Arctic Reflections’ Post

This video by the Wall Street Journal released yesterday gives a great insight into our time on Svalbard just over a month ago. The contrast between the type of work we did out there and my current activity of monitoring "our ice fields" on my computer while they slowly melt could almost not be bigger. It is still too early to conclude on the results of our controlled flooding and snow ice growth field experiments as we have to wait for the ice to disappear completely first. I do consider it a small success that the measurement equipment we left behind is still sending us data on a daily basis. Tim C. Hammer and Aleksey Shestov deserve major credits for this as they organized and ran an effective field campaign. And even if this small experiment shows promising results in terms of sea ice longevity, there are many questions to be answered and risks to be quantified before an informed decision on sea ice flooding at a large scale can be made. We don't have a lot of time though, so if you want to discuss the work or contribute to the design of experiments and studies to quantify, for example, ecological impact and long-term effects please reach out! Thank you Eve Hartley and Max Thurlow for traveling all the way to Svea to report on our work. And of course a big thanks to Laura van Dijke, Tom Meijeraan, and Fonger Ypma for the initiation of this project and hard work out in the cold! Thanks again to TU Delft Climate Action Programme, TU Delft | Civil Engineering and Geosciences, The University Centre in Svalbard, and Arctic Reflections for supporting this work. https://lnkd.in/erCuYJ8m

Who takes part in the Arctic Council? How does it operate, and what are the main areas of its work? You're basic questions about the #ArcticCouncil answered in this 90 second snapshot 👇

At a latitude of 78 degrees north lies the northernmost city in the world. It is an odd place. Way above the Arctic Circle—a mere 814 miles from the North Pole—Longyearbyen, in Norway’s Svalbard archipelago, is home to only 2,400 people but more than 1.3 million seeds. The Svalbard Global Seed Vault is an underground storage facility designed to secure seeds to “ensure that food crop varieties are not lost” in the event of a global crisis such as war, terrorism or climate change. Touted as “our insurance policy that we’re going to be able to feed the world in 50 years,” the vault has been situated at a location and depth in the Arctic intended to ensure that the seeds will not rot or sprout and will be available for use when needed. For further safety, the vault is refrigerated to zero de­­grees Fahrenheit and designed to withstand a magnitude 10 earthquake. #The #Arctic #Seed #Vault #is #showing #signs #of #effects #due #to #climate #change

The Arctic Ocean may be ice-free in less than a decade. The region is warming at least four times faster than the rest of the world. Communities in the North are losing up to 90% of their buildings to fire and flood (sometimes both in a single year). At the same time, other countries are increasing their holdings in the North. Canada’s lack of an Arctic Strategy is an environmental, economic, social, and security issue. What should our government do about it? Learn more in a new op-ed by Tom Henheffer, Co-CEO of the Arctic Research Foundation: https://lnkd.in/gqsjSsgx

#GEOMARNews | #MERIAN expedition #MSM130 investigates meltwater runoff from Greenland glaciers, the loss of Arctic sea ice and the interfaces of ice, ocean and atmosphere off the east coast of #Greenland. ❄️ 🌊 Greenland is surrounded by the North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans - both oceans are significantly affected by climate change. The consequences are warmer, less salty and more acidic waters, an increased input of melt and river water and a rapid decline in sea ice. The international team of the MSM130 expedition, led by GEOMAR, is investigating these effects off the east coast of Greenland with the research vessel MARIA S. MERIAN. 🌥️The focus is on research and modelling on the role of Arctic sea ice loss as a driving force of global climate change, as well as chemical and physical processes at the interface of ice, ocean and atmosphere. Read more: https://lnkd.in/eNtYjH9K Photo: Eric Achterberg, GEOMAR #OurWorldIsTheOcean

#APPLYNOW: APPLICATIONS ARE OPEN FOR THE SANCTUARY COMMUNITY FUND! Do you want to spark change in your community to create and steward national marine sanctuaries and make waves to protect our #ocean and Great Lakes? The objective of the #SanctuaryCommunityFund is to invest directly in community partner engagement so that local groups within national marine sanctuary communities can support the discovery, testing, piloting, nurturing, capacity, and spread of the best ideas to protect our ocean and #GreatLakes. Awards made as part of this application round will focus on communities participating in the designation of new national marine sanctuaries, specifically, those serving sanctuaries that are currently in the Sanctuary Designation Process through the NOAA: National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration or have already been designated by NOAA after June 1, 2024. This includes: #LakeOntario National Marine Sanctuary, the proposed #ChumashHeritage National Marine Sanctuary, the proposed #HudsonCanyon National Marine Sanctuary, the proposed #LakeErie National Marine Sanctuary, the proposed #PacificRemoteIslands National Marine Sanctuary, and the proposed #Papahānaumokuākea National Marine Sanctuary. The initial funds are included as part of a 2023 announcement from the Biden-Harris Administration of investments through the NOAA: National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration to address coastal climate resilience and protect marine resources through the #InflationReductionAct. Applications are due by November 13 at 6:59 AM ET. Learn more and apply now: https://lnkd.in/eJQfwY_w

Imagine a future Arctic that is vibrant in its ecosystems, culture and economy? There was a lot of talk about a future vision for the Arctic at the recent Arctic Ecounters Sympoisum in Anchorage https://lnkd.in/d84CyUQa. The future is not written, we have the power to shape the future we want and dont have to accept a version others may want to impose. Articulating those visions is key - I wrote down mine here https://lnkd.in/dQFFRdT7 (pages 229-239).

Something that those who live and work in the Arctic are seeing accelerate in what seems to be more and more every year. While this article gives a sense of a quicker change than previous forecasts the actual paper: https://lnkd.in/eAKWn7J7 provides the reader with a detailed overview of how the Arctic environment is changing and how rapidly - potentially not only changing the environment but how it is used by those there and those who may come to use it more in the future. https://lnkd.in/eQr93JS8

🌍❄️ Arctic Reflections: Field Test results released ❄️ We are thrilled to share the Research Summary Report from our April 2024 field test in Svalbard! As many of you know, Arctic Reflections is committed to restoring Arctic Sea Ice as part of the fight against global warming. In this field test we rigorously tested ice thickening by pumping water from beneath the ice onto the surface to speed up freezing. 📊 Key Highlights: - We collected nearly 100 ice cores to measure salinity, density, temperature, and thickness. - Remote monitoring equipment was installed to track the thickened ice and a reference ice site until it fully melted by June 19th. - This one-of-a-kind dataset, along with detailed data-gathering methods, will be openly shared with the scientific community in an upcoming publication. This is just the first step in validating the effectiveness of Arctic Ice Thickening to preserve natural habitats and maintain sea ice as a crucial reflective surface. We’re already planning our next winter project, building on the insights from this field test to further validate the potential impact and scalability of our innovative approach. 📄 Click on the link below to access the full Research Summary Report : https://lnkd.in/e7TRnmTW Feel free to reach out if you have any questions, comments, or suggestions! #ClimateAction #ArcticReflections #SeaIceRestoration #GlobalWarming #OceanDecade #OceanVisions #Innovation #Sustainability #Research