Transcription of this episode | Watch this on video | Buy us a coffee: Chris / Henry / Mario showThis episode is a joint production of Curiously Polar and Polar Geopolitics. Joining today are Klaus Dodds, Professor for Geopolitics and Executive Dean for the School of Life Sciences and Environment at Royal Holloway, and Eric Paglia, postdoctoral researcher in the SPHERE project at KTH Royal Institute of Technology and producer and program host of the podcast Polar Geopolitics. SCRAMBLE FOR THE NORTH POLE Not only since 2007, when a submersible planted the Russian flag at the North Pole, the question of who owns the North Pole are a widespread topic discussed in several media outlets around the globe. With a large portion of its claim scientifically sound and confirmed by the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf, a new scramble for the North Pole has set in. But where does this interest come from and what are the implications of it, particularly with the Russian war on Ukraine and the resulting political isolation of Russia on the world stage? How will the Arctic Council as intergovernmental forum for circumpolar cooperation develop in the future and how will the claims of different Arctic states effect the work in the Arctic Council? We discuss these and other questions together with Eric Paglia and our guest, Professor Klaus Dodds. You can find Klaus Dodds’ latest book ‘Border Wars’ here and an overview over a selection of his other books here. Please consider to check out Eric Paglia’s podcast Polar Geopolitics and send us your questions or feedback to todays episode.notes This is an episode of the Curiously Polar podcast with Chris Marquardt https://chrismarquardt.com/ Henry Páll Wulff: https://henrypall.com/ Mario Acquarone https://www.buymeacoffee.com/polarmario Listen to all podcast episodes at https://curiouslypolar.com All video episodes at https://tfttf.com/curiouslypolarvideo Find us here: Web: https://curiouslypolar.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/curiouslypolar Instagram: https://instagram.com/curiouslypolar

Watch this on video | Buy us a coffee: Chris / Henry / Mario POLAR NEWSREEL: 01 Mapping the Ocean Floor: The Nippon Foundation-GEBCO Seabed 2030 Project was endorsed as part of the UN Ocean Decade. The project aims to map all the world’s oceans by the end of the decade. When it launched, only 6% of the seabed was mapped to a modern standard. On May 2, 2023, HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco announced that now 24.9% of the seabed is mapped, including some 19,000 newly discovered undersea volcanoes. Mapping the ocean floor is a critical step towards informing decision-making in areas such as resource management, environmental change, and ocean conservation1 . 02 One Year in the Life of Ocean Eddies: The Alfred Wegener Institute simulated a year of ocean eddies in the Southern Ocean with the FESOM2 ocean model in a 3 km resolution. THE WORLDS LARGEST WATERFALL Deep beneath the Denmark Strait, between Iceland and Greenland, lies the largest and most powerful waterfall on Earth - the Denmark Strait cataract. This undersea wonder is around 160 kilometres wide and cascades over immense cataracts hidden from our view, descending nearly 3 kilometres to a depth of 3,505 metres. The Denmark Strait Cataract carries around 5 million cubic metres of water per second, dwarfing any giant waterfall on land. The Denmark Strait Cataract is a natural wonder that has been a mystery to many. It is formed by the difference in temperature between the ultra-cold Arctic waters of the Greenland Sea and the slightly warmer Irminger Sea. When the water from the Greenland Sea meets the Irminger Sea water, it slides right down through it to the bottom of the ocean. The cold, dense water quickly sinks below the warmer water and flows over the huge drop in the ocean floor, creating a downward flow estimated at well over 3,482,972.13 cubic metres per second. This massive flow equals between 20 and 40 times the sum of all river water that flows into the Atlantic. The existence of an undersea waterfall is astonishing in itself. The Denmark Strait cataract is not only remarkable for its height and power but also for its ability to exist at all. Its discovery is a testament to our ongoing exploration of our planet’s oceans and our continued fascination with their mysteries. This is an episode of the Curiously Polar podcast with Chris Marquardt https://chrismarquardt.com/ Henry Páll Wulff: https://henrypall.com/ Mario Acquarone https://www.buymeacoffee.com/polarmario Listen to all podcast episodes at https://curiouslypolar.com All video episodes at https://tfttf.com/curiouslypolarvideo Find us here: Web: https://curiouslypolar.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/curiouslypolar Instagram: https://instagram.com/curiouslypolar

