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<\/p>\nIt\u2019s late summer and UM researcher David Babb is sharing his packing list for his 24th trip to the Arctic. He has the essentials: ski goggles for when the snow blows up, GPS in case he gets separated from the research ship, warm socks, boots, gloves\u2014and lots of them.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you\u2019re out on the ice,\u201d explains Babb [BScPhG(Hons)\/2010, MSc\/2014, PhD\/2024], in the living room of his Winnipeg home, \u201cyou\u2019re a long way from a warm spot where you can dry off your gloves.\u201d<\/p>\n
While this sea ice scientist and alum has prepped for Canada\u2019s remote North many times\u2014this cruise is different. Historic, even.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s the first time Canada\u2019s research icebreaker will sail the country\u2019s northernmost waterways. Only now has melting sea ice from climate change opened these particular waters to explore by ship. And it couldn\u2019t come soon enough for scientists wanting to survey a region that holds a lot of intrigue.<\/p>\n
This area in the Canadian Archipelago is expected to be the last place on the planet to have sea ice intact. Scientists predict this final melting could happen as early as the coming decade.<\/p>\n
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A Research Associate with the University of Manitoba\u2019s Centre for Earth Observation Science, David Babb packs up his gear within days of his excursion aboard the CCGS Amundsen research icebreaker \/\/ Photo by Katie Chalmers-Brooks<\/p>\n
On Sept. 4, Babb embarked for four weeks aboard the CCGS Amundsen during this first-ever cruise of the Queen Elizabeth Islands and western Tuvaijuittuq. He says it\u2019s crucial that science have a baseline. Only then can they effectively monitor the effects of a warming climate.<\/p>\n
\u201cCanada is in a bit of a unique situation because the last ice will be in Canadian waters. As a country, and as Canadian scientists, we have a responsibility to make sure we understand this area and are able to guide any future mitigation efforts in this region\u2014what we could do to try to help stabilize this environment in the future,\u201d says Babb, who was a Chief Scientist on the ship.<\/p>\n
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UM\u2019s David Babb and Lisa Matthes, from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, gather in the ship\u2019s bridge to discuss planning as Co-Chief Scientists \/\/ Photo courtesy Amundsen Science <\/p>\n
There\u2019s been very few observations from this area throughout history.<\/p>\n
Babb calls this area \u201cdramatically understudied\u201d compared to other parts of the Canadian Arctic. To date, there\u2019s been a long-serving weather station there, which does hourly readings, but has allowed for only the occasional research sampling. This is the first time a full complement of Arctic experts\u2014roughly 40 scientists\u2014have surveyed the location from multiple angles, around the clock.<\/p>\n
They headed north from Resolute Bay to Eureka Sound, up to Nansen Sound and Greely Fiord, and to the surrounding fjords, accessing the area that contains some of the oldest sea ice left in the Arctic. Wind and ocean currents push ice across the Arctic Ocean to this spot, creating a pile up, and the conditions to keep it frozen the longest.<\/p>\n
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The Amundsen, which doubles as Canada\u2019s Coast Guard ship, becomes home base for scientists venturing onto the ice for sampling, or travelling via helicopter to survey nearby icebergs and ice islands \/\/ Photo courtesy Amundsen Science<\/p>\n
Scientists create mathematical models to predict sea-ice melt but measurements taken in the field provide greater accuracy, Babb notes. Estimates differ on how soon this ice could disappear.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome peer-reviewed papers predict as early as the 2030s. Some predict by the middle of this century. This is one of the most contentious [topics] in the sea-ice community,\u201d says Babb.<\/p>\n
On this trek, the thickest ice they found was more than 7 metres. But it wasn\u2019t in abundance.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had a very tough time finding older, thicker sea ice. Early on we thought maybe the ice in this area isn\u2019t as thick as what we had expected, and maybe the warming had gone further than what we had expected,\u201d says Babb, upon their return.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is still thick sea ice, but just not as much of it as we would have expected.\u201d<\/p>\n
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A three-time UM alum, David Babb found his passion for Arctic sciences while still in high school, when he was invited aboard the Amundsen ship as part of the outreach program Schools on Board \/\/ Photo by Clement Soriot<\/p>\n
