Scientists Respond to the Planned Termination of the Only U.S. Antarctic Research Vessel

Scientists Respond to the Planned Termination of the Only U.S. Antarctic Research Vessel

Briefly

""In general, the research vessel is necessary for biological research, chemical research, geological research and a whole spectrum of the kinds of research that we do around Antarctica," said Robert F. Anderson, who studies chemical oceanography, marine geochemistry and paleoclimatology at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory. (Lamont is part of the Columbia Climate School.) Anderson, who signed the letter, attributes much of successful American Antarctic research to Palmer's operations, particularly when it comes to sea ice."

""The only way to study sea ice is with a vessel," he said. "You can't do it from land. The ice shelf is the termination of the glacier. If you want to see how the ice shelves are responding to climate, or if you want to study how the ice shelves affect the supply of nutrients to the marine ecosystem, you need to do that with a ship," Anderson said."

"The authors of the letter claim there are no alternative methods to the use of icebreakers. They wrote that "even as automation and remote observations have increased our observational capabilities in this harsh region of the world, there's no replacement for a dedicated research vessel that can access remote sea ice-covered regions of Antarctica and that allows sampling of the full depth of the ocean and coastal regions on land.""