedo) than the ice they replace.
Various solutions and geoengineering approaches to mitigate some climate change effects
have been proposed. The most commonly proposed long-term solution is to slow down
the effects of global warming by addressing one apparent cause of global warming via a
reduction in the generation of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide (CO2). For
example, CO2 generation may be slowed down by providing for energy and
transportation needs through the use of solar, wind, hydroelectric and nuclear power, and
alternative transportation fuels, such as electricity and bio-derived liquid fuels. However,
these proposals and others like them could take decades to implement widely, and there
can be substantial technological, sociological, political and economic hurdles to be
overcome before widespread adoption can occur.
Another type of proposal employs geoengineering to mitigate some of the effects of
global warming. Two well-publicized proposals of this type include launching into orbit
trillions of mirrors in order to reflect a percentage of incoming solar energy, and injecting
pollutants into the upper atmosphere in order to introduce a reverse-greenhouse effect.
Potential difficulties in some of the previous geoengineering proposals include their
irreversibility, cost, and possible secondary environmental and health effects.
Biographical sketch: Dr. Leslie Field is the Founder and Managing Member of
SmallTech Consulting, LLC and the Founder and CEO of MEMS Insight, Inc. She also
serves as a Consulting Professor in Electrical Engineering at Stanford University. Leslie
has a background in Electrical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, corporate R&D, and
consulting. Dr. Field, through her consulting companies, has provided consulting
services to a broad spectrum of companies for technical and strategic projects since
2002. Previously, Dr. Field worked in MEMS R&D at Hewlett-Packard
Laboratories/Agilent Laboratories and while there, played a key role in starting HP Labs'
Micromechanics group and worked on a variety of MEMS projects and devices. Farther
back, Leslie's work at Chevron Research Company resulted in improved commercial
refining methods for various petroleum-based products. Dr. Field has served on
conference technical program committees and as a scientific reviewer for NIH. She has
thirty-seven issued US patents and has authored fourteen technical publications. Dr. Field
earned PhD and MS degrees in Electrical Engineering from UC Berkeley's Sensor &
Actuator Center, and MS and BS degrees in Chemical Engineering from MIT.