MOSAiC Expedition Successfully Completed – Burning Issues – Free PDF

FACTS ABOUT MOSAIC

•  It is a one-year-long expedition into the Central Arctic, planned to take place from 2019 to 2020. (started in September 2019). MOSAiC represents the largest Arctic expedition in history. The projected cost of the mission is around € 120 Million. (Actual cost is € 140 Million)

INSTITUTES INVOLVED IN THE MOSAIC MISSION

• This expedition mission has been designed by an international consortium of leading polar research institutions under the umbrella of the International Arctic Science Committee (IASC). Other institutes involved in this mission are:

1. The Alfred Wegener Institute, Germany
2. Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI), Germany
3. Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute (AARI), Russia
4. The University of Colorado, USA
5. Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES), USA

ABOUT MOSAIC (MULTIDISCIPLINARY DRIFTING OBSERVATORY FOR THE STUDY OF ARCTIC CLIMATE)

• MOSAiC aims at a breakthrough in understanding the Arctic climate system and in its representation in global climate models.
• MOSAiC will provide a more robust scientific basis for policy decisions on climate change mitigation and adaptation and for setting up a framework for managing Arctic development sustainably.

WHY WAS ARCTIC CHOSEN?

 Firstly…

• The Arctic is the key area of global climate change, with warming rates exceeding twice the global average and warming during winter even larger.
• It is well possible that the Arctic ocean will become ice free in summer during the 21st century.

Secondly…

• Future climate change projections for the Arctic are extremely uncertain with a factor of three uncertainty of projected warming by the end of this century – a much larger uncertainty than anywhere else on the planet.

ICEBREAKER FOR THE MISSION

•  A modern research icebreaker will operate in the direct vicinity of the North Pole year round, including the nearly half year long polar night during winter.

CURTAIN FALLS ON HISTORY’S BIGGEST ARCTIC SCIENCE EXPEDITION

•  The largest Arctic science expedition in history came to a close, as the German research vessel Polarstern sailed into the port at Bremerhaven, Germany.
•  “I can honestly say it has been a historic milestone for Arctic research,” Markus Rex, a scientist at the Wegener Institute and the leader of the MOSAiC Expedition, said at a press conference.
• “And we come back with a pool of data and samples that will change Arctic research for a long time.

” MISSION FACED MULTITUDE OF CHALLENGES

• Once the ship was frozen in place, scientists on the Polarstern had to contend with roving polar bears; dangerous shifts and cracks in the ice; extreme cold; and the long, dark monotony of polar night, a period during winter when the sun doesn’t rise at all in the central Arctic.

DESPITE THE TROUBLE, THE MISSION WAS ABLE TO CONTINUE AS PLANNED.

•  The coronavirus pandemic brought unexpected logistical challenges this spring.
•  Travel restrictions and mandatory quarantines interrupted a personnel exchange originally planned to take place by aircraft. The exchange ultimately took place by sea.
• The pandemic also interrupted a series of research flights scheduled for earlier in the spring after a member of the flight team tested positive for the virus.

THE STARK REALITY AFFECTS “ONE AND ALL”

•  “You just need your eyes to see that the Arctic ice is dying,” Rex noted

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