Climate Change: Polarstern Icebreaker Begins Year-long Arctic Drift
Image copyright ESTHER HORVATH Image caption RV Polarstern (left), aided by the Russian icebreaker Akademik Fedorov, has found the right floe German Research Vessel Polarstern has found a location to begin its year-long drift in Arctic sea-ice. The ship, which will head the North Pole's biggest scientific expedition, will settle next to a thick ice floe on the Siberian side of the ocean basin. The precise location is 85 degrees north and 137 degrees east. Hundreds of investigators will use it as a base from which to probe the impacts of climate change at the top of the world. "After a brief but intensive search, we've found our home for the months to come," said expedition leader Prof Markus Rex, from the Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI). "It may not be the perfect floe but it's the best one in this part of the Arctic and offers better working conditions than we could have expected after a warm Arctic summer." Image copyright...

Comments