Polar News 2003 Archive

Past News of Polar Shipping and Research Relevance

Past items from Polar News

Polar Star near McMurdo

Largest Canadian Icebreaker Needs Refit or Won't be Operational

Ice Class Tanker Fleet Set For Rapid Rise

NASA - Earth in 3-D: ICESat Views Clouds, Ice, Land and Fires

Japan Should Further Advance Scientific Research

Shrinking Arctic Tells Many Stories

Eclipse of sun viewed on frozen Antarctic continent for the 1st time

Budget for Icebreaker in Doubt - Polar expeditions face cash freeze

Arctic and Antarctic Sea Ice Marching to Different Drivers

Massive Antarctic Iceberg Splits: McMurdo Station Further Blocked

Local review unlikely for Bathurst project

Scientists Warn of Travel Danger to Antarctica

Government of Canada Takes Major Steps in Advancing Research in the Arctic

China to Set up Its First North Pole Station in September

Dozens of scientists heading to Beaufort Sea

Antarctic Guardians Consider Curbing Icy Tourism

Explorers set to tackle Arctic

Legislation Introduced to Ratify the Madrid Protocol

Arctic port plan raises federal concerns over northern waters jurisdiction

Scientists travel to North Pole to investigate Arctic change

Allan Rock and Georges Farrah Announce $41 Million in New Initiatives for Arctic Research

Rescue plan for Shackleton hut

Chilean Navy concerned about Antarctic traffic

Polar Star near McMurdo

By LCDR April Brown
Mac Ship Ops/Coast Guard Liaison

Just in time for Christmas, the Coast Guard cutter Polar Star arrived at the ice edge about 31 km northwest of McMurdo at midnight on Dec. 24. Her sister ship, the Polar Sea should arrive about New Year's Eve to help.

You may have heard the fine whine of two stealthy HH-65 Dolphin helicopters buzzing about. Polar Sea will bring a third helicopter, making a total of three helicopters in the area and 22 "Coasties" added to the town's population. There are nearly 300 sailors on the ships. Rumors of an invasion are greatly ... understated. Get your shopping finished soon. Seriously, though, Coasties are a great bunch of folks and they look forward to visiting town, shopping, having fun and making friends.

It takes hard work to keep an icebreaker operating down here every season. The icebreakers and resupply ships are critical in keeping McMurdo, Scott Base and South Pole Station open year round. Let's face it, no gas, no groceries, no go. The National Guard and other air crews work hard to help the stations, but there still isn't a single plane that can bring in nine million gallons of fuel and 10 million pounds of cargo at once. That's why the ships come down each year.

Polar Sea is on her fourth consecutive Operation Deep Freeze mission because of the extremely thick ice conditions of the last three years. Speaking of ice conditions, helo ops folks, PHI helicopters and the survey team helped measure the ice edge out to 30.3 kilometers. The thickness ranges from 2.5 meters thick in the first-year fast ice out near the edge, to 3-4 meters thick closer to McMurdo, including the turning basin near the ice pier. All that ice is beneath nearly a meter of snow, which is bad for icebreaking because the snow dampens the blow of the bow and causes friction on the hull, slowing the ship way down. It's sort of like trying to break a fluffy pillow with a hammer (to plagiarize the infamous "Wheeler").

Polar Star started the break-in on five diesel electric engines and three shafts, and made all of 27 meters. It was important to gauge how much she could do on diesels first. She then switched to a diesel-gas turbine (a modified aircraft engine) combination on the center shaft, providing a lot of power and control without rampant gas consumption.

Unfortunately that combo soon proved inadequate and the Star had to switch to three turbines, one per shaft, as the Sea had to do early last season for brute strength. Three turbines can momentarily produce up to 75,000 horsepower per shaft, and then drop to about 60,000 horsepower. At that rate, the ships will burn about 190,000 liters of fuel a day.

I am going to have an icebreaker pool, and the lucky winner who can guess closest to the time when Polar Star makes her first approach to the ice pier will be the recipient of some fine Coast Guard paraphernalia. I will have a sign-up sheet posted, or you can e-mail me the date and time to the minute. E-mail Brown, April in the McMurdo directory in Outlook.

Antarctic Sun 28 Dec 03

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Largest Canadian Icebreaker Needs Refit or Won't be Operational

CCGS Louis S. St. Laurent

ALISON AULD

HALIFAX (CP) - Canada's primary means of asserting its sovereignty in the Arctic - the icebreaker CCGS Louis S. St. Laurent - likely won't be in working order without a major refit just a decade after undergoing a $158-million upgrade, newly disclosed documents show.

The massive ship is almost beyond refurbishing and will cost Ottawa at least $450 million to replace, according to material obtained under the Access to Information Act.

"Its capacity/capability within the fleet needs to be replaced ASAP. Not economical for further major refits," states the document, a draft version of coast guard fleet's vessel assessments.

The internal paper warns that without an infusion of up to $15 million within the next seven to 10 years, there is a "high risk that ship will no longer be operational."

But the Department of Fisheries has yet to develop a comprehensive plan to replace the vessel, something that would likely take years to complete and leave the country short of a vital asset in the North.

Yves Villemaire, director general of fleet for the Canadian Coast Guard, countered some of the findings in the document and said the 119-metre-long heavy gulf icebreaker is not in poor condition and could have many years of service ahead of it.

"It does need continuous investment, but it doesn't need immediate replacement," he said in an interview. "It is actually in very good shape."

But the assessment paints a slightly different picture.

It states that the 34-year-old vessel is increasingly antiquated in its crewing needs, operational capabilities and equipment used in scientific and research studies.

An official with the union representing the crew that works aboard the icebreaker, based in Dartmouth, N.S., said the ship is suffering when it comes to equipment that's worn down and living spaces that are increasingly outdated after years of travelling to harsh environments to perform rigorous missions.

John Fox of the Union of Canadian Transportation Employees said the crew has been forced to work under "a process of risk management" in operating the fleet of vessels because of resources that have been dwindling since the coast guard was merged into the Department of Fisheries and Oceans in 1995.

"We'll put something out there and cross our fingers and that's how I look at the Louis," Fox said Monday. "You put these vessels out there, they're over-aged, they don't have modern systems and you hope that nothing goes wrong."

The St. Laurent, Canada's largest icebreaker, provides services critical to clearing northern passes for shipping and is used in various scientific programs that include monitoring climate change and ice thickness.

Senator Colin Kenny, who chaired a Senate committee on Canada's coastal security earlier this year, said a sheer lack of organization has left Fisheries and Oceans without a plan to replace the aging fleet.

"People in the coast guard are despairing because they see huge problems in terms of fleet renewal and no plan," he said Monday. "We see increased activity in the Beaufort Sea, in the Arctic generally and that requires the heavy gulf icebreakers and if you can't get them up there you run into real problems."

The vessel is about to go into drydock for work on one of its engines, but Villemaire said a future refit could prolong its life for several more years. The coast guard has a long-term capital plan from which any replacements or refurbishments are funded on an annual basis.

The coast guard received $95 million in the last federal budget to invest in its assets over two years, much of which will be used for fleet improvements.

Villemaire said the $10 million to $15 million recommended for the refit would be "easily accommodated" in the capital plan.

"So we can keep it going for quite a long time and we can do that effectively for the next 10 to 20 years," he said.

The Louis completed a controversial five-year, $158-million refit that included five new engines in 1993.

The Canadian Press 15 Dec 03

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Ice Class Tanker Fleet Set For Rapid Rise

THE ice-class tanker fleet over 10,000 dwt is growing steadily, according to London-based shipbroker EA Gibson.

The broker, which has just published a new report entitled ‘Ice-class: An analysis of class rules, the tanker fleet and charter markets focusing on the Baltic Sea region’ says that for 2004/2005, growth will be faster, at 10%, than it has been in most years since the early 1980s.

