In September 2019, German researchers aboard the Polarstern vessel embarked on the largest expedition called the Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate (MOSAiC). For an entire year, they studied how climate change has been affecting the north.
The MOSAiC expedition included about 300 scientists from various disciplines alongside another 300 crew members, engineers, security personnel, and logisticians from nearly 60 different countries. This unique journey across the Arctic Ocean was supported by over 70 institutions across 20 countries.
The Polarstern crew completed the expedition after spending a year drifting on the sea-ice with the vessel's engine mostly turned off. Within that year, shared Professor Rex, the crew witnessed how the ice disappeared in areas that it is expected to be many feet thick. Even ice from the North Pole was gone.
Exploring the Arctic Ocean
The expedition was inspired by Norwegian explorer Fridtjof Nansen, a pioneer in polar exploration with his famous wooden ship, Fram (meaning "forward") during the 1880s to 1890s. Many of his adventures are found in the books he wrote. He also helped lay the foundations for physical oceanography.
The team aboard Research Vessel Polarstern had five main scientific focus areas: the atmosphere, sea ice, the ocean, biochemistry, and the ecosystem. For decades, one of the most visible evidence that global warming continues to grow worse is ice melting from both the Arctic and Antarctic.
Professor Markus Rex, the leader of the MOASiC from Alfred Wegener Institute, said that the Arctic ice is dying. In an interview, he said that the first repetition of Nansen's Arctic expedition involves some of the world's best measuring and monitoring systems.
"This will finally allow us to study the environmental processes in this remote region in detail. What we can already safely say is that we'll find higher temperatures and less ice than Nansen did," said Professor Rex.
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Climate Change Affecting Arctic Sea Ice
Measurements revealed a trend of 13% sea-ice loss every ten years. As the ice disappears due to global warming, it may mean that the Arctic will become ice-free within decades. "The entire world will be impacted by complete sea ice loss in the Arctic, explained Professor Rex.
The Arctic is the fastest-warming region on earth where the average temperature has increased by 39 to 41 degrees Fahrenheit in the last few decades. Since the 1980s, sea ice has reduced from about 4 billion square miles to nearly 2.2 billion square miles.
The team faced challenges that included searching for suitable outposts where the ice was thick enough, and the coronavirus pandemic, which caused a temporary hiatus. For a short while, the cancellation of international flights interrupted the relief crew that was supposed to fly in April.
The crew finally arrived at the North Pole on August 19 after months of drifting from their starting point at Tromsø, Norway. The data and samples collected will continue to be studied by researchers to create a model that can project accurate models of future climate change. The year-long expedition will allow the team to rebuild the entire Arctic system on a computer model, shared Professor Rex.
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