Research icebreaker Polarstern en route to investigate climate change in Arctic

Wednesday, May 20th 2015 - 20:34 UTC

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Research icebreaker Polarstern left its home port in Bremerhaven on Tuesday setting a course for the Arctic. Led by Dr Ilka Peeken from the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) a team of 53 researchers from 11 countries will investigate the effects of climate change in the Arctic, from the surface ice floes down to the seafloor Read full article

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DennisA
“Global warming is especially making its presence felt in the Arctic, as reflected in the record low figures on the sea-ice extent.”

As the satellite record only goes back to 1979 and physical recorded evidence shows much lower ice extent in the 1920's, the above claim cannot be substantiated. There is increasing evidence of a stasis in ice reduction in the Arctic and an increase of ice in Antarctica. This is in line with the stasis in global temperature, as measured by satellites.

However, “When more sunlight penetrates the ice, it means that algae, which make up the very beginning of the food web, have more energy for growth – just like their “cousin” plants on land, algae in the ocean need nutrients to grow.”

So this is a good thing, because other organisms higher up the food chain have more to eat.
May 21st, 2015 - 08:26 am - Link - Report abuse 0
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