Watch this on video | Buy us a coffee: Chris / Henry / Mario POLAR NEWSREEL 01 Life at the bottom of the Southern Ocean: The team of the icebreaker RRS Sir David Attenborough has been testing the new deep sea research capabilities in the 5.6 km (3.5 mi) deep and least explored parts of the Southern Ocean, the Hesperides Deep, unveiling incredible lifeforms at the bottom of the sea. | 02 New interactive Antarctic mapping tool: The Australian Antarctic Division developed the amazing interactive mapping tool, Nilas to to assist voyage planning and enhance climate research in the sea ice zone. RACE FOR THE OLDEST ICE A global race is on to drill for the oldest known layers of Antarctic ice, so researchers can peek back in time to better understand the planet’s hotter future. Picking up from the record-breaking 2017 Allan Hills ice core, that unearthed ice dating back 2.7 million years, the US team returns to the site and aims to fill the gaps in the climate records. At the same time, the European project Beyond EPICA aims at obtaining ice cores, which are expected to provide continuous high-resolution climatic data up to 1.5 million years old at a site less than 40 km away from the Italo-French Concordia station at Little Dome C. End of January 2023, the team reached an important milestone and successfully completed the first ice core drilling campaign at a depth of 808 metres. Only five kilometres away from the European drilling site, the Australian Antarctic Division is making camp for their Million Year Ice Core project. To do so, the Australian team is mastering an incredible logistical challenge and traverses the East Antarctic Ice Sheet from the coastal Casey Station to the inland camp at the drilling site - and back. Lotter Kock, the Technical Lead for the Ice Drill System, tells his story on ABC Radio Hobart, certainly worth listening. Check out Henry's article "Deep Freeze: Ice Core Drilling for Earth's Climate Archive" for a deeper dive into the topic. Extra Media: Follow BAS scientists Huw Griffith and Jamie Maxwell on Twitter. This is an episode of the Curiously Polar podcast with Chris Marquardt https://chrismarquardt.com/ Henry Páll Wulff: https://henrypall.com/ Mario Acquarone https://www.buymeacoffee.com/polarmario Listen to all podcast episodes at https://curiouslypolar.com All video episodes at https://tfttf.com/curiouslypolarvideo Find us here: Web: https://curiouslypolar.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/curiouslypolar Instagram: https://instagram.com/curiouslypolar

Watch this on video | Buy us a coffee: Chris / Henry / Mario It's that time of the year HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE!! And while we covered some festive topics and traditions in the past, let's loaok at what we are doing for Christmas ourselves. The Curiously Polar Holiday Book Club (CPHBC): Jean-Baptiste Charcot by Dominique Le Brun SIKU: Knowing Our Ice - Documenting Inuit Sea Ice Knowledge and Use by Igor Krupnik et al. Antarktikos Magazine - #1 Mapping Nature The Mapping of Antarctica Antarktische Wildnis - Südgeorgien by Thies Matzen and Kicki Ericson Master of Desolation by Joseph J. Fuller Le Pourquoi-pas dans L'Antarctique by Jean-Baptiste Charcot Charcot, le Chevalier du Pole by Marguerite Verdat The New York Taxi Back Seat Book by David Bradford POLAR NEWSREEL: Nations Adopt Four Goals, 23 Targets for 2030 At the 2022 UN Biodiversity Conference (COP 15) in Montreal 188 nations agreed on an unprecedented package of measures to protect and restore biodiversity and natural ecosystems. The agreement, called the “Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework” (GBF), includes four goals and 23 targets for achievement by 2030. The goals include protecting and restoring ecosystems, officially recognizing "nature's contribution to people", several ways of financing the process across borders. New Polar Code Regulations The new addendum, second phase of the Polar Code, urged Member States to implement voluntary safety measures of the Polar Code on ships not certified under the SOLAS Convention, approved guidance for navigation and communication equipment intended for use on ships operating in polar waters, approved Interim guidelines on life-saving appliances and arrangements for ships operating in polar waters and gave consideration to the possible application of chapters 9 (Safety of navigation) and 11 (Voyage planning) of the Polar Code to non-SOLAS ships and discussing how best to enhance the safety of these ships when operating in polar waters. Additional link New artifacts extracted from HMS Erebus during 2022 campaign During the 11 days campaign, a team of archeologists performed 56 dives on the wreck of one of Franklin's lost ships, the HMS Erebus. They retrieved exciting and promising artefacts that will surely contribute to forming the picture of the fate of the expedition. The conditions of the wreck are excellent but delicate and this ship will be the initial focus of the work. The other ship, the HMS Terror, is in a deeper, more secure position and will have to wait until the work on the HMS Erebus is finished. Why is the southern hemisphere stormier than the northern? The Southern Ocean regions have picturesque names: “roaring forties”, “furious fifties” and “screaming sixties”. A study combining observations and models indicates that the global ocean “conveyor belt” and the large mountain ranges in the northern hemisphere are some of the main factors contributing to the difference in storminess between the hemispheres. This work also shows that the southern hemisphere is getting even stormier over time, whereas the north is not. This is consistent with what climate models simulate for a warming world. These changes are important because we know stronger storminess can result in more high-impact events, such as extreme winds, temperatures and rainfall. Additional link Current State of Sea Ice Cover Rapid changes have been occurring in the Arctic, where the ice coverage has been declining at a substantial rate. In contrast, in the Antarctic the sea ice coverage has been increasing although at a lesser rate than the decreases in the Arctic. In the North at the beginning of winter, ice extent seems to be increasing close to the average from the 2010s. In the South, sea ice extent is particularly low and in an unusual distribution. Additional link This is an episode of the Curiously Polar podcast with Chris Marquardt https://chrismarquardt.com/ Henry Páll Wulff: https://henrypall.com/ Mario Acqu

