Important Facts For Prelims
Completion of Largest Arctic Expedition
- 13 Oct 2020
- 2 min read
Why in News
Year-long MOSAiC Expedition began from Norway and concluded at the port of Bremerhaven, Germany.
- It was a $150 million project organized by the Alfred Wegener Institute, Germany.
Key Points
- The Multidisciplinary Drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate (MOSAiC) is an international research expedition to study the physical, chemical, and biological processes that coupled the Arctic atmosphere, sea ice, ocean, and ecosystem.
- MOSAiC is the first year-round expedition into the central Arctic exploring the Arctic climate system.
- During the year-round operation of research, the distributed regional network of observational sites were set up on the sea ice surrounding the ship icebreaker RV Polarstern.
- The icebreaker RV Polarstern is a German Research Vessel which is mainly used for research in the Arctic and Antarctica.
- The results of MOSAiC will contribute to enhance understanding of the regional and global consequences of Arctic climate change and sea-ice loss and improve weather and climate predictions.
- Significance:
- The region’s sea ice has been steadily shrinking in recent decades, and summer ice coverage this year was the second lowest since satellite measurements began in 1979.
- Warming has also caused sharp declines in older and thicker ice.
- The information is collected about the ocean, ice, clouds, storms and ecosystems of the Arctic would prove invaluable in helping scientists understand the region, which is warming faster than any other part of the planet.
