Researchers from more than a dozen nations prepared Friday to launch the biggest and most complex expedition ever attempted in the central Arctic — a yearlong journey through the ice they hope will improve the scientific models that underpin our understanding of climate change. The 140-million euro
1 / 3Arctic MissionThe German icebreaker and research vessel Polarstern at shore in Tromso, Norway, Wednesday Sept. 19, 2019. Scientists from more than a dozen nations are preparing to launch the biggest and most complex research expedition ever attempted in the central Arctic. About 100 researchers will set sail Friday from Tromso, Norway, aboard the German icebreaker Polarstern in an effort to understand how climate change is affecting the Arctic and regions beyond.
Packed full of scientific equipment, the German icebreaker RV Polarstern will leave the port of Tromsoe in northern Norway accompanied by a Russian vessel to search for a suitably large floe on which to anchor and set up base. "Everyone worries about the cold but the psychological aspect of not seeing anything and knowing there are polar bears out there is something that shouldn't be underestimated," she told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.
"What's particularly interesting is the transition from winter to spring," she said, a time when the ice is normally too thick for ships to reach the Central Arctic. Energy from light affects algae growth and ocean temperatures, which in turn influence how much sea ice melts from below. Recent changes in the jet stream — a current of air that circles and insulates the Arctic like a giant thermos — have allowed warm, moist winds from low latitudes to move north. At the same time, chilly blasts of Arctic air — the dreaded polar vortices — have brought deep freeze conditions to the continental U.S. and Europe.Concerns about global warming have spread far beyond the scientific community in recent years.
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