Gibson notes: “The size of the Aframax ice-class fleet is particularly important for Baltic crude exports and its current size at only 18 vessels including combis is small, although it is set to increase by at least 145% over the next three years.”

Rapidly increasing capacity at Russia’s export terminal of Primorsk, in particular, has brought the issue of limited ice-class vessel supply into sharp focus, says Gibson. It says that rates for 100,000 tonne crude cargoes are rising and ice-class vessels loading at Primorsk now obtain a large premium over the standard Baltic-UK/Continent rate.

MGN 15 Dec 03

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NASA - Earth in 3-D: ICESat Views Clouds, Ice, Land and Fires

NASA's ICESat uses laser altimeter to measure surface elevations of Antarctic and Greenlandic icecaps to determine if melt or growth activity is occurring in association with climate change.

NASA 09 Dec 03

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Japan Should Further Advance Scientific Research. 

EDITORIAL: Antarctic observation

The Antarctic observation vessel Shirase departed Fremantle, in the state of Western Australia, on Wednesday. The 70 members of the 45th Antarctic Research Expedition arrived in Australia earlier by plane. The vessel is scheduled to reach Japan's main Showa Base later this month.

Because all atmospheric pollutants collect in Antarctica, the continent is an invaluable observation site for monitoring changes in the Earth's overall environment. The ozone hole, caused by ozone depletion, was discovered there.

The global environment cannot be properly protected without accurate observation data. Researchers have not only monitored the atmosphere but also drilled deep into beds of ice to survey past climates, and collected meteoric samples that landed on Antarctica. Antarctic observation is definitely worth continuing.

Shirase is now in its 21st year of service and showing visible signs of wear. The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology has determined the vessel is good for only four more years at most, and requested a total budget of 52 billion yen for the next four years. The figure includes about 8 billion yen for fiscal 2004 for a replacement vessel with helicopters.

The Finance Ministry says the request is hard to meet because of the nation's tight fiscal situation. But we believe the project should proceed as planned.

But there is no point in continuing observation for the sake of observation. Many people think Japan's programs in Antarctica have tended to be overly ``inward-looking'' or self-serving, and we agree. Unless Japanese expedition members become more receptive to other opinions and ideas at home and abroad and more willing to share their findings with the rest of the world, it will not be worth funding their activities with taxpayers' money.

Back when the first Japanese Antarctic survey vessel Soya and its successor Fuji were in service, there was no guarantee the ships would successfully make it to the Showa Base. Each expedition was a veritable ``adventure.'' But from the time the third vessel Shirase entered service with the 25th research expedition, there was no longer any uncertainty about berthing at the base. Only then did Japan become capable of Antarctic observation in the true sense of the term.

The next step required of Japan is to advance from observation to real research. Specifically, expedition members should analyze collected data more thoroughly, willingly publish their findings in internationally acknowledged academic journals, and assert greater leadership at international conferences.

It was a Japanese team that discovered the phenomenon of ozone depletion in 1982. But this phenomenon did not become widely known until a British team named it ``ozone hole'' in 1985. Japan must stop missing key opportunities.

What we need is an open environment that welcomes participation by researchers of all types. Perhaps it would be a good idea to rely more on air travel to make comings and goings easier.

Meantime, we believe supply transport vessels for Antarctic survey projects could also be utilized for Arctic research projects. Japan has not done much in the Arctic region so far. Those vessels are operated by the Self-Defense Forces and the SDF law limits the activities of SDF personnel in the polar regions to Antarctica only. We believe the law should be changed to allow activities in the Arctic region as well.

There are no national boundaries nor military bases in Antarctica. The Antarctica Treaty, which prohibits ``any measures of a military nature,'' was first signed by 12 nations, including Japan, in 1959. Although many of those signatories assert their territorial rights, Japan does not, and maintains the position that no territorial rights should be acknowledged. By further stressing scientific research, Japan should let the world know it is seeking peaceful exploitation of Antarctica.

--The Asahi Shimbun, 03 Dec. 03
 

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Shrinking Arctic Tells Many Stories

In 2002, a series of scientific studies pointed to dramatic changes in Arctic sea ice. Sea ice that survives the summer and remains year round—called perennial sea ice—is melting at the alarming rate of 9 percent per decade, according to a study by NASA Goddard Space Flight Center senior researcher Josefino Comiso. The extent of Arctic sea ice at summer's end reached a record low in 2002, reported NASA-funded researchers at the University of Colorado's National Snow and Ice Data Center, in Boulder. Early findings suggest that summertime melting of Arctic sea ice in 2003 is on pace to rival last year's low.

In this map, red colors show areas of warming, blue shows areas of cooling, and white represents little or no change. (Map adapted from Josefino Comiso)

In support of this evidence of a changing Arctic climate, Comiso shows in a new paper that most of the Arctic warmed significantly in the 1990s compared to the 1980s. The study also finds that the seasons when sea ice melts, between early spring and late fall, have gotten longer and warmer each decade, and that Arctic regions within North America have warmed more per decade than other Arctic areas. The study, which appears in the November 1 issue of the American Meteorological Society's Journal of Climate, uses surface temperature data taken from satellites between 1981 and 2001.

It is tempting to take solace in the idea that these striking changes are happening somewhere far away. But in reality, such shifts in the Arctic are likely early indications of a global climate in a state of flux. "People talk about global warming, and the Arctic really is the best place to detect global warming because the effects are amplified there," Comiso says.

The reasons why climate changes get amplified in the Arctic are many and complex, but one of the main features concerns the ice itself. Ice reflects the Sun's rays up into the atmosphere and out to space, which keeps solar radiation from warming the Arctic lands and ocean. Both sea ice, which floats on water, and glaciers and ice on land cool the Earth in this manner. Without large ice masses at the poles the Earth would absorb more heat and warming would escalate. When ocean temperature rises sea ice becomes thinner, exposing more water, thus reinforcing the warming trend and creating a positive feedback loop.

Researchers suspect that loss of Arctic sea ice may be caused partly by global warming and partly by changing atmospheric pressure and wind patterns over the Arctic that move sea ice around, which also help to warm Arctic temperatures. Changes in air pressure and wind patterns may likewise be a result of greenhouse gas buildup in the atmosphere.

"The warming we see is another indication that climate is now changing, and in ways that may not have been experienced in several million years," says David Rind, a senior researcher at the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York.

Ice at a Threshold?
Mark Serreze, a senior researcher at the National Snow and Ice Data Center, suspects that Arctic sea ice could be reaching a kind of turning point. Serreze was the lead author of last year's paper that found the extent of Arctic sea ice had reached the lowest level in the satellite record in 2002. The study made use of NASA's Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument on the Terra satellite. From preliminary results, Serreze says that Arctic sea ice conditions in 2003 rival those seen last year.

"It appears that ice extent for September 2003 is the second lowest in the satellite record—2002 barely beat it," Serreze says. " In other words, we have not seen a recovery." This year's sea ice extent appears to be reinforcing a general downward trend, Serreze adds.

Researchers at the University of Washington have shown that the decreasing sea ice trend is linked in part to a cyclical atmospheric pressure system, called the Arctic Oscillation. This oscillation refers to a pattern of low- and high-pressure systems between the Arctic and the mid-latitudes. When the oscillation is in its positive phase, as it has been generally over the last 20 years, air pressure tends to be low over the Arctic Ocean. This pattern pulls in warmer air from the surrounding area in a low-level counter-clockwise spiral and helps to break up the sea ice and blow it out of the Arctic.

Serreze believes that the September 2002 low-ice mark was reached due to unusually warm temperatures and frequent storms that worked in tandem to break up and melt the ice. The Arctic oscillation was in a positive phase the previous winter and appears to have played a role. But the Arctic Oscillation doesn't explain everything, and there are signs that it may be moving back to a more neutral phase. Whether this will be just a temporary shift is not known. Yet the ice continues to retreat.