Watch this on video | Buy us a coffee: Chris / Henry / Mario Henry sent a message from a ship far far away. And that message had a discussion attached to it that he had with his colleague and legendary expedition leader Solan Jensen. They talked for half an hour about this and that, about the changes in the polar regions as a global issue, about excursions into the environment, about the climate and about the overall industry. Enjoy! This is an episode of the Curiously Polar podcast with Chris Marquardt https://chrismarquardt.com/ Henry Páll Wulff: https://henrypall.com/ Mario Acquarone https://www.buymeacoffee.com/polarmario Listen to all podcast episodes at https://curiouslypolar.com All video episodes at https://tfttf.com/curiouslypolarvideo Find us here: Web: https://curiouslypolar.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/curiouslypolar Instagram: https://instagram.com/curiouslypolar

Watch this on video | Buy us a coffee: Chris / Henry / Mario SENSATIONAL DISCOVERY OF INFAMOUS VASA SISTERSHIP IN SWEDEN Maritime archaeologists from Sweden’s Vrak - Museum of Wrecks have discovered the wreck of a 17th century warship. In collaboration with the Swedish Navy the archaeologists surveyed a strait at Vaxholm just outside Stockholm. While a large shipwreck was discovered there in 2021, the team could only identify the wreck in the spring of 2022 und reveal its details as very similar to Sweden’s most famous shipwreck, Vasa. Commissioned by the King of Sweden Gustavus Adolphus and build in 1629, only a year after the sinking of Vasa, the ship was designed by the same shipbuilder who completed Vasa, but contained improvements to the design. However, the construction still proved to be unsuccessful. After service in Europe's 30 Years' War, Äpplet was deliberately sunk in Vaxholm in the Stockholm archipelago in 1659, when it was deemed unseaworthy. The important discovery adds another key piece to the puzzle of the development of shipbuilding that eventually lead to Sweden’s emergence as a great power in the 1600s and its dominance in the Baltic Sea. Extra Media: Map: https://goo.gl/maps/TSiad5UDrRPQVheE6 Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_69o4NK8aCc Vasa Museum: https://www.vasamuseet.se/en This is an episode of the Curiously Polar podcast with Chris Marquardt https://chrismarquardt.com/ Henry Páll Wulff: https://henrypall.com/ Mario Acquarone https://www.buymeacoffee.com/polarmario Listen to all podcast episodes at https://curiouslypolar.com All video episodes at https://tfttf.com/curiouslypolarvideo Find us here: Web: https://curiouslypolar.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/curiouslypolar Instagram: https://instagram.com/curiouslypolar

Watch this on video | Buy us a coffee: Chris / Henry / Mario THE TWO ARCTICS - THE ARCTIC CIRCLE ASSEMBLY 2022 The 9th Arctic Circle Assembly showcased a very divided Arctic Community, with Russian participants glaringly absent. It seems the circumpolar Arctic does not exist at the moment and the new chair of the Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC), Sara Olsvig, reiterates that there can’t be a solution to this in the Arctic without the inclusion of indigenous people as they live across the modern-day borders. She also said very clearly that with Arctic democracy under great pressure, the post Arctic Council and its future is reason for big concerns. Further, the future of the Arctic Council in the light of Russia’s unprovoked War on Ukraine has been discussed on numerous occasions. There has been speculation that the West will fundamentally reshape Arctic governance by forming a new international body, known as “Nordic Plus.” While Nordic Plus would have shared values and government norms, it would forfeit the institutional legitimacy and progress that the Arctic Council has fostered. Furthermore, little utility exists in such an organisation without Moscow. The Arctic Circle Assembly went highly political when the chair of NATO’s Military Committee, Robert Bauer , delivered a very blunt and aggressive speech about the state of regional security, which included the statement that Beijing was undermining the “rules-based international order,” underlining the very different narratives between the United States and China over China’s Arctic interests. His remarks were promptly criticized by China’s Ambassador to Iceland He Rulong, who was in the audience and who accused the NATO official of taking an “arrogant” stance. This exchange during the Arctic Circle Assembly demonstrated both how cooled the China-US relations are, as well as the high level of difficulty facing Beijing as it navigates a political Arctic much different from five years ago, when China’s own Arctic White Paper was released. But it’s not all gloom and doom. The Arctic Circle Assembly remains a forum to exchange on numerous topics and it also highlights particular efforts for the circumpolar Arctic with two prizes, the 2022 Arctic Circle Prize for the Alfred Wegener Institute and its groundbreaking MOSAiC Drift Ice Expedition, and the Frederik Paulsen Arctic Academic Action Award given to Professor Hanne Hvidtfeldt Christiansen and Associate Professor Marius Jonassen of the University Centre of Svalbard for their PermaMeteoCommunity project. This is an episode of the Curiously Polar podcast with Chris Marquardt https://chrismarquardt.com/ Henry Páll Wulff: https://henrypall.com/ Mario Acquarone https://www.buymeacoffee.com/polarmario Listen to all podcast episodes at https://curiouslypolar.com All video episodes at https://tfttf.com/curiouslypolarvideo Find us here: Web: https://curiouslypolar.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/curiouslypolar Instagram: https://instagram.com/curiouslypolar

