The Canadian research icebreaker CCGS Amundsen, an Arctic expedition vessel, will not be venturing north for its planned trip this year. The highly anticipated voyage aimed to monitor and understand the effects of climate change on Arctic marine and coastal ecosystems. But due to warming temperatures, Arctic sea ice is unexpectedly in motion, making the trip far too dangerous for the Amundsen and the scientists it would be carrying. In other words, the climate change study has been rendered unsafe by climate change.
The Canadian research icebreaker CCGS Amundsen, an Arctic expedition vessel, will not be venturing north for its planned trip this year. The highly anticipated voyage aimed to monitor and understand the effects of climate change on Arctic marine and coastal ecosystems. But due to warming temperatures, Arctic sea ice is unexpectedly in motion, making the trip far too dangerous for the Amundsen and the scientists it would be carrying. In other words, the climate change study has been rendered unsafe by climate change.
The project, known as the Hudson Bay System Study (BaySys), involves 40 scientists from five Canadian universities and was supported by $15 million over four years. A partnership between the scientists, led by the University of Manitoba, and the Canadian Coast Guard has been facilitating such climate change studies for nearly 15 years. The Amundsen is equipped with 65 scientific systems, 22 onboard and portable laboratories and a plethora of instruments that have been allowing researchers to study sediment, ocean ecosystems from just below the ice to just above the seafloor, the ice, the snow and the atmosphere.
The planned 2017 expedition was scheduled to depart six days early due to severe ice conditions in the Strait of Bell Isle, along the northeast coast of Newfoundland. The team was to carry out crucial operations in that area before starting their scientific program.
Read more at Wired
Photo credit: Tatiana Pichugina via Wikimedia Commons
