Here is some trivia for you. Our ship, the Akademik Fedorov, was THE ship that planted the Russian flag – on the ocean floor – just a few years ago. The goal was to symbolically name the waters between Russia and the North Pole, and therefore all related potential resources, for Russia. But of course there are lots of international politics involved. Any area beyond the continental shelves is considered international waters, but in the Arctic, where waters around Canadian, Russian, and Alaska all meet, it’s not so easily agreed upon. But the fact that the ship we are calling home has been to the North Pole, and that we’re going to be nearly there, is pretty awesome, to say the least. Here are Masha and Kensuke standing in our watery, icy “front yard.”
How does it feel to be exposed to such extreme weather ,while also being on a moving ship?
-From Ms. Gilbert’s class
Hi Nathaly, actually I like cold weather, so being here is a nice break from Miami heat! Of course that doesn’t mean that sometimes my fingers don’t feel like they’re going to freeze off when I’m outside! As for the moving ship, you get used to walking in a zig-zaggy path when the ship is swaying a lot, but it’s been fine – I’m just glad I have not been seasick! Sometimes people even get “landsick” when they get back to land after being on a ship for a long time, so I hope that doesn’t happen either…
How has the climate been progressing over the years due to Global Warming and what are some effects animals have had due to Global Warming?
Hi Amanda, observations have shown that the temperature of the Earth has been rising. This does not mean that temperatures are rising everywhere in the same way, but as a whole, that is the trend. Also, the levels of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide have been rising in the atmosphere (and being absorbed into the ocean). This contributes to warming temperatures, and also changing chemical composition of the ocean. As for your question about animals, one example of animals being affected is polar bears, which use Arctic ice as their hunting grounds to get dinner from the ocean. With less ice, polar bears are having a harder time getting to food sources. In the ocean, excess carbon dioxide can make the ocean slightly more acidic, which can affect some animals with shells, and how hard their shells are.