CLOSE TO THE NORTH POLE 86°58’09.4”N 4°37’50.7”E
LIANNA NIXON
“It is people who drive science – to chase the unknowns and to find their absolutes. No matter the cost.”
not knowing what awaited me , I went to the North Pole. It was May 2020, and after holding my breath, wondering if the pandemic would take away the chance to go to the Arctic, we were finally on our way. Waiting for me was an international team of scientists aboard the German Research Icebreaker, R/V Polarstern, halfway through its yearlong campaign to observe the Arctic Climate System across the Central Arctic. Their goal is to understand the complex connections and linkages between the atmosphere, sea ice, and ocean – how life and biogeochemical processes circulate through the ecosystem. The treasure trove of data they would collect would be one of the most significant continuous observations of the Central Arctic ever archived, so we may know the Arctic and its future. While onboard R/V Polarstern, I witnessed what it takes to do research with some of the most passionate people I have ever met. I saw what it takes to labor in the cold, to build roads, and then to transport and install tonnes of instruments onto the sea ice. The countless sleepless hours that are needed to ensure experiments run properly and instruments remain up and running, even under the devastating harsh polar conditions, to the quick-thinking solutions from the research team when ice would break up around them. Care was needed at every step to ensure the equipment would not be lost to the ice or the occasional polar bear. But what was waiting for me was an opportunity to answer the question of what makes a compelling story for the sake of the polar research community and the Arctic. The poem below is dedicated to what I was able to bear witness to onboard R/V Polarstern. I also bore witness to the life of the polar researchers, the spark in their eyes, and what drives them to continue this work, even when the future of the Arctic is rapidly changing. These are the things rarely seen by the public or unveiled in between-the-lines of journals and papers about arctic climate science. To truly honor the stories of the polar research community and the Arctic is about being fully present and witnessing what it takes to do this work. The experiences of those who navigate these places and understand the system are only one piece of the more extraordinary arctic story. Sharing the humanizing nature of science creates deeper connections and brings in a different perspective to that when we are looking at numbers in data sets or charts and diagrams. Days when it was imperative to fix an instrument while it was so cold that exposed skin could blister from brutal temperatures. Days when rescuing equipment from areas where the sea ice cracked and formed leads are all moments captured in numbers.
Numbers that will tell us what the Arctic will become in the future.
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MOTHER VOLUME ONE
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