"The more recent years have shown indications of a recovery in the Arctic Oscillation towards more neutral conditions, but we've still seen decay in sea ice," Serreze says. He wonders if the ice has thinned to a point where it has reached a threshold; a situation where thin ice and warming waters reinforce each other, regardless of pressure patterns like the Arctic Oscillation.

Evidence of Arctic Warming
Comiso's new study presents some striking trends. When compared to longer- term, ground-based surface temperature data, the rate of warming in the Arctic from 1981 to 2001 is eight times larger than the rate of Arctic warming over the last 100 years. There have also been some remarkable seasonal changes. Arctic spring, summer, and autumn have each warmed, lengthening the seasons when sea ice melts by 10 to 17 days per decade. Temperatures increased on average by almost one and a quarter (1.22) degrees Celsius (C) per decade over sea ice in the Arctic summer. Conversely, Arctic winters cooled from the 1980s to the 1990s. The study finds that winters were almost 1 (0.89) degree C cooler per decade.

The summer warming and longer sea ice melt season appear to be affecting the volume and extent of perennial sea ice, the study suggests. Also, a longer melt season could in turn cause thinner sea ice at the end of winter, making it even more susceptible to early thawing. Winter cooling, on the other hand, caused sea ice to actually advance in the Bering Sea, Greenland Sea, and Baffin Bay.

Researchers observed varied temperatures across different regions within and near the Arctic Circle. Average temperature trends increased by one-third of 1 degree C per decade over sea ice, and they also rose half a degree C per decade over the lands of Eurasia. Temperatures over North America experienced the highest regional warming, increasing by 1.06 degrees C per decade. Greenland cooled by less than one-tenth of a degree C per decade. The cooling found over Greenland was mainly at high elevations, while warming trends were observed around its periphery. These results are consistent with a National Snow and Ice Data Center study that found record loss of sea ice around Greenland's periphery in 2002.

The surface temperature records from 1981 to 2001 were based on thermal infrared data from the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) onboard NOAA satellites. The AVHRR sensor detects radiation in the visible and thermal infrared range of the electromagnetic spectrum. These satellite temperature data were compared with accurate ground-based data taken during the one-year-long Arctic ice station project called the Surface Heat Budget in the Arctic (SHEBA) from 1997 to 1998. Comiso found that the two datasets are extremely consistent with each other.

"This study is unique in that previously, similar studies made use of data from very few points scattered in various parts of the Arctic region," says Comiso. "These results show the large regional and seasonal differences in the trends that only satellite data can provide."

Far-reaching Implications
While these large shifts in temperature and ice cover appear to be tucked far away in the Arctic, our Earth's processes are dynamic and interconnected. In other words, rapid loss of sea ice and a warming Arctic will undoubtedly have far-reaching and serious effects for everyone. "Societies have developed and gotten used to climate the way it is now, and changes will very likely be highly disruptive," Rind says.

For starters, as sea ice melts, Arctic waters warm, greatly altering ocean processes, which in turn have an effect on Arctic and global climate, says Michael Steele, senior oceanographer at the University of Washington, Seattle. As the oceans warm and ice thins, more solar energy gets absorbed by the water, creating a positive feedback that leads to further melting and warming.

Such mechanisms can change the temperature of ocean layers and impact ocean circulation and salinity, Steele says. For example, the Arctic Ocean during winter is usually very cold and produces lots of sea ice, which creates cold, salty water that sinks to deep levels and drives ocean circulation. But if surface waters warm and ice does not form as well in winter, these processes involving salinity and circulation could be reduced or eliminated. "Then the Arctic Ocean and the North Atlantic Ocean will look very different," Steele says.

Also, if expansive areas now covered by year-round sea ice were to melt and the water were to open up, it could create shipping lanes where none are possible today. While that may be good for some industries, loss of sea ice would also alter wildlife habitats. Polar bears, walrus, and seals, for example, are all adapted to life on sea ice. Indigenous communities based around the Arctic may face enormous changes in terms of both culture and how they meet their people's basic needs of food, shelter, and clothing.

Moreover, Arctic warming and sea ice loss are likely to influence the loss of land ice, says Rind. Temperatures may rise to levels where land ice melts, and feedbacks created by sea ice loss reinforce regional Arctic warming, which in turn could cause more land ice to melt. While sea ice already floats and does not contribute to sea levels, melting land ice adds new water to the oceans. By 2100, sea levels are projected to rise by almost 1 meter (0.9 meters), according to the 2001 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report. Loss of land glaciers, which is already evident, could cause sea levels to rise even further.

"Sea levels will continue to rise long after greenhouse gases are stabilized, further endangering coasts and island communities," says Rind. The loss of sea ice by itself initiates ocean and high-latitude warming regardless of greenhouse effects.

Additionally, some scientists say Arctic warming could change our atmosphere. If Arctic areas continue to warm, scientists speculate that thawing Arctic soils may release significant amounts of carbon dioxide and methane currently trapped in permafrost. Slightly warmer ocean water may also release frozen natural gases in the sea floor, all of which act as greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, says Rind. However, the extent to which Arctic warming will add greenhouse gases to our atmosphere is a matter of debate.

To test the future climate, Rind used the Goddard Institute for Space Studies climate model to run a few simple experiments on how a warming Arctic might impact, say, the state of Kansas. The model was run to test how Kansas might be affected by sea ice loss by itself—that is, without assuming any additional greenhouse warming and without any temperature increases to the oceans. The air over sea ice is generally cold, and when you remove that ice, the air masses above warm considerably. Those Arctic air masses consistently blow south over North America during winter. As a result, the model predicts that sea ice loss will result in warming of over 2 degrees Celsius (4 degrees Fahrenheit) in Kansas in the winter, with a loss of 40 percent of the typical snow cover.

"While to some this may sound positive, the vernalization of winter wheat requires subfreezing temperatures; warmer winters would likely require a change in the type of wheat that would be grown which would affect inputs and markets. Worldwide agricultural impacts are likely," Rind says.

In summer, the model tests found that loss of sea ice by itself will raise the temperature a few degrees Fahrenheit and reduce soil moisture in Kansas by up to 10 percent. "Loss of snow cover and associated spring runoff from this reservoir will affect wide regions," Rind adds.

Rind's simple model simulation clearly illustrates that changes to Arctic ice alone alter climates the world over. And that's just the start. As the Arctic warms and sea ice declines the ramifications will play out in social, political, and scientific realms. "The implications of Arctic warming can be enormous," Comiso says.

Space Daily 01 Dec 03

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RAY LILLEY

WELLINGTON (AP) - Hundreds of scientists and staff in Antarctica braved freezing temperatures Monday to catch a glimpse of the first total solar eclipse recorded on the icy continent for a century.

Budget for Icebreaker in Doubt - Polar expeditions face cash freeze

Japan's Antarctic expedition program may be suspended because the Finance Ministry is reluctant to allocate a budget of 8 billion yen next fiscal year to build a new icebreaker, sources said Thursday.

Experts are concerned that failing to build a new ship to replace the 21-year-old Shirase, and thus suspending the program, would dent Japan's credibility in the international scientific community and throw its Antarctic exploration efforts into the garbage can.

"There is a danger that scientific and technological research done so far will also be suspended and that huge (already spent) budgets and the accumulation of research will have been in vain," said former Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone, who contributed to resuming the expeditions after they were once suspended in 1962.

The Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry has asked for an 8 billion yen allocation in next year's budget to start building the new ship so it can replace the Shirase in fiscal 2007 when its serviceable life is expected to end.

The new vessel, which will take four years to build, has a cost projection of 40 billion yen. Two onboard helicopters will cost another 12 billion yen.

The Finance Ministry is reluctant to allocate the funding due to tight fiscal conditions.

It argues that while it understands the significance of the expeditions, there isn't enough revenue, according to the sources.

The education ministry is expecting a severe assessment, including the possibility of no budget allocation at all for the new ship, the sources said.

