REAL LIFE NEWS: SHIP TO GET STUCK IN POLAR ICE DELIBERATELY
by Hazed
In what is being hailed as the biggest single Arctic research expedition which has ever been planned, a German research vessel is going to sail into the ice in the Arctic circle and deliberately let the ship get stuck.
The RV Polarstern, which is 120m long, will be allowed to drift across the North Pole in a trip which is likely to take a year, travelling 2,500km. The plan is to gather insights on the place where the effect of climate change is being felt the most – this year the Arctic sea-ice was the lowest ever recorded for a January, and temperatures were several degrees higher than the average.
This expedition won’t be the first to drift with the ice. Back in the 1890s a Norwegian explorer attempted to reach the North Pole by drifting with the ice, and ten years ago a schooner called Tara drifted through the frozen ocean from Siberian waters to the Fram Strait. But the Polarstern is an enormous science platform, and it has a list of tasks and goals which is far more extensive than any work done previously in the region.
It’s not going to be an easy time for the scientists on board the ship; during the freezing midwinter they won’t see the sun for months, and they will also have to beware of predatory polar bears.
The RV Polarstern expects to take up its position where it can be captured by the sea-ice in late summer or autumn of 2019.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-39024227
