In the middle of an active volcano at the bottom of the world, dozens of leather stamps are based on wet snow blowing. Are Mostly without flying by his guests of two legs.
Around it, there are cochkeyed iron deposits and wooden vessels from a whales settlement from the beginning of the 20th century, so they are almost absorbed by the black sand beach. The traces of Chilean and British bases look humble.
On the surface, Whaler Bay on the island of Diseption is still the highest imprint of humanity in Antarctica, outside its 80 research stations.
But a climate scientist could say the opposite.
Studies on this fragile continent have documented how temperatures, glaciers, oceans and wildlife react to the consequences of warming fossil fuel emissions. A place that this remote and isolated makes it a perfect laboratory to understand the past, present and future of the Earth’s climate, according to many scientists attracted to Antarctica.
It is a case study with high stakes, according to the scientist of Natural Resources Canada, Thomas James, which leads the first expedition of all Canadian in the region.
« What happens in Antarctica does not stay here, » he said, as he was recently walking on the beach on Whaler Bay, while scientists collected samples of the sand, snow and air around it.
Climate changes move beyond Antarctica
It is understood that climate change does not recognize politically drawn borders. But James explains that the ice and the cold oceans of Antarctica play a small role in regulating our climate.
Only this month, Researchers were identified That the fusion of fresh water from the antarctic glaciers is altering the chemistry of the southern ocean water. They predict that the changed salinity will delay the Antarctic Circumpolar Vital Circumpolar 20 percent until 2050. The strongest current on Earth, the influence of the ACCES extends to the Atlantic, the Pacific and the Indian Oceans, pumping water, heat and nutrients worldwide.
The current also protects the sheets of ice from Antarctica (large masses of terrestrial ice) from the warmer waters of the north, avoiding the increase in sea level, which would affect coastal communities around the world.
« We know that the antarctic ice sheet is potentially unstable and could provide larger amounts of sea level change than current models today, » said James. « It’s a huge freshwater tank. »
He has studied Antarctica for more than 30 years, but his fieldwork has been mainly in the North Polar region; This is the second time of James in Antarctica.
« We think that spending a while understanding the ice sheet of Antarctica and the implications for changing sea levels is very important for Canadians. »
Not just the ice sheets melt. The sea ice (frozen seawater) in the Poles has reached the minimum of records Three months in a row.
« The fact that we now see a reduction in the marine ice of Antarctica is really one of the many indicators of global climate change, » said James. « It is happening in all the facets of the environment and, in many cases, it seems to be accelerating. »
Strange team contributes to climate science
The James team of 15 scientists, many of them unknown before this expedition, believe numerous disciplines of science. They are studying not only the ice sheet, but the glacial fusion, the ocean floor, the pollutants such as microplastics and the seawater itself.
On board the HMCs Margaret Brooke, they lean on the Royal Canadian Navy, which runs the cabs, cranes and vessels to help scientists collect a mass of samples on the south islands of Shetland on the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula.
Is part of the largest RCN Projection of the operationTo circumnavitate South America, strengthening alliances with other southern weapons and the meeting of meeting in the southern Polar region.
The military can only enter the limits of Antarctica if they support scientific research, a rule found in the Antarctic Treaty, which governs the continent.
The Arctic patrol boat and out of the sea will only cover a small fraction of the continent for four weeks of maritime traffic from the Punta de Chile, but travel and science work makes a great effort.
From morning trips to zodiac ships to the costs lined with glacier until night night, the collection of deep water with an elaborate system of cranes, goats and boom designed in Halifax, the science team is putting long hours, determined to maximize its rare Antarctic access.
Brent One is one of the scientists, here to study the chemical properties of the ocean.
« It turns out that the oceans absorb a lot of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, » said the researcher at the University of Calgary. « If you look back with the passage of time, from industrialization, they have probably adopted the equivalent of about 40 percent of all the emissions that humans put in the atmosphere. So this gives us a great pause on climate change. What we really need to understand is, the oceans will continue to do so? »
Due to its cold temperatures, the southern ocean has the ability to sink carbon to significant depths -and keep it outside the atmosphere -for hundreds of years.
« It is really important that we understand what is happening in the Polar Oceans, especially since they change the fastest, » he said more. « So in an area like Antarctica, as we start to fix -more than ice sheets, this will put more fresh water in the southern ocean. And this can affect how all these things interact. »
On the island of Antarctica, Canadian scientists study the links between melting ice sheets and the increase in world sea level, saying that what happens in Antarctica does not remain.
That is why the interdisciplinary approach to this expedition is so advantageous.
« Most science, due to its nature, is incremental. And what we are doing is to add to this body of knowledge, » said James.
The team will recover thousands of samples for analysis in the coming weeks and months. Many of them will go to other researchers back home in Canada.
In the innovative expedition, James said, « He feels important. »
Leave a Reply