The largest polar expedition in history

About 100 scientists will stay in the North Pole for nearly a year to conduct in-depth research on global warming and climate change.

Polarstern icebreaker , belonging to the Alfred Wegener Sea and Polar Research Institute of Germany, on September 20 sailed to the North Pole, carrying about 100 scientists from 19 countries around the world, on a long-lasting mission. year for climate change research purpose. This is the largest polar expedition ever with a cost of up to 155 million USD.

The Polarstern departs from the city of Tromso, Norway on Friday.(Photo: Rappler).

The Polarstern departs from the port city of Tromso, in northern Norway. As planned, the ship will be anchored on a huge iceberg when it comes to the North Pole, then drift for nearly a year through the central pole, where the surrounding ice layer is at least 1.5 m thick. winter.

During the expedition, scientists will focus on studying the atmosphere, oceans, sea ice, ecosystems and natural processes in the Arctic. The data collected will be used to build a climate change model that is affecting the polar regions as well as around the world.

"In the past decades, no region on Earth has warmed as fast as the Arctic," said atmospheric scientist Markus Rex, who led the research. "Earlier this year, we found temperatures in the Arctic center were even warmer than in Germany. It was almost the focus of global warming, but so far, we have only known very little about without this reliable estimate of the Arctic, we won't be able to accurately predict global climate change. "