Watch this on video | Buy us a coffee: Chris / Henry / Mario HENRY IS BACK FROM THE ICE BREAKER After finishing its first season in the Arctic, Henry just returned from the French-flagged ice breaker Le Commandant Charcot and talks about his experiences and adventures in East Greenland, at the North Pole and in the Northwest Passage. This is an episode of the Curiously Polar podcast with Chris Marquardt https://chrismarquardt.com/ Henry Páll Wulff: https://henrypall.com/ Mario Acquarone https://www.buymeacoffee.com/polarmario Listen to all podcast episodes at https://curiouslypolar.com All video episodes at https://tfttf.com/curiouslypolarvideo Find us here: Web: https://curiouslypolar.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/curiouslypolar Instagram: https://instagram.com/curiouslypolar

Watch this on video | Buy us a coffee: Chris / Henry / Mario // Satellite broadband for the Arctic Traditional, geostationary satellites are not at all optimal for use in polar areas/high latitude. A few operators are now building satellite networks in Non-Geostationary Orbit (NGSO) that promise better covaerage for polar areas and lighter equipment. Incidentally, this will also profit internet coverage for intercontinental flights routed through the same areas. LEO Constellations and Astronomy: A discussion with astronomer Meredith Rawls // Antarctic agriculture Growing vegetables and other useful plants at stations in Antarctica is not a new trend. The Discovery expedition in 1904 was already pioneering onboard food production. A modern approach, mainly through hydroponics, is not only useful for the survival of polar personnel but also to show methods of vegetable production for space travel. // Penguing surveillance robot Not only emperor penguins live in one of the roughest and thoughest environment on earth, but they are also easily disturbed by human presence. If not kept in check this disturbance can have adverse effects on the species. The ECHO rover is a small robot that researchers at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) use for monitoring a colony of about 20,000 emperor penguins (Aptenodytes forsteri). This hybrid rover is partly autonomous and partly remote-controlled. This is an episode of the Curiously Polar podcast with Chris Marquardt https://chrismarquardt.com/ Henry Páll Wulff: https://henrypall.com/ Mario Acquarone https://www.buymeacoffee.com/polarmario Listen to all podcast episodes at https://curiouslypolar.com All video episodes at https://tfttf.com/curiouslypolarvideo Find us here: Web: https://curiouslypolar.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/curiouslypolar Instagram: https://instagram.com/curiouslypolar

Watch this on video | Buy us a coffee: Chris / Henry / Mario POLAR NEWSREEL: // A New Border The nearly 50-years-old infamous Whiskey War between Canada and Denmark/Greenland has come to an end with an agreement to divide Hans Island with the first land border between Canada and Denmark. // Proof of Life? Being a prime candidate for extraterrestrial life, [the most common surface feature on Jupiter’s moon Europa]([EarthSky | Do Europa’s odd ridges indicate life?]https://earthsky.org/space/odd-ridges-on-europa-greenland-habitability/) has been found its earthy analog in double ridges in Northwest Greenland, providing a possibility of liquid water in Europa’s icy shell. | // Earthquakes in Antarctica Orca Seamount, a long believed extinct underwater volcano in the Bransfield Strait, has been place of the largest seismic swarm ever recorded in the history of the region. A NEW POLAR BEAR POPULATION Until recently, polar bears were thought to primarily survive on ice-covered waters. Not only do they tend to breed and rest on sea ice, but they also prey on seals that use cracks and holes in the ice to breathe. A new study has now shown that a small population of a several hundred bear in southeast Greenland has evolved to survive in an area where the sea ice season tends to be shorter than four months. In the summer months, pieces of ice calve into the ocean from marine-terminating glacier, creating what scientists call a freshwater glacier mélange, a chunky slush that can pack tightly enough for polar bears to walk—and hunt—on. Being the “most genetically isolated polar bears on the planet” with a common ancestor, about 200 years ago when a small number of individuals separated from the larger group, the scientists suggest to accept the group as the 20th subpopulation of polar bears in the Arctic. But while it’s tempting to read the study as a new hope that polar bears can survive with less sea ice, it does not mean a salvation of polar bears as the animals are “living at the edge of the physiologically possible.” If anything, this study really is another piece of evidence of the fundamental relationship between polar bears and ice-covered water. However, the findings offer a small glimmer of hope nevertheless as the region’s conditions are said to be similar to the climatic conditions expected in the northern Arctic at the turn of the century if global warming can’t be stopped. This is an episode of the Curiously Polar podcast with Chris Marquardt https://chrismarquardt.com/ Henry Páll Wulff: https://henrypall.com/ Mario Acquarone https://www.buymeacoffee.com/polarmario Listen to all podcast episodes at https://curiouslypolar.com All video episodes at https://tfttf.com/curiouslypolarvideo Find us here: Web: https://curiouslypolar.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/curiouslypolar Instagram: https://instagram.com/curiouslypolar

