Climate change is radically redefining geography and biodiversity. The extent of sea ice in the Arctic is shrinking. The 21st century has marked record lows in both the winter maximum and summer minimum extent of sea ice. Most climatologists estimate that by the year 2100, most Arctic sea ice will melt every summer. The “twilight of the Arctic ice” would devastate many habitats. The plight of polar bears, for example, has become a symbol of global warming in the Arctic due to the cascading impacts of sea ice loss.
Over the last two years in collaboration with organizations, research centers and scientific reports we set a goal for our mission: we will try to ascertain all the changes and to gain a better understanding of the evolving Arctic system. The material we will collect from our mission in the Arctic will be an excellent source of information and insight into the current state of the Arctic.
The most important tool to raise awareness of climate change in the Arctic is the plotted route of the mission itself. Not too many years ago, the famed sea route Northwest Passage did not exist as open water. It is only the warming of the Arctic, and the declining summer ice, that even make the journey possible. In the past, the Northwest Passage has been impassable because it was covered by thick, year-round sea ice.
Furthermore, we will try to raise awareness for the protection of the fragile Arctic marine environment. Climate change has affected the Arctic more rapidly and fundamentally than any other region in the world, primarily as a result of activities occurring far from the Arctic region.