Ice maidens go north on Arctic expedition

25 February 2010

Three women funded by the Natural Environment Research Council are taking a leading role in a major Arctic expedition this spring.

The researchers will join polar explorer Pen Hadow's Catlin Arctic Survey to investigate climate change and the effects of carbon dioxide on the Arctic Ocean.

Dr Helen Findlay from the Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Dr Ceri Lewis from the University of Exeter and Dr Laura Edwards from the University of Wales, Bangor, will spend six weeks camping on the sea ice, just 750 miles from the geographic North Pole.

They are currently undergoing a gruelling training regime to prepare for the physical and mental challenges of living and working in temperatures as low as minus 40°C. This includes survival training on how to endure the harsh living conditions and what action to take if they fall into the icy water or encounter a polar bear.

Helen Findlay's research will focus on how the chemistry and biology beneath the sea ice is being affected by ocean acidification. Marine biologist Ceri Lewis will be investigating the impact of climate change and ocean acidification on the abundant variety of marine life, and glaciologist Laura Edwards will be calculating the movement of carbon dioxide between the sea and the air.

"It was believed that the sea ice acted as a barrier to the movement of CO2 between the sea and the air, but it is now thought that that this is not the case," said Edwards. "The fieldwork I'm involved with aims to measure the rate of transfer of CO2 between the sea and air through the sea ice."

Whilst the fact that the sea absorbs carbon dioxide may seem a good thing for the atmosphere, scientists believe that, based on current projections, the acidity of the world's oceans could reach levels not seen on Earth for millions of years and have serious consequences for all marine life.

Dr Findlay said, "I've been to the Arctic before, although not in winter, and it's a challenging place to carry out science. But it's worth the effort to get first hand, unique and important data that will help us understand changes in the Arctic seas and how they may link to global systems."

Dr Lewis added, "The science that we are hoping to do is incredibly important to our understanding of climate change effects in the ocean and I feel really privileged to be a part of such an exciting project. It will of course be a very challenging and harsh environment to work in and the possibilities of seeing polar bears in the wild is both thrilling and a little unnerving."

Speaking at the expedition launch in London Pen Hadow, director of the project, described it as an example of modern exploration. "Our aim at Catlin Arctic Survey is to make it possible for science work to be undertaken that would otherwise be exceptionally difficult to do," he said. "The scientists will be able to work safely thanks to the skills of our polar support team who will be guiding them out onto the floating sea ice. Our Ice Base will have all of the facilities they need to do analysis and to survive in the extreme conditions of an Arctic winter and spring."

The nine-strong international team will assemble in the Arctic on 11 March. You can follow their progress on the Catlin Arctic Survey website where the team's blogs, photographs and videos will be posted.

Further information

NERC Press Office
Natural Environment Research Council
Polaris House, North Star Avenue
Swindon, SN2 1EU
Tel: 01793 411561
Mob: 07917 557215

Rod Macrae
Macrae Media and Communication
(PR for Catlin Arctic Survey)
Tel: 01491 613715
Mob: 07814 029819

Notes

1. Laura Edwards works as part of a team at Bangor University, contributing to and funded by NERC's National Centre for Earth Observation.

Ice maidens go north on Arctic expedition

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