April 2020 | SMITHSONIAN 63Creamean’s goal is to learn more
about minute marine organisms that
live beneath the ice. They often end
up in the Arctic atmosphere, and may
play a key role in regulating climate.would barely recognize—and that is pre-
cisely the point of the expedition. Over the
past three decades, the extent of Arctic sea
ice in September, at the end of the summer
melt, has declined by 30 percent. Since
2002, the record low for summer ice has
been broken four times, and several other
recent years have come close to setting new
records. Scientists believe this is in part be-
cause the dark ocean surface absorbs more
heat from the sun than sea ice does, which
is contributing to a worrisome feedback
loop—warming leads to melting ice, which
leads to more warming—promising more
and swifter melting in the future.
Because the Arctic plays such an import-
ant role in cooling the planet, MOSAiC’s goal
is to understand how the ice, atmosphere
and ocean are interacting in a warming Arc-
tic, and how those dynamics aff ect climate
around the globe. One group of MOSAiC re-
searchers is studying the currents that move
seawater in and out of the Arctic, and how
ocean temperatures aff ect atmospheric con-
ditions as well as the freezing and melting of
ice. Some are studying the cracks and gaps
that form in the ice as temperatures warm.
Others are gauging the levels of greenhouse
gases in the ocean and atmosphere.
MOSAiC researchers are also studying the
tiny organisms that live on the ice and in the
surrounding sea, and Creamean is especial-
ly interested in these life-forms. During her
time on the Polarstern, she studied microbes
September 19 98 : Ice Capades
Dramatic tales
of polar expeditions gone awry, hard-nosed
reports about successful treks through
vast unspoiled territory—Smithsonian has
covered the Arctic more than 60 times.
In many cases the focus was the region’s
largely mysterious wildlife—elusive narwhals,
Svalbard reindeer, musk oxen back from the
brink of extinction. Other reports explained
eff orts to understand the dynamic climate
of the planet’s northernmost region. “Ice
Station Sheba,” from 1998, described a visit
to a research vessel that, like the Polarstern,
was intentionally frozen into Arctic sea ice.
Members of that expedition studied how
energy travels from the atmosphere to the ice
and sea below. The results have helped refi ne
long-term global climate models. In fact,
several of SHEBA’s researchers are now, more
than 20 years later, participating in MOSAiC
aboard the Polarstern.05550
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