Knowing what\u2019s happening in this part of the Arctic\u2014in the Tuvaijuittuq Marine Protected Area and southern areas of the Queen Elizabeth Islands\u2014will also inform how to protect ice-dependent species like polar bears and seals, which are expected to migrate here for refuge as ice disappears elsewhere.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome people suggest that polar bears can adapt to a more terrestrial life. Other people don\u2019t agree with that,\u201d says Babb.<\/p>\n
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David Babb, in the bridge, planning the ship\u2019s schedule \/\/ Photo by Clement Soriot<\/p>\n
A better understanding of what\u2019s happening to ice-cover will also inform shipping routes as the Arctic opens up to cargo transport, with longer ice-free stints every year, creating new pathways to Asia, Europe, Africa and the Americas. Just south of the region the Amundsen sailed is the Northwest Passage.<\/p>\n
And even further South, on the shores of Hudson Bay, researchers at UM\u2019s Churchill Marine Observatory (CMO) are working with the local community to monitor environmental impact amid new interest in Churchill\u2019s port\u2014Canada\u2019s furthest north and only deep-water seaport reachable by train.<\/p>\n
This November, researchers mimicked diesel spills in CMO\u2019s pools, which pull in water from Hudson Bay. They want to know how the microbe community responds to the contaminant and detect it using satellite technology.<\/p>\n
On the Amundsen, too, they tested satellite technology, to see how accurately it was reading characteristics of the ice they were seeing first hand.<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course, in the Arctic, we can\u2019t always be there in person, so we rely a lot on satellites,\u201d says Babb.<\/p>\n
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The Amundsen in front of the glacier at the end of Otto Fiord \/\/ Photo by Alexander Normandeau<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s about as far away as you can get from humanity.\u201d<\/p>\n
The team aboard the ship included a dozen UM members, along with scientists from other Canadian universities and agencies, and collaborators from Norway. UM researchers measured contaminants like mercury in the ice, and profiled the microbiology in the area. Members of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans looked at how the ice thickness affected its innate ability to absorb carbon emissions.<\/p>\n
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David Babb is never without his field book, where he tracks coordinates and observations \/\/ Photo by Katie Chalmers-Brooks<\/p>\n
This fieldwork provided a snapshot for the scientists, but they also left behind moorings that they\u2019ll recover data from a year from now, which will reveal a more fulsome story. And they deployed remote GPS beacons on the ice, about the size of a milk carton, to track how the ice drifts. These devices send coordinates hourly, showing how ice is moving south from the Canadian Arctic Archipelago towards the Northwest Passage.<\/p>\n
While there wasn\u2019t an abundance of thick sea ice, Babb says he was surprised by the quantity of thinner ice still intact that time of year.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was shocked at how much ice was still in the area during the end of summer,\u201d says Babb. \u201cIt just reaffirmed that it\u2019s not as open as we expect it to be. And there is still quite a bit of variability in the ice conditions along the Northwest Passage.\u201d<\/p>\n
This kind of knowledge will help inform design requirements of shipping vessels wanting to operate in these waters. The area, too, has additional challenges for a ship captain, given it\u2019s largely unmapped, only a few hundred metres deep and home to frequent shoals.<\/p>\n
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Members of the ice sampling team get to work at sunrise \/\/ Photo by Clement Soriot<\/p>\n
This first historic cruise, which wrapped up Oct. 2, is the start of a new and important conversation for Canada, says Babb. It was a long time coming and UM is at the forefront.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe analysis and the work from a project like this will be in progress and published and analyzed for years to come\u2014it\u2019s an interesting first step. We\u2019re just at the beginning.\u201d<\/p>\n
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UM is home to scientists, students and scholars who respond to emerging issues and lead innovation in our province and around the world. Creating knowledge that matters is among the priorities you\u2019ll find in MomentUM: Leading Change Together<\/a>, the University of Manitoba\u2019s 2024-2029 Strategic Plan.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n