You may recall Lewis Pugh and his laughable “expedition” in Kayaks last summer to plant flags of nations on the ice. I came a little more respect for this group, since at least they are attempting some science. But given the media coverage and the problems they face in getting any meaningful data, I have my doubts about this project as well. – Anthony
“Occasionally it’s disheartening too when you’ve slogged for a day and then wake up the next morning having drifted back to where you started.” – Pen Hadow
A team of polar explorers has travelled to the Arctic in a bid to discover how quickly the sea-ice is melting and how long it might take for the ocean to become ice-free in summers.
Pen Hadow, Ann Daniels and Martin Hartley will be using a mobile radar unit to record an accurate measurement of ice thickness as they trek to the North Pole.
The trio will be sending in regular diary entries, videos and photographs to BBC News throughout their expedition.
The Catlin Arctic Survey team started its gruelling trek on 28 February.
From Pen Hadow’s online journal: Conditions have been hard.
We have been battered by wind, bitten by frost and bruised from falls on the ice.
Occasionally it’s disheartening too when you’ve slogged for a day and then wake up the next morning having drifted back to where you started.
The Arctic sea ice is constantly moving, breaking open and reforming into different shapes – which means we can end up moving several kilometres in any direction while we are asleep in our tents.
The wind chill today will slice us up – it’s taking the temperature down to below -50C, so we have decided to take a day’s rest to recharge our batteries and soothe the aches and pains.
We are resigned to several weeks of daily discomfort and general misery, safe in the knowledge that conditions, our progress and general well-being will improve over the coming months.
See a video and audio report from Hadow at the BBC website here
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E.M.Smith (23:44:50) :
“Not wise in bear country in a snack bag”
Oh oh oh what a description.
“A snack bag”.
Oh that conjures up quite an impression.
From the Catlin site this morning:
“…while outside the tent the northerly winds are starting to pick up and the weather shows ominous signs of change….. ”
Hmmm…bad weather moving in? Wonder if that will mean that they’re daily distance of 1.5km will now come to a halt for a day or two while the weather passes?
So far, they’ve been on the ice for 18 days, and they’ve travelled a total distance of 25km. They have another 928km to go.
Since we’re fond of making predictions here :*), I’m going to go on record and pick April 22 as the day they get pulled from the ice.
That’s Earth Day…all of the celebrations provide some “cover” to help bury the story.
JimB
“E.M.Smith (01:07:40) :
Is there some reason you can’t use a sno-cat or snowmobile? Why all this struggle with tents and walking? Is the ice so thin you can’t put a decent tracked vehicle on it and be done with a couple hundred klicks in a day?
Are they technophobic or is the ice such that you can’t use “heavy equipment”?”
Apparently they’ve been going through open water. They talk about having to don immersion suits in total darkness and swim across open water, not knowing how far it is to get to the ice on the other side.
Logistically, I still don’t understand why they didn’t use caches that were pre-established and identifiable by beacon. Those could provide much better/dependable resupply, possible structure and HEAT…very nice base camp for a few days to rest and recouperate.
Maybe that’s just not dramtic enough? /cynic off
JimB
Coalsoffire: I believe you have misread the latitude reading for the start.
Whoops! You are absolutely correct!
In the Canadian Arctic they drive massive trucks over the ice and map the ice thickness. This is just a stunt.
Shawn,
The “Ice Road Truckers” thing occured to me as well.
Perhaps if they asked the ice road maintenance companies nicely they might have been able to get some reasonably consistent data for a defined period.
I guess it’s not far North enough, and that the trucks use horrible fossil fuel (unlike the pixie-dust fuelled Twin Otters they’ve had circiling for much of the last week) but maybe there’s just the possibility of being able to extract something meaningful at the end of it.
It could give them something to do in their tents the next time they’re waiting for resupply.
Just a thought.
REPLY: Lake ice and sea ice are entirely different environments with significantly different physical mechanisms and influences at work. Comparing them really isn’t relevant. – Anthony
From the “Science” section of their website:
“Evidence for the earlier meltdown date would provide fresh impetus to resolve through international agreements the more sustainable and responsible management of the increasingly accessible natural resources, revealed as the ice recedes. The survey will assist scientists in providing policy-makers with higher resolution forecasts than are made to date, which in turn will facilitate decisions where previously indecision has existed.
With the Arctic Ocean and surrounding high Arctic environment more responsive and vulnerable to climate change than most, the urgency for action to protect it in a variety of ways is greater than almost anywhere on Earth.”
So, it really isn’t about science (what else is new?), but to “provide fresh impetus” and “facilitate decisions”. Gee, and with the Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen coming up in Dec., what a remarkable (and convenient) coincidence!
Can there be any doubt that whatever “evidence” they find, it will be spun for the Alarmist Cause?
Now, where were those bears again? Snack bags are waiting….
I think this is just great. I go on to their website every day just to laugh, and I’ve sent them five emails so far pointing out their grasp of science. I’m almost spamming them now. However, I really think we should have a pool or something – for the day they are plucked from their misery, citing extreme weather as the cause, and saying it would be too dangerous to continue. I say muppets will be lifted from the Arctic on March 30th.
This whole expedition reminds me of the old joke where lost travellers in Ireland ask an old fellow at the side of the road how to get to Dublin – and he replies: “Well if I was you, I wouldn’t be starting from here.”
Makes me wonder how they selected their start point for this expedition. Blindfold + pin in map method?
Has anyone found a place on their website to post questions or comments?
