In the middle of an active volcano at the bottom of the world, dozens of thick seals enjoy wet snow. they are Mostly without doing for its two -legged guests.
Around it are cooking iron tanks and wooden boats of a whale hunting settlement of the early twentieth century, so unpleasant are almost absorbed by the black sand beach. Chilean and British base traces appear as humble.
On the surface, the Doneption Island Whalers bay remains the greatest imprint of humanity in Antarctica, outside its approximately 80 research stations.
But a climate scientist could say otherwise.
Studies on this fragile continent have documented how temperatures, glaciers, oceans and wildlife are reacting to the consequences of heating of fossil fuel emissions. A place is remote and isolated is a perfect laboratory to understand the past, the present and future of the Earth’s climate, according to many scientists attracted by Antarctica.
It is a case study with high bets, says the scientist of the natural resources of Canada, Thomas James, who leads the first Canadian expedition to the region.
“What happens in Antarctica does not stay here,” he said, while recently walking along the beach in Whalers Bay, while scientists collected samples of the sand, snow and air around them.
Climate changes extend beyond Antarctica
It is understood that climate change does not recognize politically drawn borders. But James explains that the cold ice and oceans of Antarctica play a huge role in the regulation of our climate.
Only this month, Identified researchers That fusion of fresh water from Antarctica’s glaciers is altering the water chemistry of the southern ocean. They predict that changed salinity will slow down the vital Antarctic circumpolar current by 20 percent by 2050. The strongest current on Earth, the influence of the ACC extends to the Atlantic, the Pacific and Indian oceans, pumping water, heat and nutrients throughout the world.
The current also protects the ice layers of Antarctica, large masses of terrestrial ice, of warmer waters in the north, avoiding the increase in sea level, which would affect coastal communities around the world.
“We know that the Antarctic ice layer is potentially unstable and could provide greater amounts of sea level change than current models currently predict,” James said. “It is a large fresh water tank.”
He has studied Antarctica for more than 30 years, but his field work has been mainly in the Northern Polar region; This is the second time of James in Antarctica.
“We believe that spending some time understanding the Antarctic ice layer and the implications for the change of sea level is very important for Canadians.”
It is not just the ice layers that are melting. Sea ice (frozen seawater) in the posts has Minimum registration reached Three months in a row.
“The fact that we are now seeing a reduction in Antarctic sea ice is really only one of the many, many indicators that global climate change is happening,” said James. “It is happening in all facets of the environment, and in many cases it seems to be accelerated.”
The strangers team contributes to climate science
The team of 15 James scientists, many of them strange before this expedition, cross numerous disciplines of science. They are studying not only the ice layer but also the glacial fusion, the background of the ocean, pollutants such as microplastics and seawater itself.
On board the HMCS Margaret Brooke, they are supported by the Royal Canadian Navy, which directs the cabstors, cranes and boats to help scientists collect a mass of samples around the islands of the southern Shetland from the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula.
It is part of the largest in the RCN Operation projectionTo circumnavigate South America, strengthening alliances with other southern armeds and the experience of collection in the Southern Polar region.
The military can only enter the limits of Antarctica if they support scientific research, a rule established in the Antarctic Treaty, which governs the continent.
The Arctic and high seas patrol ship will only cover a small fraction of the continent for four weeks of maritime traffic from Chile’s Punta Arenas, but the trip and scientific work require enormous effort.
From early trips in the morning in Zodiac ships to coasts bordered from glaciers to deep water collection, deep water, using an elaborate crane system, winch and boom designed in Halifax, the scientific team is dedicating long hours, determined to maximize its rare Antarctic access.
Brent Else is one of the scientists, here to study the chemical properties of the ocean.
“It turns out that oceans absorb a lot of atmosphere carbon dioxide,” said the researcher at the University of Calgary. “If you look back over time, more or less from industrialization, they have probably assumed about the equivalent of approximately 40 percent of all the emissions that humans put in the atmosphere. Then that gives us a great rest to climate change. What we really need to understand is, will the oceans continue to do that?”
Due to its cold temperatures, the southern ocean has the ability to sink carbon at significant depths, and keep it out of the atmosphere, for hundreds of years.
“It is really important that we understand what is happening in the polar oceans, especially because they are changing faster,” said the other. “Then, in an area like Antarctica, as we begin to melt the ice layer more, that will put more fresh water in the southern ocean. And that could affect how all these things interact.”
On the island of deception of Antarctica, Canadian scientists study the links between the fusion of ice layers and the increase in the worldwide sea level, saying that what happens in Antarctica does not stay there.
That is why the interdisciplinary approach of this expedition is so advantageous.
“The majority of science, by its nature, is incremental. And what we are doing is adding to that 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 at home in Canada.
Speaking about the innovative expedition, James said: “He feels transcendental.”
