Whether you call it global warming, climate change or just plain nonsense, chances are you are aware that there is a worldwide argument going on as to what is actually happening. Some say it is a load of B.S., while others claim it is the most urgent issue facing our planet today.

Blockbuster movies have been made about it, attributing this phenomenon to the end of the world, and great scandals have been launched, going as far as to label it “Climategate”, the greatest con to be played on mankind.  At least for now, at the beginning of this post, I will not share my views on the subject; I will save that for the end. What I will say right now is that it is not possible to come to Antarctica and not have this topic dominate any scientific discussion or talk comparing the current ecosystem to the past. It is just not possible. Whatever name you choose to give it, Climate Change is what the majority of research in Antarctica is about.

There is a very famous drilling project going on at the Russian, “Vostok” station, located near the pole of inaccessibility on the continent. It is the deepest core sample drilling location in Antarctica and it is aimed at reaching “Lake Vostok”, which is located more than a kilometer below the surface of the current glacial ice.

Scientists are hoping to find ancient life forms in the water there, possibly still living and thriving. (More on that later)
This very intriguing project is only the surplus benefit of a much larger, international project which was studying core samples in the ice. The original drilling started as a way to study carbon dioxide levels in the air and changes in those levels over the past several thousand years. Glaciers are formed as ice accumulates over time. As the temperatures never reach a degree high enough to melt the ice, any new accumulation settles, is compacted and becomes part of the glacier. Over time, tiny pockets of air get trapped in the glacier, revealing what the composition of that air was like over time.

The Vostok drilling project has detailed records going as deep as 3,623, giving scientists accurate climate information going back 414,000 years. Impressive! Once scientists reached lake ice, that is ice that was formed by lake water freezing over rather than snow accumulation, there was no possibility of getting new climate information from the core samples and so the drilling project changed its scope of investigation. I bring this up because the Vostok is well-known throughout the world, but less attention has been given to its origin – studying why our planet’s climate is changing.

As the poles are great indicator zones for the rest of the planet it seems that Antarctica provides an ideal space for researchers to study how the planet is changing. As Antarctica provides the planet with an incredibly unique and enclosed ecosystem, it is also a great place to view how those changes are affecting the wildlife here. There are a multitude of projects that deal solely on the topic of environmental change. Here at Bellingshausen alone, we have a group of divers who are studying biodiversity and distribution on the ocean bottom. That is, they are counting what kind of animals live here, how many of them there are and how far apart they live. (The first way just sounds very fancy though, doesn’t it?)

­So… the idea of their research is to come back periodically over time to go through the same process, if there are any changes in the environment they will be able to study them by checking which animals have left, which ones have moved in, etc.. (They actually know which animals like colder water and which ones prefer the warmer temperatures.) Captain Copepod himself is working on a climate change study as well. His creatures live off bacteria in the ice, the amount of ice each season is declining, which in turn affects the tiny copepods. Because more ice is melting, that could mean there is a problem with the fresh ice water, which is lighter, mixing with the sea water. 

Vasily is studying these changes and if they are affecting the zooplankton populations in the area. And the variety of scientific research on the subject shows that in fact everything is indeed connected. From zooplankton we connect the dots to the rest of the marine animals living in the Antarctic ecosystem… zooplankton, krill copepods, etc. are the basic source of food for all penguins, fish, seals and even whales. I could go on and on about the research projects I have witnessed and been informed of that all revolve around global warming, but I don’t have much authority, as I am a teller of stories by trade and not the expert who does the actual work. Here is what the real scientists have to say about the subject :

Christian Reiss, Research Fishery Biologist NOAA

“Ice is declining, the environment is changing, it is getting warmer here, and therefore the environment will change. What that impact has on the resources is what we are interested in and determining what the carrying capacity and the harvest capability or what the harvest rate could be, will be determined based on what the krill biomass is and we know that is being impacted by a lack of ice.”

