The Returning Araon Ship: "Arctic Sea Ice Has Melted Even More"

[Asia Economy Reporter Junho Hwang] "The size of the Arctic sea ice had visibly decreased to the naked eye."

The Korea Polar Research Institute announced on the 15th that the Araon, South Korea's only icebreaking research vessel, observed this upon returning to Gwangyang Port on the 14th after completing its 11th Arctic voyage.

The Araon Arctic voyage research team returned in August via the Chukchi Sea, the Pacific entrance to the Arctic Ocean, and confirmed that the sea ice there had visibly decreased in size compared to other Arctic seas and previous voyages.

Arctic sea ice reflects sunlight, helping regulate the Earth's temperature and stabilize the atmosphere. However, it has been continuously decreasing due to global warming. In fact, the Arctic sea ice area recorded its smallest extent for July since satellite observations began, as of last July.

In addition, the research team conducted various studies while sailing 6,000 km over 27 days in the Arctic Ocean. Notably, they observed water temperature and salinity while crossing about 600 km north to south from 74 to 80 degrees north latitude in the East Siberian Sea. This long-distance observation after five years also led to the first collection of small zooplankton under 200 micrometers.

They successfully recovered and reinstalled five underwater long-term mooring observation systems installed at 75 degrees north latitude. Two of these contain records spanning three years from 2017. The data collected at different times and locations will be used to analyze changes in the Arctic marine environment and the impact of warming. The Polar Research Institute previously discovered a phenomenon where Pacific zooplankton appeared in large quantities in the Arctic Ocean using data obtained from past Arctic voyages.

Before entering the Arctic Ocean, the research team installed acoustic observation equipment on the seabed at a point where major currents of the Bering Sea pass, establishing a monitoring network to understand current flows. The collected data will be used to analyze the causes of high-temperature phenomena in seas around the Korean Peninsula. As part of an international joint research effort, they also began monitoring surface currents in the Bering Sea and Chukchi Sea in cooperation with the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

This Arctic voyage research was also affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. On-site research conducted by landing directly on the sea ice was canceled after the helicopter and polar bear observer who were supposed to join midway withdrew.

Jung Kyungho, senior researcher at the Korea Polar Research Institute, said, "There were more difficulties than ever in navigation and observation due to hundreds-of-meters-long ice pieces breaking off as the sea ice melted," adding, "We plan to present the changes in the Arctic felt on-site through data and research results."

Meanwhile, the Araon is scheduled to embark on a 4.5-month Antarctic voyage at the end of next month, carrying the wintering research team of the Antarctic Science Base.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.