"From the stance as a founding signatory of the Antarctic Treaty, Japan just can't quit," said Masayoshi Murayama, who was part of the first Japanese expedition to the South Pole and is now a professor emeritus at the National Institute of Polar Research in Tokyo

The Antarctic Treaty, first signed by 12 countries in 1959, now has 45 signatories.

The Japan Times: 07 Nov 2003
(C) All rights reserved

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Innovations.com 11 November 2003

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Massive Antarctic Iceberg Splits: McMurdo Station Further Blocked

NASA satellite images confirm that a 100-mile long iceberg in the Ross Sea, known as B-15A, split in two. University of Wisconsin-Madison scientists were among the first to notice the fracture that created two giant icebergs. Since B-15A first broke off the Antarctic's Ross Ice Shelf in 2000, the enormous iceberg has been trapping sea ice near Ross Island, home to McMurdo Station, one of the main U.S. scientific outposts in the Antarctic. The trapped ice has made shipping and the delivery of fuel and supplies to McMurdo increasingly difficult. These images come from NASA's Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard the Terra and Aqua satellites, Oct. 7 and 9, 2003.

McMurdo Station

In what could be a boom or a bust for some Antarctic shipping, a massive, 100-mile long iceberg known as B-15A has split in two, satellite photos have confirmed.

Monitoring the Antarctic ice using NASA's Terra satellite, scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Space Science and Engineering Center (SSEC) were among the first to notice the fracture creating two giant icebergs in the Ross Sea, due south of New Zealand.

Since B-15A first broke off the Antarctic's Ross Ice Shelf in 2000, the enormous iceberg has been trapping sea ice near Ross Island, home to McMurdo Station, one of the main U.S. scientific outposts in the Antarctic. The trapped ice has made shipping and the delivery of fuel and supplies to McMurdo increasingly difficult.

The splitting of B-15A, according to Matthew Lazzara, a meteorologist at SSEC's Antarctic Meteorological Research Center, could help clear the trapped ice near McMurdo, or it could compound the problem, making it even more difficult for ships to traverse the Ross Sea.

"It's been kind of stuck in this location for almost two years and the sea ice behind it has been growing thicker instead of dispersing as it usually does," Lazzara says. "It will be interesting to see if it goes away and creates fewer problems or if it makes it even harder to get ships to McMurdo."

With support from the National Science Foundation, scientists from UW-Madison and the University of Chicago have together been studying the massive iceberg. Three remotely operated weather stations have been placed on the iceberg by UW-Madison scientists and a Wisconsin team is now in the Antarctic preparing to deploy seismic equipment to the iceberg and perform routine maintenance and repair on the automated weather stations.

"The data we're collecting, we hope, will give us some clues about why these things behave as they do," explains Lazzara. "Using the data we collect, and the models developed at the University of Chicago, we hope to get a better understanding of the life cycle of these very large icebergs."

The intact B-15A iceberg was an estimated 90 to 100 miles long. The now-split iceberg has divided into two, with one berg about 75 miles long, and the other an estimated 20-25 miles in length.

SpaceDaily 20 October 2003

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Local review unlikely for Bathurst project

Bureaucratic battle tilts in favour of scrutiny from Ottawa
Jim Bell

Groups in the Northwest Territories say the Bathurst port-road project needs a federal review because it would have a direct impact on their territory.
 

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The second round in the Battle of Bathurst Inlet ended last week with no clear victor — but those who favour a so-called “made-in-Nunavut” environmental review appear to be losing the fight.

At stake is a $163-million scheme to build a deep-sea port and tank farm at Bathurst Inlet in the Kitikmeot region, and a 210-km all-weather road stretching from the port to the eastern shore of Contwoyto Lake.

It’s a bureaucratic duel, and the weapons of choice are densely-worded letters, submissions and written statements. So far, the Battle of Bathurst Inlet has generated nearly 100 documents in just 18 months.

On one side are the project’s proponents, a joint-venture between the Kitikmeot Corp. and Nuna Logistics Ltd.

They want the Nunavut Impact Review Board to be put in charge of a “Part 5” environmental review — which they’re referring to as a “made-in-Nunavut” process. They’re backed by mining companies, the Government of Nunavut, Nunavut Tunngavik Ltd., and the Kitikmeot Inuit Association.

On the other side sit a long list of groups and private citizens. Though few are totally opposed to the Bathurst project, they say the scheme may not make financial sense, may not be worth the environmental risk, and may disrupt existing supply links between Nunavut and the Northwest Territories.

They want a federal environmental assessment panel to be put in charge of the project’s environmental review — a “Part 6” review.

Those skeptics include the Government of the Northwest Territories, the Yellowknives Dene First Nation, the Dogrib Treaty 11 Council, the World Wildlife Fund, the Canadian Arctic Resources Committee, the owners of the Bathurst Inlet Lodge, and people who live in the tiny seasonal community of Bathurst Inlet.

Another group, representing the hunters and trappers of Holman Island, wants the Inuvialuit Environmental Screening Committee to look at the Bathurst project.

The referee in this battle is Bob Nault, the minister of the federal department of Indian affairs and northern development.

Last week, Nault’s office received a 21-page letter from Elizabeth Copeland, the chair of the NIRB, summarizing the results of its initial screening of the Bathurst Inlet Port and Road Project.

It’s now Nault’s job to read the NIRB’s materials, and decide between a Part 5 or a Part 6 review.

Though Nault has yet to make that decision, he already seems to lean toward a full-blown federal environmental assessment under Part 6 of the Nunavut land claim agreement.

That’s because a “made-in-Nunavut” review may not be enough to cover the huge transboundary issues that the port-road project raises.

In a letter to Copeland last April, Nault cited the project’s potential effects on the waters of the Arctic Ocean, on re-supply routes outside of Nunavut, and on the Bathurst caribou herd, which migrates back and forth across the NWT-Nunavut boundary.

“These issues alone suggest that the appropriate course of action may be to refer the project to the Minister of the Environment for a Part 6 panel review,” Nault said in the letter.

But the Bathurst project’s backers, who include most of Nunavut’s political elite, say this approach implies that the people of Nunavut are incapable of handling the issue on their own.

“A Part 6 review will be perceived as undermining the sense of self-determination that has marked the creation of Nunavut and the capability to do a comprehensive review by the structures established under the Nunavut land claim agreement,” says a letter signed by Manitok Thompson, Nunavut’s minister of community government and transportation, and Olayuk Akesuk, Nunavut’s minister of sustainable development.

Under the plan, large ships would sail through the Northwest Passage, and then into the narrow reaches of Bathurst Inlet, six to 10 times a year, laden with petroleum products bound for the Bathurst tank farm. From there, fuel would be distributed to nearby Kitikmeot communities and mining operations, by road and by barge.

If the Inmet Mining Corp. decides to resurrect its shelved Izok Lake lead-zinc-copper mine, then the proponents would add a second 80-km, section that would start on the opposite side of Contwoyto Lake, and connect with the as-yet undeveloped Izok Lake property.

Inmet’s withdrawal from the project last year caused the Izok Lake road section to be dropped from the plan. After that, the Bathurst project proponents lost Round One of their battle after Nault ordered them to produce a new project description — which led to Round Two.

The Canadian Arctic Resources Committee still believes the scheme may not be financially viable, and is demanding that the proponents release their economic feasibility study to the public.
 

Nunatsiaq News October 3, 2003

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By Patricia Reaney

MANCHESTER, England (Reuters) - Although tourism to Antarctica is still small by global standards, it is growing rapidly and scientists said Monday traveling to the region could pose dangers for people and the environment.

Hélène Scherrer, Member of Parliament for Louis-Hébert, on behalf of Allan Rock, Minister of Industry and Minister
responsible for the Networks of Centres of Excellence (NCE), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), and the Canada Foundation
for Innovation (CFI), and Robert G. Thibault, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO), today attended the unveiling of a Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker
intended to raise international awareness of Canadian arctic science and answer major questions on the effects of global changes in the Arctic. The
ministers also announced that the Government of Canada would invest $25.7 million over the next four years in ArcticNet, a new Canadian Network of
Centres of Excellence.  

