Diving to find climate change answers
Print Edition
How do algae react to the warming of the Arctic Ocean? How is it affecting wildlife in the fjords? To find answers, researchers rely heavily on divers who brave the icy waters to gather samples.
“Without them, we wouldn’t be able to successfully complete our projects,” admits Cornelia Buchholz, a marine biologist who is working at Ny-Alesund on Spitsbergen, the largest island of the Svalbard archipelago in the heart of the Norwegian Arctic.
Until the start of the 1960s, this town — the northernmost permanent human settlement in the world — was populated by coal miners. Today it is entirely dedicated to science.
Between mid-April and the end of August, dozens of researchers stay there.
The site, 1,000 kilometers from the North Pole, offers a unique window on climate change, as the effects are more pronounced in the Arctic.
At Ny-Alesund, rising sea temperatures have already led to the appearance of new species of krill and fish.
“Scientists give us a ‘shopping list’,” explains Max Schwanitz, 52, a diver who has worked since 1994 at the French-German research station.
“For example, they say the type, size and quantity of algae they want, and the depth.”
In late July, the surface temperature was between 3 and 7 degrees Celsius. But earlier, divers were entering waters of less than 2 degrees Celsius.
“When visibility is very bad or the currents are strong, the dives themselves can also be extreme,” says Schwanitz.
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