I’ve looked at a few of the blogs…but they seem to be FONI…
JimB
JimB
“Has anyone found a place on their website to post questions or comments?”
Ehhhh …. no.
Clearly questions and answers are out and pronouncements are in.
I cannot understand why any self respecting polar bear has not caught a whiff of their “Chicken Dumplings” and as E.M.Smith (23:44:50) pointed out enjoyed “A snack bag”. I remember a documentary made in the Northern Territories where polar bears where being filmed, yes filmed, from a cliff top. Someone pulled out a cheese sandwich. The polar bears stopped in their tracks and turned around and headed back. The film crew ere advised to followed suit.
And then again Martin has a blister which, according to Catlin reports, is frost bite. Yet he did not fly out on the twin Otter. Good for him very brave. Guess he would have ignored any medical advice.
Did Catlin insure them before they left?
After all they state “We provide creative risk management solutions and excellent financial security to clients worldwide.”
Well for me this publicity stunt is highly offensive. If I said I don’t know words of the English language, that describe how offensive it is to me; would that put it in perspective.
Robert Falcon Scott and his ill fated team had a poorly planned and advised expedition; they eschewed sled dogs and took totally useless horses; and maybe it was just bad luck that the weather trapped them almost in sight of safety. But at least they had in mind doing some research on the trip; and they were driven by the idea of personal achievement; not by some wild fanaticism.
As Scott left in his final papers:- “To strive, to seek, to find; and not to yield !”
Great words to live (or die) by.
Personally if these cretins fall into acrevasse and bash their heads in, I will not shed a tear for them; and they would not earn a Darwin award either; since shear stupidity is one of the criteria for a Darwin award.
These folks are just A-holes in my book; trying to draw world sympathy to their ignorance.
Why should they be supplied; didn’t they research the trek before hand and plan for everything they would need; as real explorers like Amundsen, Shackleton or Scott did.
I would think that by now they would be well beyond where any self respecting polar bear would travel; and if they ran into one; it would probably prefer plain blubber to very lean grey matter.
George
Sorry Anthony. I wasn’t trying to suggest that fresh water freezes the same as salt water, merely that if we’re going to learn anything about thickness trends over time (the purpose of this project) then a series of measurements taken by standard equipment in the same general area over a known period of time might have more value than this exercise.
It’s probably also worth considering whether the albedo effect for salt and fresh water is materially different given the tolerances involved.
Does anybody know whether ice roads are showing any discernible trend or where any data is available?
I so appreciate your blog, Mr. Watts.
This is the kind of garbage I get from my local paper, the Chicago Tribune. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-antarctica-climate-change-19mar19,0,7871508.story
@BrianMcL and Anthony
They have ice roads that travel over the Arctic Ocean as well as the ones over the fresh water lakes.
You can ask this C. Morgan guy about them. He works up there on the Arctic Ocean.
http://www.freedominion.com.pa/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=1334744#1334744
http://www.freedominion.com.pa/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=1334744#1334744
When you open the link you will need to scroll up a bit to find C.Morgan.
JimB & B Kerr… The email address for Catlin Arctic Survey is info@catlinarcticsurvey.com sourced here http://www.catlinarcticsurvey.com/contactus
Barry,
Thanks. I noticed the info link. What they DON’T have is a two way forum where you can post questions.
Wonder why that is?
JimB
Their site links to this discussion board on facebook where “Brad” has already given some advice! 🙂
Although it seems established by the project team it does not appear to be very interactive with respect to the “Team” members.
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=34246373635
I wonder how they deal with human waste?
Holed up in their tents for five days, do they just forgo modesty or risk frostbite by squatting outside?
Interestingly I could find no mention of this topic on their website.
Will there be a little trail of frozen turds mapping their progress left on the ice?
Even better will there be a string of dead batterys and trash? I wonder if they are going with the leave no trace mentality or the its for science, a little trash wont hurt mentality.
I always wonder at the stupidity of folks. People claiming conservation motives usually do the most damage to what they are conserving in the name of studying it. For the most part, if you want to find the people… follow their trash. My husband and I call it ‘man sign’ and it will usually lead us straight to whatever cave or geothermal pool we were looking for:) Conservation often means control instead of preservation.. gee go figure.
pkatt (09:08:21) :
“Even better will there be a string of dead batterys and trash?”
Guess you read
http://www.catlinarcticsurvey.com/Perran_on_Power_Supplies_for_the_expedition
“The expedition has access to two sources of electrical power. The first is a fuel cell powered by Methanol. This early production unit is packaged in an insulated case together with 4 litres of Methanol and … Lithium rechargeable batteries. The latter actually provide the electrical power to the scientific equipment. ”
So why do they need the rest?
“The fuel cell runs continuously supplying the average power whilst the batteries supply the peak power. Waste heat from the fuel cell keeps the batteries warm so they will accept a charge as Lithium batteries will not charge properly at temperatures below zero centigrade. ”
“The by product of the conversion process of methanol to electricity is water vapour (steam) and carbon dioxide. The steam can be a potential problem in the polar environment as it can rapidly lead to ice build up from condensation if the venting is not kept clear.”
Does this explains why their tents are freezing up.
And they produce carbon dioxide.
Well what ever next?
As long as it is not CO2!
By my estimate they are over 5 miles further north today than they were 14 days ago. They are really making some progress now! 😀
WUWT gets another reference from Christopher Booker reporting on the problem with the Catlin Survey http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/columnists/christopherbooker/5028380/The-Global-Warming-Three-are-on-thin-ice.html