Minister Rock pointed out that: "With investments totalling more than $66 million and the only Network of Centres of Excellence on the Arctic,
research on the North of the country will grow by leaps and bounds."    

Headed by Louis Fortier, a professor at l'Université Laval, the new Network of Centres of Excellence will look at the scientific challenges
resulting from Arctic warming using a cross-sectoral approach involving natural, social and medical science experts, that is, more than 145
researchers from 41 Canadian and foreign universities. ArcticNet will provide the information required to develop response strategies intended to help
Canada deal with the environmental and socio-economic effects of Arctic warming. Northern residents and their governments will play a critical role in
ArcticNet research, which will help them administer a changing Canadian Arctic.

At the official launch of the Canadian Coast Guard's icebreaker, Mr. Thibault unveiled the new name, the CCGS Amundsen, in honour of the early
20th century Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen. Mrs. Lily Schreyer, ship sponsor and wife of the former Governor General of Canada, the Right
Honourable Edward Schreyer, attended the ship's launch. 

"The Department of Fisheries and Oceans is proud to be a partner in this major research project in the Arctic," Mr. Thibault said. "We are pleased to
be able to support this unprecedented initiative by providing high quality facilities and the expert knowledge of our researchers and members of the
Coast Guard," he added. Researchers from Fisheries and Oceans Canada will partner with Canadian university researchers and foreign participants to carry
out exploratory work and research in the Arctic. The team working on this international project will leave for the Beaufort Sea in September 2003 for
the first icebreaking mission.

Tom Brzustowski, President of NSERC, explained that "the CASES Network (Canadian Arctic Shelf Exchange Study), funded by NSERC, is of paramount
importance. Only top-notch research teams can provide Canada with answers regarding changes in the North that affect us all." NSERC will allocate
$10 million directly to its new CASES research network, made up of a group of 13 Canadian universities. 

The Networks of Centres of Excellence Program is intended to mobilize the most distinguished Canadian researchers from universities and the private and
public sectors to ensure economic development and a better quality of life for Canadians. It is based, first and foremost, on research excellence and strong
partnerships and country-wide networking to maximize the effect of research. The new Network of Centres of Excellence, ArcticNet, joins the other 19
networks made up of 778 companies, 221 federal and provincial departments and agencies, 63 hospitals, 155 universities and more than 327 other Canadian and
foreign organizations.

The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council is a key federal agency that invests in people, exploration and innovation. It supports basic
university research through research grants and research projects carried out in partnership with universities, governments and the private sector, as well
as the specialized training of highly qualified individuals.

CNW - QUEBEC CITY, QC, Aug. 26 / 2003 

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The nation's first scientific research station on the North Pole will be set up in September during the second ever mission to the area by a team including Chinese scientists. The station will be located on Svalbard Island, which belongs to Norway.  It will be an integral step for China to improve its understanding about how its climate will be impacted upon by changes on the North Pole. The team will head to the area on Tuesday, it was revealed Wednesday at a contract-signing ceremony between Amway -- the financial supporter of the expedition-- and the Polar Research Institute of China. Amway is the world's largest multilevel marketing organization. Organized by the State Oceanic Administration, a total of 115 people will take part. About 90 experts from China, 16 from the USA, Canada, Japan and Finland and also several reporters will travel aboard the "Snow Dragon''vessel from Dalian of Northeast China's Liaoning Province. "The aim of the research is to understand how the climatic change of the North Pole affects the global climate, especially that in China,'' said Doctor Zhang Zhanhai, director of the Polar Research Institute of China. Recent research shows global warming has greatly impacted on the world's atmosphere, oceans and land masses. The thickness and coverage of the world's ice packs have been decreasing rapidly. In recent years,the coverage of ice in the Arctic Ocean has decreased by up to 15 per cent, meaning it is less than 1.3 metres thick. "China is located in the area that is not so rich with natural resources,'' said Wei Wenliang, an official with State Oceanic Administration. "Affected by the global climate, every year there are floods, sand storms and rising sea levels around China.'' The expedition and station's foundation will set up a basic observation system to collect first-hand polar research material, Wei said. During the 74-day-long mission, based on the "Snow Dragon'' vessel, experts plan to research the ocean's chemical composition, biology, geography and climate by using several tools like an underwater robot and a helicopter. China's first exploration station on the South Pole was established in 1984 and there have been 19 expeditions to the area. The first mission to the North Pole was in 1999. "Because the area in the South Pole does not belong to any country, it is easy to set up station there. Now it has 40 formal stations,'' Zhang explained. As land on the North Pole belongs to eight countries,it is more difficult to undertake exploration within another country's territory,Zhang said. People's Daily, Thursday, July 10, 2003 Top Polar News

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Dozens of scientists heading to Beaufort Sea
 

YELLOWKNIFE - A Canadian researcher is leading a massive climate change study in the Beaufort Delta. The project involves 75 scientists from Canada, the United States and Norway. The group will be based aboard a refurbished icebreaker, The Franklin.

A refurbished icebreaker will be used for the one year study in the Beaufort Sea.

University of Saskatchewan professor Alec Aitken is leading the international team of Arctic experts. Aitken says he expects the group to come back with a comprehensive picture of the effects of climate change.

"The project as you well know is focused on climate change and how it affects sea ice and how that then affects things that are happening in terms of the biology of the oceans," Aitken says.

"So we really are doing everything from the atmosphere to the bottom of the sea floor."

The Franklin is set to leave Quebec City Sept. 5. Some scientists will spend a year tracking sea ice cover. Others will study plankton and activity in the ocean floor.

Aitken says the Beaufort is the best place in the world to look at climate change.

Dozens of scientists are going to the Beaufort Sea to gather information about climate change

"This is the region of North America where we've seen the greatest change in temperatures, where we've seen the greatest change in sea ice cover, where we've seen the most rapid rate of thawing of permafrost," Aitken says.

"So if anything is going to happen if there's a signal to be found here it's going to be found in the Western Canadian Arctic first."

The expedition received 40 million dollars from the Canadian government. That's enough to keep the Franklin out at sea for a year. Aitken says the information his group collects will be enough to keep researchers busy for the following two years.

CBC North WebPosted Jun 30 2003 09:09 AM CDT

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Antarctic Guardians Consider Curbing Icy Tourism

By Alexander Smith

MADRID (Reuters) - Tourism in Antarctica may be curbed under measures being considered by the countries which control activities in the world's last great wilderness.

"We just can't leave it to industry to regulate, we have to deal with it ourselves," Australia's delegation head Tony Press said, summarizing a two-week meeting of Antarctic Treaty nations which ended on Friday.

The tour operators who ferry thousands of people to wonder at the Antarctic's harsh but dramatic landscapes and its unique wildlife formed their own self-regulatory body in 1991, the International Association of Antarctic Tour Operators (IAATO).

But the number of visitors to the frozen continent is rising rapidly, with around 22,000 expected to enjoy the sights of penguins, seals, icebergs and glaciers next year compared with annual figures of around 5,000 in the early 1990s, according to Trevor Hughes, of New Zealand's Antarctic policy unit.

New Zealand is at the forefront of moves to limit tourism and Hughes said that while Antarctic Treaty nations agreed IAATO and its members had so far done a good job in promoting high standards, more stringent regulation was needed.

"New and bigger operators are coming in. Thousand-passenger vessels which are not members of IAATO, full of heavy bunker oil," Hughes told Reuters at the closing session. "Tourism is now becoming the major human activity in Antarctica and the treaty parties need to take responsibility for its more active and effective management and regulation."

One of the points agreed in Madrid by the parties to the 44-year-old Antarctic Treaty was for Norway to host a meeting of experts early next year to examine the impact of tourism on the largely pristine Antarctic environment.

The New Zealanders also raised the dangers of so-called "adventure tourism" where people embark on ambitious and often highly dangerous expeditions in Antarctica.

