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Complete darkness.
For six months.
40 degrees Celsius below zero.
The danger of suddenly meeting a polar bear.
These were the conditions to which the researchers who took part in the largest Arctic expedition to date were exposed almost two years ago.
It was led by polar explorer Markus Rex.
The 54-year-old heads the Atmospheric Physics Section at the Alfred Wegener Institute.
On the occasion of the “Better Future Conference” he reported to Johannes Boie, editor-in-chief of WELT AM SONNTAG, about his experiences in the no longer so eternal ice.
The focus of the expedition was the German research ship “Polarstern”.
“We were in the port city of Tromsoe in Northern Norway on September 20, 2019.
From there you still have a long way to go to the Arctic.
We drove through the open water along the classic Northeast Passage, the Siberian coast, for a few days, ”recalls the scientist.
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On October 4, the expedition found the ice floe to which they freeze the ship.
“That's where we set up our research camp.” With 100 tons of scientific equipment and a huge infrastructure.
Seven icebreakers and research vessels
Dozens of power lines were installed on the ice.
“Then we drifted through the Arctic with the entire setup.” It was a gigantic expedition.
To make it possible, a total of seven icebreakers and research vessels were in action.
"We didn't just want to take the measurements from the ship, we wanted to record the entire system."
Caught in the ice.
What does that do to people?
“The polar night is darker than in our latitudes.
Here we always have a source of light around us.
This is not the case in the Arctic.
There is nothing there but ice.
Not only to the horizon, but also 1000 kilometers beyond the horizon. "
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When you are out on the ice, the world shrinks to a small bubble of light, thrown by your own headlamp.
When you see the bizarre ice formations around you, which are formed by the wind, they are "extraterrestrial experiences".
A feeling as if you are on a strange planet, says Rex and enthuses: "They are unique, great experiences."
Left completely in the hands of nature
Did the researchers know where the floe was drifting with them, or did they just let the current carry them?
Rex explains: “We have given ourselves completely into the hands of nature.
You have to allow yourself to drift where nature takes you.
That is why the expedition had to be planned in such a way that all eventualities could be dealt with. "
The scientist Markus Rex during the expedition of the "Polarstern"
Source: picture alliance / ZUMAPRESS.com
What the researchers saw in the far north of the earth worries them: “Everything has changed tremendously.
The Arctic is the epicenter of climate change. ”Today it is dramatic.
“It has looked very different since I started traveling to the Arctic in the early 1990s.
The landscape there used to be seriously frozen in winter near our research station in Svalbard, around 1000 kilometers from the North Pole. "
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Now there is open water there in the middle of winter.
This also affects the lives of people in the Arctic.
“The perception of climate change there is very different from ours.” For most people in Europe, climate change is something abstract.
You know it from the media.
Climate change is developing slowly
You might think you've had a hotter summer than before.
But science and statistics are needed here to be able to prove climate change.
“In the Arctic, all you have to do is open your eyes.
You can see that the world has become a completely different one. ”With the experiences and results of the expedition, one could contribute to generating greater interest in the Arctic.
The big challenge is that climate change is developing slowly.
And a gradual development is very difficult to convey at the beginning.
The polar explorer warns: “You have to anticipate the great damage that is ahead of us.
You have to see it in your mind's eye.
We have to act today so that we can live well later. "
Johannes Boie asks: “Do you have the feeling that this topic is on the tableau as it should be?” Rex doesn't need to think.
His experience is: “As climate scientists, we have known what to expect for decades.
For many years we have received less attention from the population than we do today. "
Interest in climate protection is growing
A lot has happened in the past two or three years.
More people have started to be interested in the topic and to realize that action must be taken now.
“We now have to approach climate change ambitiously.
We have started taking the right action.
So I'm not so pessimistic that we can turn it around.
But we have to get them quickly. "
Johannes Boie wants to know whether the almost emission-free nuclear power is no alternative to conventional power generation.
Rex says: “I want to make progress in climate protection.
To move forward, you need concepts behind which the majority of our society can gather.
This is a long-term concept. "
A climate protection concept that does not find a majority in society is not good.
He sees the discussions about nuclear energy in Germany as a "waste of energy".
It is a distraction from actual issues that need to be taken care of.
“We will not get a majority in society to rely on nuclear energy in Germany.
It is therefore a discussion that sounds exciting, but does not lead to anything. "
A patchwork of bans is of no use
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The division of society on issues of climate protection could cause great damage to the actual cause, says Markus Rex. Especially when, for ideological reasons or a lack of understanding, you focus heavily on certain individual areas in which you cannot avoid that much greenhouse gas emissions. “If we make a patchwork of bans, every single ban leads to a huge countermovement in society. People who consider individual parts to be important are thus turned against climate protection. You can cause more damage than you can save by prohibiting greenhouse gas emissions. "
His approach: “We have to switch to regenerative production of electricity much faster.
The building industry has made too little progress.
We still have high emissions from building heating.
We have to make more progress in this area. "
It is not yet known where the major technological advances are to be expected.
The economy and society could best shake this up themselves by setting fair framework conditions.
"Make climate-damaging behavior more expensive and climate-friendly behavior cheaper," advises the scientist.
"Everyone can decide for themselves where they want to minimize their CO2 emissions particularly strongly."