Yesterday I read an interesting press release from the Alfred Wegener Institute, Germany’s polar research institute. It made the “panorama” page of our regional paper this morning. Their research vessel the Polarstern has just completed an Antarctic cruise and come up with the puzzling result that the deep sea in the Antarctic is actually getting colder. At the same time satellite images from the Antarctic summer have shown the largest extent of sea-ice on record. The question is whether this is the start of a new trend, or just a one-off. The last ARCTIC summer was the warmest on record. The trouble is this latest report on Antarctic cooling might make a lot of people think global warming isn’t a danger after all.
See the latest information on the AWI English web page
Meanwhile, here in Bonn, Germany,it is beginning to feel like spring. The tulips in my garden are in full bloom. After a long cold, wet spell, it looks as if it’s going to heat up in the course of the week – in time to make sure my transition to the Alaskan Arctic is a bit of a shock to the system.
I’ve decided to look out some of my favourite ice and snow pictures to put us all in the right mood.

“Cloud wisps over Ny Alesund”. This shows fjord and glaciers taken from the French-German Arctic research base in Ny Alesund on Svalbard, Spitzbergen last June. I was lucky to get a couple of days of this sort of weather. It’s more likely to be overcast. But even those days still have a certain charm. The colours look completely different, as in this pic:

This is me in my survival suit at the Kongswegen glacier, taken on the same trip. The photo was taken by Rainer Vockenroth, the head of the research base, which is run jointly by the French and the German polar research institutes.We went along the glacier in a small boat. The water was 2°C, which means you can become unconscious in five minutes – unless you’re wearing one of these uncomfortable but admittedly useful outfits.

The map shows the destinations we’ll be visiting on the expedition, from Barrow in the Arctic Circle through Healy in the Interior to Girdwood in the Anchorage area.

Alaska is the northernmost state in the USA. It’s the biggest state in terms of surface area – around 20% of the total – but the fourth smallest in terms of population. Hardly surprising, given its remote location and harsh climate. Part of Alaska actually lies inside the Arctic circle. But the average temperature has risen by around 6° C since 1960. Not enough to warrant bikinis on this trip, but alarming if you see how fast the rate of ice melt is accelerating.
Recent NASA photos indicate that although it has actually been a particularly cold winter, leading to an increase in SEA ice, established ice areas in the Arctic are melting fast.
NASA website
Our first destination will be the furthest away one: Barrow, the northernmost city in the USA, 340 miles into the Arctic Circle. Its own people describe it as “probably the harshest polar location in Alaska”.
introduction to barrow
The Climate College field trip is going to Alaska because it’s one of the areas most clearly affected by climate change. They’re calling the expedition “Unbaking Alaska”, the idea being to show the selected “Climate ambassadors” the effects of climate change first hand, bringing them into contact with scientists working in the “front lines” of climate research, and introducing them to “climate witnesses” – especially Inupiat eskimos – they’ll be even more inspired to take action to combat global warming.