"We have to send people out to risk their lives to rescue people...You can't categorically say you have to ban this or that, but everything has to be looked at individually," Hughes said.

Another area of debate was environmental liability and who should be responsible in the event of an ecological disaster in the region, such as a major oil spill.

Rueters 20 June 2003

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Explorers set to tackle Arctic

By Brent Lang Inuvik, NWT — Eight heavyweights in the petro­leum world are eager to drill up a storm in Canada's Arctic, embold­ened by a historic agreement that makes aboriginals part-owners of a $5-billion Arctic pipeline project. The group of explorers, led by ChevronTexaco Corp.of San  Francisco, says that the Mackenzie Delta in the Northwest Territories holds great promise for massive natural gas discoveries. ChevronTexaco has accumulated the largest onshore position among the explorers with leases in the Mackenzie Delta, and is the third-largest property holder in the region when offshore licences are included. Using three-dimensional seis­mic surveys and state-of-the-art technology, the companies believe that they can spot gas in areas ei­ther overlooked or deemed un­worthy during exploration in the early 1970s. With recent improve­ments in 3-D seismic technology, crews can search for gas in deeper reservoirs than ever before. Only two-dimensional seismic equipment was available three decades ago, when the bulk of the exploration in the region was con­ducted. However, with new ex­ploratory techniques and modern drilling rigs, the explorers are opti­mistic that there could be another 13 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of onshore gas in the Mackenzie Delta and a whopping 54 tcf offshore in the Beaufort Sea. So far, there have been three major gas discoveries in the region totalling six trillion cubic feet. All those onshore gas finds were made in the early 1970s. The eight companies have formed the Mackenzie Delta Ex­plorer Group. Besides Chevron Texaco, the members are: Petro-Canada,  EnCana Corp.,  BP PLC ,  Anadarko Canada Corp. , Devon Canada Corp. , Apache Canada Ltd.  and Burlington Resources Canada Ltd. Rod Maier, northern gas pro­gram manager for ChevronTexaco's Canadian subsidiary, said yesterday that the geological play in the NWT is particularly attrac­tive now that aboriginal leaders have signed a financing deal with pipeline giant TransCanada Corp.  and four producers. "It does reduce the overall risk profile for us, and we're encour­aged by the positive develop­ment," Mr. Maier said as the two-day Inuvik Petroleum Show wrap­ped up yesterday at the Midnight Sun Recreation Complex. "We're also encouraged that there's aboriginal participation as full and meaningful participants within the project. We feel that's a key and critical milestone to achieve." On Wednesday, the Aboriginal Pipeline Group signed a financing pact with Calgary-based TransCanada and four producers — Imperial Oil Ltd., ConocoPhillips Canada, Shell Canada Ltd.  and Exxon Mobil Canada Ltd. Imperial has more than three tcf of gas reserves in the Taglu field, ConocoPhillips Canada and Exx­onMobil have 1.8 tcf at their Par­sons Lake joint venture and Shell has more than one tcf at Niglintgak. Terry Moore, Devon Canada's frontier group leader, said his company is excited by gas pros­pects near Inuvik, but he cau­tioned that remote region will pose a challenge to even the most experienced drilling crews during exploration programs in the dead of winter. Costs can easily escalate in Arctic drilling as crews have to ensure that heat given off from drilling ac­tivities doesn't melt the frozen ground and allow a rig to get stuck. For now, the focus will be on making onshore discoveries because drilling into the Arctic's frozen tundra is cheaper than offshore exploration in the Beau­fort Sea. Longer term, Beaufort gas could dramatically extend the life of the Mackenzie line, said Fred Carmichael, chairman of the Aboriginal Pipeline Group. Since Mackenzie pipeline con­struction isn't slated to begin until early 2006, subject to regulatory and environmental approvals, some companies won't be drilling for a few years. Others are holding leases that will expire next year and in 2005, so they have a commitment to drill within the next 30 months or else lose their leases to a new bidder. The value of the total exploration commitment is more than $1-billion for all the companies active in the area.

Globe and Mail, Friday 20 June 2003

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Legislation Introduced to Ratify the Madrid Protocol

OTTAWA, June 6 2003 /CNW/ - The Honourable David Anderson, Minister of the Environment and the Honourable Bill Graham, Minister of Foreign Affairs, today introduced legislation that would allow Canada to ratify the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty (the Madrid Protocol) to protect the Antarctic environment. "I am pleased to introduce Bill C-42 today which will allow Canada to ratify the Madrid Protocol and officially join its global partners to further prevent pollution and environmental degradation in the Antarctic," said Minister Anderson. "And I am proud that since signing the Protocol in 1991, Canada and Canadians have been meeting or exceeding the obligations of the Protocol." "By ratifying the Madrid Protocol, Canada will contribute to the protection of one of the most fragile ecosystems in the world," said Minister Graham. "Canada is pleased to join other countries around the world in ensuring that the Antarctic environment is preserved for future generations." The Madrid Protocol is part of the Antarctic Treaty System, which includes the Antarctic Treaty (1961) to which Canada is a Party. The Treaty designates the Antarctic as an area to be used for peaceful purposes only. The main features of the Treaty are: prohibition of military activity; freedom and international cooperation in scientific research and exchange of information; suspension of claims of territorial sovereignty; and prohibitions of nuclear activities or disposal of radioactive waste. With a goal of further preventing pollution and environmental degradation in the Antarctic, the Madrid Protocol came into force in 1998. The Protocol designates the Antarctic as a natural reserve dedicated to science and peace. Under the Madrid Protocol environmental principles are set out for all activities to take place in the region. For example, any activity relating to mineral resources, other than scientific research, is banned; the taking of, or harmful interference with flora and fauna is banned; and all planned activities are required to undergo an environmental assessment according to the procedures prescribed in the Protocol. Under the Madrid Protocol, the Government of Canada will be responsible for the activities of Canadians and Canadian companies, vessels and aircraft, by requiring them to have a permit to be in the Antarctic. The Antarctic is a region of great environmental importance. It plays a significant role in global climate and ocean systems. The Antarctic region is a sensitive indicator of global change. Small changes in temperature resulting from climate change can have large consequences in terms of ice melt there by contributing to global sea level change - one of the main threats generated by climate change. The Antarctic supports unique and vulnerable wildlife species and provides valuable scientific opportunities, as a result of its relatively untouched natural ecosystems. The fragile ecosystems of the Antarctic face a number of threats, including human disturbance of flora and fauna, marine pollution, climate change, invasive alien species, and contamination from poor waste management locally, as well as the long range transport of pollutants. Roughly 400 Canadians visit the Antarctic each year. Two Canadian tour companies operate in the Antarctic, and approximately 40 Canadian scientists are involved in Antarctic research. The Madrid Protocol is part of the Antarctic Treaty System, which also includes the Antarctic Treaty, the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), and the Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Seals (CCAS). Canada is a Party to the Antarctic Treaty, the CCAMLR and the CCAS.

