Working at the Speed of Ice – A Letter from our Founder

Dear Friends and Supporters,

What does a “glacial pace” mean to you? To me it means racing against a warming planet’s melting ice and the threat that poses to billions of people. I founded Bright Ice Initiative last March to help slow the worst, immediate effects of a warming climate on ice. Melting continental glaciers will eventually impact everyone, but melting mountain glaciers are immediate threats to local populations around the globe.

Ice is highly reflective, returning a large amount of the sun’s energy back to space. Ice loss accelerates warming, as now-exposed darker materials absorb energy, amplifying climate change risks like failing water supplies, floods, loss of homes, broken dams, and crop failures. At BII we responsibly evaluate safe and effective local solutions to slow ice melt. We use nature-based, safe materials on icy surfaces to reflect even more sunlight, to help ice last longer. Our field tests involve permitted work with experts in the science and on local conditions to be sure what we do benefits the community.

Thanks to our supporters, Bright Ice Initiative is off to a great start. And we are proud to offer you a chance to share in our efforts to defend against this existential threat.

We published peer-reviewed results from our testing on a Minnesota pond. And on nearby sloped areas in Minnesota our partners researched a natural, clay-based material meant to stay in place longer on steep glacial slopes.

Our mission at BII is to address glacial ice melt through localized, low-impact approaches to increase the reflectivity of ice and snow. I am excited by the prospect of our next chapter, working with your support. Our partnerships with concerned citizens like you, have allowed our team to accomplish a great deal in a short time. We’ve tested and improved our localized surface-brightening solutions on sloped areas, to preserve more glacial ice.

A small field test in August on the Langjokull Glacier in Iceland, collaborating with glaciologist Dr. Thorsteinn Thorsteinsson of the Icelandic Meteorological Office, permitted by Icelandic governmental agencies.

In the coming year, we must grow to keep pace with ever-growing needs. Solutions for melting ice are needed in India, Greenland, Canada, Switzerland, the Antarctic, the Arctic, and the Andes. Climate modeling with our long-time collaborators at Climformatics can be used to help sort out which areas will experience the most urgent need. Your financial support will be crucial to that model building as well as our future research collaborations.

You’ll become a subscriber with your donation, today, and you’ll receive quarterly progress updates from me and my team, as well as exclusive opportunities to attend events and talks aimed at climate change. If you ever have any questions, you can always reach out to us directly.

Thanks for your partnership to preserve ice and slow climate risks.

It means the world — for all of us.

Best regards,
Dr. Leslie Field and the Bright Ice Initiative Team

P.S. If you are at all concerned about a warming planet’s effects on the environment, please give to Bright Ice today – we are committed to slowing ice melt, working locally but thinking globally. Whether you’re already a committed supporter or new to our work, please subscribe to our newsletter at the bottom of any page of this website, and check out our Facebook page, and LinkedIn page, where you can follow our vital efforts.