{"id":397475,"date":"2025-09-04T14:37:21","date_gmt":"2025-09-04T14:37:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/397475\/"},"modified":"2025-09-04T14:37:21","modified_gmt":"2025-09-04T14:37:21","slug":"i-didnt-hear-the-usual-grinding-of-ice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/397475\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cI didn\u2019t hear the usual grinding of ice\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n Jochen Knies stands next to the RV Kronprins Haakon at the North Pole on 2 September.
\n Photo: Henry Patton\n <\/p>\n

When a Norwegian vessel reached the North Pole this week, the scientific team made an alarming discovery.<\/p>\n

\u201cI last reached the North Pole on a research vessel 30 years ago\u201d, the i2B expedition<\/a> leader Jochen Knies writes in his blog on September 2\u00a0<\/a>after he and the other 24 scientists and 18 crew members on board the research vessel Kronprins Haakon arrived at the world\u2019s northernmost point.<\/p>\n

Now, seeing the spot three decades later, Knies realises how much this frozen ocean has changed:\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n On board RV Kronprins Haakon in the North Pole
\n Photo: Henry Patton\n <\/p>\n

\u201cThis time, when I woke at 6 a.m., I didn\u2019t hear the usual grinding of ice. We had been sailing through open water at 6\u20138 knots, something unthinkable three decades ago\u201d, Knies writes.<\/p>\n

Knies and his team of scientists are on a hunt for treasure. But instead of gold, they’re looking for clues about the Earth’s past climate. They’re digging deep into layers of dirt, rocks, and mud that have been piling up on the seafloor of the Arctic Ocean for thousands of years.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n Gathering samples on board RV Kronprins Haakon
\n Photo: Henry Patton\n <\/p>\n

Lab analyses of these layers tell us what the Arctic was like when it was last free of ice, about 130,000 and 400,000 years ago. Finding these clues will help Knies\u2019 team to predict the future of the planet once the sea ice has disappeared again.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I first sailed to the North Pole in 1996 aboard the research vessel Oden as a young PhD student, I remember one thing above all: ice. Ice of varying types and thickness, stretching as far as the eye\u00a0could see\u201d, Jochen Knies wrote in an email to the Barents Observer while sailing on board the\u00a0RV Kronprins Haakon.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThis time, however, the experience was very different. During the first two weeks of our journey\u2014starting from Longyearbyen and reaching the Lomonosov Ridge on August 30th\u2014we encountered large areas of open water.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n On board of RV Kronprins Haakon in the North Pole
\n Photo: Henry Patton\n <\/p>\n

“There was still sea ice, of course, but our vessel had little trouble navigating through it, thanks to open leads and channels. That\u2019s what struck me most: the ease of access through what used to be a far more ice-covered region,\u201d Knies writes. <\/p>\n

According to him, witnessing such a change felt \u201cunsettling\u201d:\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a scientist, you read and study a great deal about the changes occurring in the Arctic. But reading about it is one thing – witnessing it firsthand is something entirely different”, Knies emphasises.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n Jochen Knies on board the RV Kronprins Haakon with his team of researchers.
\n Photo: Henry Patton\n <\/p>\n

\u201cThe transformation is fast. Just as we see glaciers retreat across Svalbard, we see and feel the thinning and retreat of the Arctic sea ice\u2026 You don\u2019t need decades of experience to notice it – even the Bachelor students onboard sense that this no longer feels like the Arctic we imagined.\u201d<\/p>\n

A German expedition, which travelled to the North Pole earlier this summer on the vessel Polarstern, also highlighted<\/a> the significant sea-ice changes:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe sea ice along our route is significantly thinner than expected. We are sailing through open water much of the time, and we are making very fast progress: this is unexpected\u201d, the Polarstern expedition’s blog entry on August 10 emphasises.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n Pole bear in the North Pole
\n Photo: Henry Patton\n <\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the shrinking sea ice is the primary habitat for polar bears. <\/p>\n

The reduced ice makes it harder<\/a> for bears to find prey. Some scientists predict that global warming caused by the emissions of greenhouse gases has already put the polar bear on an irreversible path towards extinction<\/a>, as the BBC highlights<\/a>.<\/p>\n

BO: But the Earth\u2019s climate has changed many times in the past \u2014 even before human civilisation. What makes today\u2019s situation different?<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n Jochen Knies on board of RV Kronprins Haakon
\n Photo: Henry Patton\n <\/p>\n

“The pace of change we\u2019re seeing now is unprecedented. Nothing in the geological past compares to the speed at which the climate – and especially the Arctic – is changing today”, Jochen Knies replies. <\/p>\n

Why is it important for the public to know about these changes?<\/p>\n

Knies: The Arctic is the fastest-changing region on the planet – what we call a “climate hotspot\u201d. By making the public aware of these changes, we offer people a chance to understand and reflect.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n Arctic sea-ice
\n Photo: Henry Patton\n <\/p>\n

“They can draw their own conclusions, but sharing firsthand knowledge of what’s happening – in real time – can be a powerful way to shift perspectives and drive awareness,” Knies emphasises. <\/p>\n

Satellite observations since the 1970s show that the sea ice is melting at a significant rate. The graphic map by Miro Johansson:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n The i2B expedition route in August-September 2025<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jochen Knies stands next to the RV Kronprins Haakon at the North Pole on 2 September. Photo: Henry…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":397476,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3843],"tags":[728,70,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-397475","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-environment","9":"tag-science","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115146538915763449","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397475","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=397475"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397475\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/397476"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=397475"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=397475"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=397475"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}