Hanna Farnelid, associate professor in marine ecology at Linnaeus University in Kalmar, is one of the researchers participating in this summer's Arctic expedition with the icebreaker Oden. This is her second expedition with Oden, the last time it happened was in 2007 when she participated in the expedition Oden Southern Ocean to Antarctica.
“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.
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.
The government recently published Sweden’s strategy for the Arctic region. As one of the eight Arctic states, the government wants to strengthen Sweden’s involvement and contribute to peaceful and sustainable development in the Arctic. One of the priorities in the Arctic strategy is for Sweden to have a leading position in polar research.
We welcome two new employees to the secretariat’s ship-based research support on the icebreaker Oden – a technician and an IT technician, Alex Lüdge and Anton Sandström. Both look forward to working with future research expeditions.
From August 1 to September 15, 2020, the Swedish icebreaker Oden was going to participate in the international research expedition Synoptic Arctic Survey. However, Odens participation in the expedition is now postponed due to covid-19. The reason is that the Swedish Polar Research Secretariat has not been able to find a solution to eliminate the risk of possible contagion spread on board.
The melting of the sea ice in the Arctic and the faster melting of Greenland’s ice cover are two prominent environmental changes that could accelerate sea level rise in the future. Researchers are therefore working on a broad front to better understand the mechanisms behind the melting ice and what consequences it will have.
The Ryder 2019 Expedition with Swedish icebreaker Oden took place from early August to mid-September 2019 and included marine as well as land-based research. The overall scientific goal was to gain a better understanding of how climate affects the sensitive high Arctic environment. Chief Scientists at the Ryder expedition were Martin Jakobsson and Larry Mayer. Both were more than pleased with the expedition, where they managed to get to previously unexplored areas.