Watch this on video | Buy us a coffee: Chris / Henry / Mario Henry returns to land and he and Chris discus the adventures on the ice breaker in the Antarctic. He describes the challenges of braving the elements in such remote and isolated locations. We learn about how this expedition was a bit different from what we usually expect. This is an episode of the Curiously Polar podcast with Chris Marquardt https://chrismarquardt.com/ Henry Páll Wulff: https://henrypall.com/ Mario Acquarone https://www.buymeacoffee.com/polarmario Listen to all podcast episodes at https://curiouslypolar.com All video episodes at https://tfttf.com/curiouslypolarvideo Find us here: Web: https://curiouslypolar.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/curiouslypolar Instagram: https://instagram.com/curiouslypolar

Watch this on video | Buy us a coffee: Chris / Henry / Mario POLAR NEWSREEL: Sanctions jeopardize the future of Arctic construction projects The sanctions imposed on Russia because of its invasion of Ukraine are impacting several large construction projects in the Arctic. The gravity-based structures (GBS), floating rigs, under assembly at the Novatek’s LNG Construction Center in Belokamenka outside Murmansk are among those hit by the lack of materials. A consequence of this might be a crisis of the real estate market in Murmansk if the foreign portion of the 20,000 workers at the Belokamenka yard need to move away from the region. | War in Ukraine is damaging scientific research in the Arctic The war in Ukraine is having an negative influence on Arctic science by stopping collaborations, data sampling and sharing between scientists from Russia and other nations. A series of ongoing projects have to pause the collection of data which could cause large gaps in the series and jeopardize our understanging of this rapidly changing environment. | Walrus bones found in Kyiv is testimony of viking trade During a dig in Kyiv, Ukraine, archeologists retrieved walrus remains from the twelfth century. These specimen, brought to the area by Norse Vikings, were analyzed for ancient DNA and stable isotopes to determine their origin. The results suggest that there was a high demand for walrus products and a consequent large trading route network that stretched from the remote areas of Greenland all the way through Western Europe and reaching Russia, Byzantium and Asia. This is an episode of the Curiously Polar podcast with Chris Marquardt https://chrismarquardt.com/ Henry Páll Wulff: https://henrypall.com/ Mario Acquarone https://www.buymeacoffee.com/polarmario Listen to all podcast episodes at https://curiouslypolar.com All video episodes at https://tfttf.com/curiouslypolarvideo Find us here: Web: https://curiouslypolar.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/curiouslypolar Instagram: https://instagram.com/curiouslypolar

Watch this on video | Buy us a coffee: Chris / Henry / Mario POLAR NEWSREEL: Plan for satellites giving better Arctic weather observations Weather satellites, like Meteosat, are in a geostationary orbit that limits the field of view of the sensors in the polar areas. A consortium of the European Space Agency (ESA) and OHB Sweden is working on a constellation of 16 weather satellites in polar orbit. These will relay homogeneous, high-quality, real-time data on temperature and humidity for the whole globe. The Canadian Space Agency is planning an Arctic Observing Mission (AOM) with two satellites in highly elliptical orbits that would gather data on meteorological conditions, greenhouse gasses, air quality and space weather over Arctic areas. | Changes in sea ice have influence on ice sheet stability Antarctic ice shelves buttress against the uncontrolled release of inland ice into the ocean. The collapse of Larsen A and B shelves, has made the news in the past decades because of the calving of spectacular tabular icebergs in 1995 and 2002 respectively. A recent paper with lead author Dr Frazier Christie from the Scott Polar Research Institute (SPRI) shows that decadal changes in the air circulation over the sea ice around Antarctica also change the concentration of sea ice that protects the ice shelves from the mechanical action of waves. In the last decade of the past century there was comparatively little sea ice and this has facilitated the breakup for the shelves, while the past decade with more sea ice has protecting them from the waves has had significantly fewer breakups. | Looking for methods to slow climate warming Researchers working at the non-profit Arctic Ice Project, launched in 2008 as ICE911, are proposing to sprinkle powdered glass "microspheres" on low-reflectivity, young sea ice off Alaska to increase its reflectivity and thus facilitating its growth and slowing down its melting. Recently though several local tribes and Indigenous Peoples organizations have expressed their concerns about the possible influence of the large amounts of microbeads on the animals and people of the Arctic. This is an episode of the Curiously Polar podcast with Chris Marquardt https://chrismarquardt.com/ Henry Páll Wulff: https://henrypall.com/ Mario Acquarone https://www.buymeacoffee.com/polarmario Listen to all podcast episodes at https://curiouslypolar.com All video episodes at https://tfttf.com/curiouslypolarvideo Find us here: Web: https://curiouslypolar.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/curiouslypolar Instagram: https://instagram.com/curiouslypolar

