“Hypothesis is a great word that has so much in it. A researcher's task is to develop a question, formulate a hypothesis and then test whether it is true or false. It is the most glorious word in science”, says Pauline Snoeijs Leijonmalm, Professor of Marine Ecology at Stockholm University. Soon she will go on her fourth research expedition with the icebreaker Oden, where she will have the role of Chief Scientist.
The Swedish Polar Research Secretariat’s operational support is granted to Swedish researchers to collect data and samples in the Arctic and in Antarctica. Priority is given to initiatives that would be difficult for a single research group to carry out on their own.
In 2022, the European Consortium for Ocean Research Drilling (ECORD), the Swedish Polar Research Secretariat (SPRS) and Arctic Marine Solutions (AMS) will jointly conduct an expedition of the International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP), focused on the Arctic Ocean – a key location in global climate change.
Greenland’s melting ice sheet has in recent years contributed with about 26 percent to the global sea-level rise according to published calculations, but how different glaciers are affected by climate change differs. Research from the Ryder Expedition with the icebreaker Oden in 2019, shows that a relatively shallow formation in the seabed in front of one of North Greenland’s largest glaciers, reduces the amount of warmer Atlantic waters that reach the glacier and melt it from below.