Canada News Wire 06 June 2003

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Arctic port plan raises federal concerns over northern waters jurisdiction

(CP) - A proposal to build a deep-water port along Canada's northern coast has been delayed at least a year, partly over federal concerns the plan could raise issues over international jurisdiction in High Arctic waters. The proposed port at Bathurst Inlet would have implications far beyond the immediate area, Indian Affairs Minister Robert Nault said in an April 10 letter to the northern environmental regulator. "The construction of a deep-sea port at Bathurst Inlet and the associated shipping . . . raises environmental concerns for the marine ecosystem, as well as national and international questions regarding the jurisdiction and use of arctic waters," Nault wrote. Nault's concern over how the port would affect Canadian sovereignty in the North baffles one of the project's proponents. "It (the letter) seems to bring into doubt the jurisdiction of Canada over the arctic waters," said Tony Keen of Vancouver-based Nuna Logistics. Keen suggested a Canadian arctic port would only serve to reinforce the country's sovereignty claims. Countries such as the United States have never formally acknowledged that the normally ice-choked seas of the High Arctic are Canadian. But with the thinning ice cover of recent years, the possibility of regular shipping through the Northwest Passage has given the issue new urgency. Still, Nault's office, which has asked the proponents to send an updated description of the project, seems to be signalling caution. "The project as described is large scale and clearly has the potential to have impacts that reach beyond the Nunavut settlement area," Nault wrote to the Nunavut Impact Review Board. Nault also suggests the project may have to face a federal environmental screening. That would be much broader - and longer - than the review the project's proponents were hoping for. Keen points out the port application already sat at Nault's office from November to April only to have Nault ask for the updated description instead of ruling on how the application will proceed. "The impact already is we've lost the year," said Keen. Environmentalists, however, applauded Nault's letter. They have previously expressed concern over the project's effect on the Bathurst caribou herd, as well as the impact of the mining development the port is designed to encourage. "(The letter) shows the department is striking a better balance between its economic development and environmental protection mandates," said Karen Wristen of the Canadian Arctic Resources Committee. The proposed Bathurst port would operate about 110 days a year and be big enough to handle 45,000-tonne ships. It would have loading facilities, an airstrip, accommodation for 200 workers, a 200-million-litre fuel tank farm and storage for nearly 363,000 tonnes of ore concentrate. An all-weather road from the port that would serve various possible mines has been dropped from the first stage of the project, which is being backed by a consortium of Inuit-owned businesses. Studies funded by Ottawa, Nunavut, aboriginal organizations and the private sector have found the port would not only make shipping ore cheaper, it would dramatically cut the cost of bringing in everything from diesel fuel to dry goods for future mines and the 4,400 people living in the region. At Cambridge Bay, gas would be cheaper by one-third and the freight cost of general goods would be cut by 70 per cent, the studies suggest. The port is expected to cost about $85 million. Federal documents suggest it would stimulate up to $925 million of investment in Nunavut.   © The Canadian Press, 2003 - Friday, May 09, 2003 Top Polar News

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Scientists travel to North Pole to investigate Arctic change BY ALEXANDRA WITZE The Dallas Morning News   ICE CAMP BORNEO, 89 DEGREES NORTH -(KRT) - Something drastic is happening at the top of the world, and scientists have arrived to find out why. Every year, the skin of ice that covers the Arctic Ocean grows a little smaller and a little thinner. Glaciers here melt, permafrost thaws, and cold-loving plants and animals move ever farther north. "We're not Henny Penny here," said Tim Stanton, an oceanographer at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, Calif. "We know these changes are happening." Last week, he and a small group of scientists traveled to the heart of the Arctic - the North Pole itself - in search of answers. Scientists peg rising global temperatures as the most likely culprit behind Arctic change. In a place so cold that teeth freeze during a smile, it seems that heat should be welcome. But even tiny changes in this remote, fragile ecosystem can have global implications. In trying to draw a complete picture of the Arctic, the research team has pinned hope on a slender Kevlar cable hauled from the deep sea. On April 24, in frigid air shimmering with "diamond dust" ice crystals, divers pulled up more than 2 1/2 miles of the cable, which had been anchored to the seafloor for the past year. Strung along the mooring, like jewels on a necklace, were 13 scientific instruments. For the past year, those instruments gathered data on properties such as ocean saltiness, temperature and circulation - all clues to understanding the changing climate. Engineers then dropped a new, $100,000 mooring in place of the old one. The work is part of the five-year North Pole Environmental Observatory, a $4 million effort funded by the National Science Foundation. Unlike an astronomical observatory, the environmental observatory is not a single building. Rather, it is a set of tasks that the same group of scientists has tackled every spring for the past four years so far. One team collects the mooring. Meanwhile, another drills holes in the ice and puts in buoys that relay ocean data via satellite back to the researchers. A third team hopscotches for hundreds of miles across the ice in a Twin Otter airplane and in a helicopter, taking water samples along the way. Repeating the jobs every year gives scientists a longer-term picture of the ocean's behavior, said project leader Jamie Morison, an oceanographer at the University of Washington in Seattle. And only observations over time can identify what the natural state of the climate is and how it might be affected by human activity. Morison chose the North Pole not for geographical glory, but because it is near the center of the Arctic Ocean. Most of the Arctic measurements to date have been taken along the fringes of places like Canada, Scandinavia and Siberia. The Soviet Union used to conduct long-term research in the Arctic Ocean, but most of those programs collapsed when that nation did. This spring, Russia established its first drifting scientific station here in years. Beyond that, Morison said, the rest has just been guesswork. --- For the second year in a row, the team based itself at a floating ice camp called Borneo. The name was chosen because it sounded exotic and could not be confused with other High Arctic destinations, said Christian de Marliave, from the French company contracted to manage the camp. The Russians establish the camp every spring by plowing a 3,000-foot-long runway atop 10-foot-thick ice. A small tent city sprouts nearby, becoming a hub for dozens of tourists who fly, ski or even run to the North Pole, about 60 miles away. Borneo blossoms in April, when temperatures typically have soared from a deep-winter 25 degrees below zero to minus-15 degrees. The camp is gone by early May, when the ice pack begins to fragment. Sometimes the breakup comes a bit too early. This year, a wide crack opened in Borneo's runway soon after it was plowed, forcing a new one to be cleared about four miles away. And on Thursday, the ice began to churn about 100 feet from the camp's two helicopters; a massive pressure ridge arose, creaking and groaning as sheets of ice collided and gave way. (A Russian jumped atop the growing mass, flexing his biceps as chunks of ice fell away beneath him.) --- Flexibility is a way of life at Borneo. On April 23, a French explorer demonstrated a technology he originally developed to cross Antarctica without resupply - a giant, tentlike sail that pulled him along on skis. April 24, helicopter flights were curtailed as a refueling plane was repeatedly delayed by bad weather in Siberia. April 25, the tent city swelled to accommodate about 30 skiers who had reached the North Pole and returned to camp by helicopter. Morison, who has worked in the Arctic since 1974, has coped with logistical chaos before. But Borneo clearly tested even his patience. In one typical incident, the team took a six-hour charter flight from Resolute Bay, on Cornwallis Island in northernmost Canada, and arrived to a Borneo welcome. After the Hawker-Sidley plane landed, Russian workers scurried to unload 10,000 pounds of scientific equipment. A small, rusty bulldozer towed sledge after sledge of crates and boxes to a massive Russian Mi-8 helicopter. But a shortage of fuel had left the Mi-8 without enough to travel to a secondary camp where the mooring was being recovered. Two hours later, after endless satellite phone conversations and pleas for rescue from a subpar warming hut, a second helicopter arrived from Borneo proper - a five-minute flight away. The Russians began siphoning fuel from one machine to another, smoking frantically as they worked. --- At the mooring camp, everything had been going smoothly for field engineer Jim Johnson and his diving crew - until the boss showed up. On April 23, the team used a transponder to locate the spot on the ice beneath which last year's mooring lay, anchored to the seafloor by 1,000 pounds of chain. But the ice was too rough; had Johnson released the mooring then, it might have snagged on the underwater ice surface and become too entangled to retrieve. Hours later, the ice had drifted so that the mooring was beneath a smooth patch. Johnson set off an acoustic signal that caused the mooring to release from its anchor. The instrument-laden cable then drifted upward and strung itself along the bottom of the moving ice, pinned up by floats like a strand of Christmas lights on too few nails. A 4-foot-wide ring of heated copper melted through the 10 feet of ice. Divers Eric Boget and Jim Osse plunged into the salty 28-degree water, hooked the top float, and pulled it through the hole within half an hour. The process might have gone quicker, Osse said, had the divers not taken time to appreciate the 500-foot visibility in the crystalline water, the air bubbles sheening across the ice overhead, and the blackness below. "Talk about feeling like a little fish in a big pond," he said a few hours after the dive. Then the engineers had to winch thousands of feet of cable out of the hole, unstringing the instruments as they popped to the surface. Because the ice can drift more than a mile a day, the job must be done quickly. But within an hour of Morison's arrival to check on the mooring, part of the winch machinery broke. "Not only am I pessimistic, but I'm depressed," Morison said as the engineers brought out wrenches, pliers, and even a chainsaw to try to fix the problem. Hours later, after he had left the site, the mooring team found some new bolts and repaired the machinery. The rest of the cable was hauled out. And the instruments were boxed for shipment back to Seattle, where scientists will download the data and compare the results to last year's mooring. This is the second year of a mooring at the observatory, and only the third mooring ever at the North Pole. Already, last year's data has brought some discoveries - including a strong current that mysteriously appears in deep water. "If you can imagine this water moving at speeds five times the average, that's quite surprising," said Knut Aagaard of the University of Washington, lead scientist for the mooring. The bottom of the Arctic Ocean lacks the topography that normally generates eddies and thus currents in deep water, said Aagaard, who did not travel to the ice this year. "These things," he said, "are always little voyages of discovery." --- By the morning of April 26, the mooring team finished stringing out next year's cable. Stanton placed the oceanographic buoy he designed - the first of this year's set of buoys - on the ice near the Borneo runway. And Morison traveled to Alert, a Canadian military installation at the northern tip of Ellesmere Island, to start the water surveys. Over the next several months, the researchers will start compiling and comparing the data from these various sources. From this baseline, scientists hope to discern the difference between the Arctic's natural climate fluctuations and any changes wrought by humans. With only one more year left for the North Pole Environmental Observatory, Morison is looking ahead. He plans to apply for more money to run the observatory for several more years. To miss making scientific observations now, when the Arctic environment is clearly shifting so dramatically, would be a huge mistake, Morison said. It is a rare chance to witness Earth in the throes of change. "For the oceanographers and atmospheric scientists," he said, "all this change is a boon." --- © 2003, The Dallas Morning News 02 May 2003

