Climate scientists keep cool in pitch black world of ice ... and bears Arctic
Their Christmas dinner was enjoyed on a ship frozen into several metres of sea ice, hundreds of miles into the Arctic Circle.
And yet the crew and scientists on board the Polarstern icebreaker, which is drifting in the ice to explore why the Arctic is warming so quickly, may not even get a white Christmas.
The Mosaic Expedition, the largest expedition of its kind in history, launched in September, when the Polarstern travelled to the Siberian Arctic and was frozen into the sea ice. Since then it has drifted across the frozen north, travelling at roughly 0.1 knots a day. It is now 370km south of the North Pole, above Siberia.
‘‘The Arctic Ocean, the pack ice of the sea, is like a conveyor belt,’’ said Dr
Christian Haas, an ice expert and chief scientist on board.
‘‘Most of the ice comes from the coast of Siberia, and with prevailing winds moves from Siberia across the North Pole towards Greenland and the part of the North Atlantic between Greenland and Svalbard.
Once it passes through there it essentially melts.’’
The Polarstern is frozen into this pack ice, and moving slowly along the giant Arctic conveyor belt.
The crew expect the ice to spit them back into the Atlantic some time next autumn.
Contrary to popular imagination, the Arctic is one of the driest places on Earth, and snowfall is rare.
‘‘The climate in the Arctic is pretty dry in general, though you always have ice crystals which feel like snow but is blown by the wind,’’ said Haas.
‘‘The main obstacle is the darkness. The ship is pretty well lit but as soon as you go further away you have to have a headlamp and it makes orientation and watching for polar bears quite challenging.’’
The current crew arrived a week ago; the 100-strong team they replaced are on a two-week voyage back to Tromso.
Haas and his team will remain in the ice for two months, leaving around the time sunlight returns to the Arctic. Their Christmas Day was spent together on the ship, with roast duck, red cabbage and potatoes for dinner.
Haas said that the crew would have ‘‘a Christmas reception in one of the saloons, with speeches and champagne and some singing and a secret Santa. We’ll have a good meal, then retreat for some quiet.’’