Watch this on video | Buy us a coffee: Chris / Henry / Mario POLAR NEWSREEL: North Pole research platform almost ready | Worrying sea ice concentration in Bering Sea | Easter celebrations in Ittoqqortoormiit MAIN TOPIC: Easter celebrations in Ittoqqortoormiit Being one of Greenland’s most remote villages with a population of only 345, Ittoqqortoormiit is not only the village most frequented by polar bears but also the chess stronghold of the country. After a two-year hiatus, the traditional Easter festival creates happy times for kids and adults alike bringing a chess tournament as well as entertainment and performances. This is an episode of the Curiously Polar podcast with Chris Marquardt https://chrismarquardt.com/ Henry Páll Wulff: https://henrypall.com/ Mario Acquarone https://www.buymeacoffee.com/polarmario Listen to all podcast episodes at https://curiouslypolar.com All video episodes at https://tfttf.com/curiouslypolarvideo Find us here: Web: https://curiouslypolar.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/curiouslypolar Instagram: https://instagram.com/curiouslypolar

Watch this on video | Buy us a coffee: Chris / Henry / Mario POLAR NEWSREEL: Hundreds of meltwater lakes hide deep beneath the expanse of Antarctica’s ice sheet. | Russia to invite non-Arctic states developing the Arctic | Meeting the Arctic: The Arctic Encounter Symposium 2022 Meeting the Arctic: The Arctic Encounter Symposium 2022 After a long pandemic, Arctic stakeholders had the chance to meet each other early April in Alaska to discuss several different topics. This is an episode of the Curiously Polar podcast with Chris Marquardt https://chrismarquardt.com/ Henry Páll Wulff: https://henrypall.com/ Mario Acquarone https://www.buymeacoffee.com/polarmario Listen to all podcast episodes at https://curiouslypolar.com All video episodes at https://tfttf.com/curiouslypolarvideo Find us here: Web: https://curiouslypolar.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/curiouslypolar Instagram: https://instagram.com/curiouslypolar

Watch this on video | Buy us a coffee: Chris / Henry / Mario POLAR NEWSREEL: 01 Arctic Lightnings: A dramatic rise in lightnings last summer saw nearly double as many strikes as the previous nine years combined in the High Arctic which correlates with global temperature anomalies and can become an important climate crisis indicator. | 02 Scottish Arctic: Defining itself as the northernmost non-Arctic state and sharing similar rural and demographic features mean that Scottish and Arctic communities share many present-day priorities analysts feel that Scotlands geostrategic significance to the High North is still being overlooked despite its own Arctic Policy Framework . A SIBERIAN REWILDING A new study published by the University of Leeds suggestspermafrost is thawing all over the Arctic and might have reached a tipping point in Northern Europe and Western Siberia and indicates that even with the strongest efforts to reduce global carbon emissions, by 2040 the climates of Northern Europe will no longer be cold and dry enough to sustain peat permafrost. Storing more than double the carbon of the planet’s atmosphere, a thawing permafrost acts as a positive feedback loop, further increasing warming. The unprecedented speed of the climate crisis asks for creative solutions and in Northeast Siberia, Russian scientists are working on one of the most unlikely solutions to restore high productive ecosystems and help protect the permafrost. For the past 33 years, the father-and-son team Sergey and Nikita Zimov have been slowly transforming a 20 square kilomtres area in northeastern Siberia, to investigate how man can affect the climate through ecosystem reconstruction. The project is repopulating the area with large herbivores like horses, moose and reindeer, musk ox, bison, yaks, cows and sheep. Sergey Zimov’s hypothesis is that the change from tundra to grassland will result in a raised ratio of energy emission to energy absorption of the area, leading to less thawing of permafrost and thereby less emission of greenhouse gases. The grasslands themselves are proving better for the environment. The pale grasses are reflecting sunlight, and their deep roots increase soil carbon storage. Overall, the temperature of the permafrost in the area in which they are working is colder by an average of 2.2° C. This is an episode of the Curiously Polar podcast with Chris Marquardt https://chrismarquardt.com/ Henry Páll Wulff: https://henrypall.com/ Mario Acquarone https://www.buymeacoffee.com/polarmario Listen to all podcast episodes at https://curiouslypolar.com All video episodes at https://tfttf.com/curiouslypolarvideo Find us here: Web: https://curiouslypolar.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/curiouslypolar Instagram: https://instagram.com/curiouslypolar