­Vasiley Pavazhny, Hydrobiologist, Russian Antarctic Expedition

“The idea of the project is that the glaciers here are melting with increasing speed in general. The general trend of the recent 30 years, and some greater amount of fresh water is coming from the land to the sea which forms a fresh water layer on the surface of the sea water, fresh water is lighter, so there are some problems of the mixing of the water column which could possibly influence the structure of zooplankton, which could change the environment where they live in."

(I understand that I am including many different quotes, but it really does illustrate how big the topic is here)

Dr. Steve Emslie, UNC in Wilmington

“We are seeing the adelie penguins, which are the most abundant species in the Antarctic and a true ice loving species, they are declining in the Antarctic Peninsula seriously, and they may disappear from the peninsula in the next 50 years, because of the warming and the loss of sea ice which is just part of their habitat. “

Ian Bullock, Research Biologist

"There is a very big message here. There is nowhere in the planet that is changing faster than the Antarctic Peninsula. It is one of three sites that have the fastest growing increase in average weather, particularly winter temperatures. There is western Siberia, Alaska and the Antarctic Peninsula, which is warming five times faster than anywhere else on the planet."

Now I can also provide someone with an opposing point of view, but even given that, he makes concessions that a trend of warming does exist. Bulat Mavlyudov studies glaciers and spends time every week measuring 29 different markers. He can tell you all sorts of fancy information about melting point equilibriums and such, but what it comes down to is there is an imaginary line in relation to altitude and also in relation to that same melting point each year. If the snow that falls each year melts below a certain altitude, and then the next year that melting line is even lower, then things are getting colder. If that line keeps moving higher, then it is getting warmer… that line moving higher is what we call glacial recession.

­Bulat Mavlyudov, Glacier Studies, Russian Antarctic Expedition

Yes, the fact of change of glaciers in size points to the change in climate. If the glacier is receding it indicates warming. Right now we know that since the middle or the end of the 19th century, the majority of glaciers are receding. It points out in general to the warming of our climate. But since it started at the end of 19th beginning of 20th century, when there were no such CO2 pollutions as we have now, it is unwise to connect the reseedings of glaciers with the human activity.

Bulat says that humans can’t affect climate change on any significant level. For an example he points to an anecdote about the Aral Sea disappearing, but when the area dried up scientists found a village that was previously under the water and located on the ancient shore of the previous sea shore. He said it was an indicator that these things happen in cycles and that back then there certainly wasn’t the amount of carbon emissions or human impact as exist today. Bulat says we are living between ice ages and if you come back in 7,000 years you will find Northern Europe and Canada covered in glaciers just as they were before. 

A couple of points, if I may. Though Bulat doesn’t agree that climate change is created by a human influence, it doesn’t change the fact that he is still studying the topic. But moving on from scientists, there are other observers as well whose insight into the situation is no less valid.

"We are trying to be aware of just how special this environment is and over climate change in here, we are witnessing changes, we have been coming down here for 20 years already and even longer and we see those changes. They are affecting the landscape and particularly the wildlife now here also. And we try to create ambassadors as well. Those guests that sail with us, they are highly-educated and high-profile personalities in the countries and societies they live in, and so we hope and I think we do succeed in creating ambassadors for Antarctica to help and improve conservation of this so important part of the world."

By now you have surely figured out that I do indeed have a stance on the matter. The topic can’t be on so many people’s minds without having some validity. I also think that it is very inconvenient for those who are in power and who consume a great deal of the Earth’s resources to buy into the idea, because it would mean a dramatic change in how they operate. No one likes change and no one likes to admit they are doing something that could have negative connotations.

It is getting warmer in the world and the glaciers are receding and this all has an impact on the environment we live in. The argument of if it is a man-made phenomenon or not is really not the issue at all, if there is any chance that we COULD have an impact means that we SHOULD look inwardly at our behavior to try and find a real solution to the problem. We are naïve to think that what we do in this world doesn’t leave its mark.

The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.