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Allan Rock and Georges Farrah Announce $41 Million in New Initiatives for Arctic Research

QUEBEC, QC, - Allan Rock, Minister of Industry and Minister responsible for the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council
and the Canada Foundation for Innovation, and Georges Farrah, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, today announced investments
totalling $41 million to raise Canada's international profile in Arctic science and answer important questions about the effects of global change in
the North.
Today's funding includes:

    - $27.7 million from the Canada Foundation for Innovation to retrofit an icebreaker with state-of-the-art equipment for Arctic research.
    - $10 million from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) to support a multi-year project to study the
      ecosystem and climate impacts of melting ice in the Arctic Ocean.
    - $3 million from Fisheries and Oceans Canada to reactivate and refit the Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker for its new role as a dedicated Arctic
      research platform.

The international project, led by Dr. Louis Fortier of Université Laval will become an important catalyst to re-energize Canadian Arctic science by
giving researchers unprecedented access to the Arctic Ocean. Over the next 10 years, the vessel will support several major multidisciplinary programs of
international stature to advance our understanding of climate, oceanic circulation, sea-ice dynamics, biology, biogeochemistry, sedimentology,
paleoceanography, and geology in the Canadian sector of the Arctic Ocean. The ship will set sail for the Beaufort Sea in September as the first mission on
the icebreaker.
   

"This research will help tackle issues that transcend national boundaries and will help consolidate Canada's lead in Arctic oceanography," said Minister
Rock. "This new ship will also provide a unique training opportunity for Canada's young researchers to work side by side with some of the world's best
environment and marine scientists." 

"Fisheries and Oceans Canada is proud to be a part of this ground-breaking project. The Arctic is an important part of Canada and it's only
natural that Canada plays a pivotal role in Arctic research," said Mr. Farrah, on behalf of the Honourable Robert G. Thibault, Minister of Fisheries and
Oceans.

The Canada Foundation for Innovation and Fisheries and Oceans Canada funds will be used to retrofit an existing icebreaker - supplied by the
Canadian Coast Guard - with state-of-the-art research equipment to study the environmental, social, and economic impact of global warming on Canada's
northern regions.

NSERC will allocate its funding directly to the Canadian Arctic Shelf Exchange Study (CASES) - an NSERC Research Network involving 13 Canadian
universities. Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Environment Canada, Natural Resources Canada and the National Defence also made major in-kind
contributions to the Network, by providing access to infrastructure and services essential to the realization of its mission. The estimated value of
CASES is $42 million, $11 million deriving from the international contributors.
	

According to NSERC's president Tom Brzustowski, "a partnership of funders and a collaborating network of scientists are the only ways to assemble the
resources and the wide complementary expertise needed to conduct a full ecosystem study in the Arctic, in an attempt to foresee the potential impacts
of climate change on Arctic shelves".

The CASES Research Network will gather detailed information on variations in ice cover on the Mackenzie Shelf and the impact it has on the Arctic
ecosystem. The collaboration involving foreign experts from nine countries will allow for the most comprehensive study of the Arctic shelves to date.

As part of the CASES study, Fisheries and Oceans Canada's scientists will join researchers from Canadian universities and participants from countries
around the world, to conduct Arctic exploration and research. Their studies will cover a wide range of marine disciplines from physical oceanography to
contaminants to marine mammal research.

The new scientific icebreaker will be crewed by Coast Guard personnel, who will lend their operational and navigational expertise to ongoing Arctic
research projects. 

NSERC is a key federal agency investing in highly qualified people, discovery and innovation. The Council supports both basic university research
through discovery grants, and project research through partnerships among universities, governments and the private sector, as well as the advanced
training of highly qualified people.

The CFI is an independent, not-for-profit corporation established by the Government of Canada in 1997 to strengthen the capacity for innovation in
Canadian universities, colleges, research hospitals and other non-profit institutions.

CNW  24 April 24 2003 

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Rescue plan for Shackleton hut
 

By Christine McGourty BBC science correspondent

 

A plan has been unveiled to conserve the hut used by the explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton during his 1907-1909 Nimrod expedition to Antarctica.

The harsh environment is taking its toll (Image by F Wills)

The hut at Cape Royds, like others in the region, is in a state of serious disrepair as a result of the harsh weather and the wear and tear caused by visitors. Many artefacts have been stolen.

Under the plan, produced by the New Zealand Antarctic Heritage Trust, the hut will be restored to reflect the condition it was in when Shackleton abandoned it in 1909, following his failed attempt to reach the South Pole.

The work is expected to take five years and could cost about £2m. A major fund-raising initiative is underway to obtain the necessary funds.

State of decay

Alexandra Shackleton, grand-daughter of the explorer, said she was "extremely excited" by the proposals.

"It's wonderful to think that if it all goes to plan then my grandfather, if he was alive, would be able to walk back in there and find everything just as he left it in 1909," she told BBC News Online.

The conservation plan was drawn up by experts in New Zealand, Australia and Britain.

The British architect Michael Morrisson, who has been involved in the project, spent more than a month in Antarctica last year visiting Cape Royds and the other huts there.

"The fabric of the huts themselves isn't the problem," he said. "The big problem is the vast quantity of artefacts there.

"At Cape Royds there are thousands of tins of food and they are decaying to the point that the tins are exploding. The skua population is starting to snack on the maize. It is becoming a hazard in its own right.

"They've been doing some good work down there on the huts but they're only just beginning to stem the tide of decay never mind turn it back," he added.

Restoration programme

The new plan includes proposals to reconstruct parts of the stables and a garage, which was built to house Antarctica's first car. Replica artefacts may also be introduced to replace those that have been lost.

The plan was launched by the New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark at Lyttleton in New Zealand, the port to which Shackleton returned after his Antarctic expeditions.

Rob Fenwick, chairman of the New Zealand Antarctic Heritage Trust, said the plan established the key principles for conserving the hut for future generations.

Some of the artefacts in Shackleton's hut have been stolen

He described it as "a first step on the road to preserving