Watch this on video | Buy us a coffee: Chris / Henry / Mario POLAR NEWSREEL: Ten Pioneering Women of Antarctica and the Places Named for Them | Fossils in a Forgotten Ice Core Rewrite Greenland’s Icy Past | Beast of the Central Arctic | Seals help researchers collect data from under the ice | Obsessed by polar exploration? This is an episode of the Curiously Polar podcast with Chris Marquardt https://chrismarquardt.com/ Henry Páll Wulff: https://henrypall.com/ Mario Acquarone https://www.buymeacoffee.com/polarmario Listen to all podcast episodes at https://curiouslypolar.com All video episodes at https://tfttf.com/curiouslypolarvideo Find us here: Web: https://curiouslypolar.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/curiouslypolar Instagram: https://instagram.com/curiouslypolar

Watch this on video | Buy us a coffee: Chris / Henry / Mario POLAR NEWSREEL: 32000 year old plant revived Scientists in Vienna are seeking to sequence the genome of an ancient flowering plant (Silene stenophylla) believed to have been buried 32,000 years ago by an Ice Age squirrel near the banks of the Kolyma River, a top site for people looking for mammoth bones today. | Sudden halt in Ukraine's Antarctic expedition The RV Noosfera, formerly RRS James Clark Ross, is in Punta Arenas since 14th March to pick up scientists and specialists and is ready for Ukraine's National Antarctic Scientific Centre (NASC) first Antarctic Expedition in 20 years, but the war is jeopardizing the mission and crew change at Vernadsky station. | Ocean temperature change calls for redefining acoustic hotspots Sounds travel faster and further in a warmer and saltier ocean and this calls for the identification of acoustic hotspots to allow for timely mitigation of anthropogenic sounds. One of these areas is located in the northwestern Atlantic Ocean close to Greenland. Others are found in the Barents Sea, northwestern Pacific, Southern Ocean between 0 and 70E, at 500m in the Arctic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico and Southern Caribbean Sea. | Holes in the bottom of the Arctic ocean Longer-term climate cycles might be at the origin of rapid thawing of submerged permafrost at the bottom of the Beaufort Sea between 2013 and 2019. An investigation using robots and sonar discovered the formation of large, city block sized craters in the seabed. | Detecting salinity from satellite Salinity estimates derived from data by the European Space Agency (ESA) SMOS satellite was used by the researchers at the Barcelona Expert Center (BEC) of the Institut de Ciències del Mar (ICM-CSIC) to improve prediction of Arctic marine circulation of the TOPAZ Arctic prediction model. Salinity is measured using passive microwave remote sensing, which captures the electromagnetic energy emitted by surfaces and which, in the case of the ocean, depends on temperature and salinity. | Ice-proof scallops The Antarctic scallop Adamussium colbecki does seldom freeze even in supercooled water. Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research (MPI-P) in Mainz have discovered that the particular structure shape of its shell is resistent to cryofouling, the ice does not attach to it, unless it is colonized by other organisms. This is an episode of the Curiously Polar podcast with Chris Marquardt https://chrismarquardt.com/ Henry Páll Wulff: https://henrypall.com/ Mario Acquarone https://www.buymeacoffee.com/polarmario Listen to all podcast episodes at https://curiouslypolar.com All video episodes at https://tfttf.com/curiouslypolarvideo Find us here: Web: https://curiouslypolar.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/curiouslypolar Instagram: https://instagram.com/curiouslypolar

