>>Why in news?
The German Alfred Wegener Institute's Polarstern ship is set to return to the port on Monday, bringing home devastating proof of a "dying Arctic Ocean" and warnings of ice-free summers in just decades. Researchers coming back from a year-long research expedition in the Arctic have bad news: the Arctic Ocean is dying.
>>Facts about the mission:
The German Alfred Wegener Institute's Polar stern ship is set to return to the port of Bremerhaven after 389 days spent drifting through the Arctic trapped in ice, where scientists gathered more than 150 terabytes of data and 1,000 ice samples. While it will take up to two years to analyze all of the data, the initial reports said the ocean was failing. The multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate (MOSAiC) showed the effect that climate change was having on the Arctic Ocean. Over 70 research institutes from 20 countries took part in the research, which showed an Arctic Ocean in peril. The researchers' observations have been backed up by US satellite images showing that in 2020, sea ice in the Arctic reached its second-lowest summer minimum on record, after 2012.
>>Concerns:
The Arctic plays a key role in the global ecosystem, as it cools tropical air from the south to create weather and air currents. Without the Arctic cooling tropical air, it would change weather systems and conditions throughout the world. Mission Leader Markus Rex warned that if the warming trend in the North Pole continued, then there could be "an ice-free Arctic in the summer."
>>Points to Remember:
Mission started- 20 September 2019
Organizing Institute- German Alfred Wegener Institute
Ship Used- Polarstern ship
No. of scientists- 300 (from 20 countries)
Mission Leader- Markus Rex
Mission ended- 12 October 2020
Time Spent- 389 days
Net worth of the mission- 140-million-euro ($165 million)