Watch this on video | Buy us a coffee: Chris / Henry / Mario POLAR NEWSREEL: Heatwaves at both of Earth’s poles Extremes of 40C above normal. Antarctic and Arctic temperatures have shocked researchers. Antarctic areas reach 40C above normal at same time as north pole regions hit 30C above usual levels. | Lowest extent of Antarctic sea-ice since the start of satellite observations This February 24th the measure of extent of Antarctic sea-ice has reached a new low more than 7% lower than the previous record-low in 2017. The larger loss of sea ice in 2022 is seen to be concentrated in especially the Ross Sea, toward the Amundsen Sea, and in the outer part of the Weddell sea ice cover. | Arctic sea ice reached its maximum extent at a near-record early date This year’s sea ice maximum was the 10th lowest on record with its greatest extent on Feb. 25, one day short of the earliest date on record. However, an early start to the melt season does not necessarily set up a low September minimum. This year’s freeze patterns varied by location, as is typical. By the time the maximum was reached, ice extent was near or above long-term averages in some places like the Bering Sea and Baffin Bay, but it was below average in other places, like the Barents Sea. | Will less ice in the Arctic Ocean lead to colder winters in the northern hemisphere? Model runs show that there is a weak link between Arctic sea ice and climatic indicators for the Northern hemisphere that may or may not link the two. | Black carbon from tourism and science and Antarctic snowmelt Study shows that local pollution from burning fossil fuels in Antarctica darkens the snow and increases melting by 23mm per year on average or by 83 tonnes for each visitor (and the carbon footprint of a researcher is 10 times that of a tourist). | Black Carbon in the Arctic The threat to the Arctic from black carbon from shipping has been known for some time. When black carbon, a short-lived climate-forcer responsible for around 20% of shipping’s climate impact, is emitted from the exhausts of ships and settles onto snow and ice, it accelerates melting and the loss of reflectivity - the albedo effect - which creates a feedback loop that further exacerbates local and global heating. Due to the use of heavy fuel oils and increased Arctic shipping traffic, emissions of black carbon from ships in the Arctic increased 85% between 2015 and 2019. With the Arctic heating-up faster than anywhere on Earth, it’s clear that this upward trend of black carbon emissions must be reversed urgently. | Sahara Dust Fertilizing Plants in the Amazon Dust from the Sahara desert is regularly transported by winds over large distances and visibly deposited on cities in Europe, but it is also surprisingly blown westwards towards South America. The Sahara dust deposited over the Amazon area is an important source of phosphorus as fertilizer for the forest plants. Black carbon from tourism and science and Antarctic snowmelt - Study shows that local pollution from burning fossil fuels in Antarctica darkens the snow and increases melting by 23mm per year on average or by 83 tonnes for each visitor / Black Carbon in the Arctic This is an episode of the Curiously Polar podcast with Chris Marquardt https://chrismarquardt.com/ Henry Páll Wulff: https://henrypall.com/ Mario Acquarone https://www.buymeacoffee.com/polarmario Listen to all podcast episodes at https://curiouslypolar.com All video episodes at https://tfttf.com/curiouslypolarvideo Find us here: Web: https://curiouslypolar.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/curiouslypolar Instagram: https://instagram.com/curiouslypolar

Watch this on video | Buy us a coffee: Chris / Henry / Mario ENDURANCE FOUND!: The Endurance22 expedition has found Shackleton's ship! Probably the most amazing shipwreck discovery happened 3008m below the frozen Weddell Sea on the 100th anniversary of the Boss' burial at the cemetery in Grytviken, South Georgia. POLAR NEWSREEL: Arctic Council on hold The conflict in Ukraine has entrained a pause in the cooperation within the Arctic Council and its subsidiary bodies | New Icebreaker for Argentina Argentina has 13 bases in Antarctica and for the time being only one icebreaker, the ARA Almirante Irízar. Now the government has approved the construction of a new polar vessel in cooperation with Finnish consultants Aker Arctic | Surprising finds on the early stages of the life of the West Antarctic ice-sheet Recent research indicates that when Antarctica froze up 35 million years ago glaciation of the area of the West Antarctic ice-sheet was delayed, possibly by warmer upwelling waters | Larsen B embayment breaks up A large portion of sea-ice that has been present since 2011 has broken away and it has taken with it a sizeable portion of the adjacent Scar Inlet ice-shelf | Large heat source below Greenland ice sheet increases melting Heat produced by the transformation of gravitational energy stored in descending meltwater causes high rates of melting at the base of the Greenland ice sheet | Blue Blob near Iceland and glacial melt An unusually cold patch of sea water south of Iceland and Greenland has, and will cool the wind blowing northwest thus slowing glacial melt in Iceland, possibly until 2050 | Follow-up: Women in Science and Exploring In 1958 Anésia Pinheiro Machado, pilot and among the first to achieve several feats, became the first Brazilian to reach Antarctica but the honors went to a male national, Durval Rosa Borges, who arrived months later | Endurance Found! | Endurance22 Podcast Episode Dan Snow takes us along the Agulhas II looking for Shackleton's Endurance This is an episode of the Curiously Polar podcast with Chris Marquardt https://chrismarquardt.com/ Henry Páll Wulff: https://henrypall.com/ Mario Acquarone https://www.buymeacoffee.com/polarmario Listen to all podcast episodes at https://curiouslypolar.com All video episodes at https://tfttf.com/curiouslypolarvideo Find us here: Web: https://curiouslypolar.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/curiouslypolar Instagram: https://instagram.com/curiouslypolar