The data of the day
Published on 28.05.2007 - The Arctic Arc
Communicating data
© International Polar Foundation
Here are the technical data given last night by Alain Hubert on the satphone. In addition, please find the comments of the day.
- Morning position: 85°52'26" N / 46°37'10" W
- Evening position: 85°43'07" N / 45°50'25" W
- Shift during the night: 1.4 km towards south-west
- Progression distance: 18.5 km
- Progression time: 10h15
- Distance to Greenland coast: 260 km
- Visibility: Sun came out just after our departure but only for an hour. Afterwards, there was a whiteout for the remainder of the day.
- Nature of the ice: No water and no lead to cross. They are having to progress through ice blocs, finding the good paths to follow. With no visibility, it's not so easy.
- Temperatures: -5°C at 8 am, -6°C at 6 pm.
- Wind: North/north-west, about 10 miles an hour.
- Pressure: 1020 hectopascals at 8am, 1017,6 hectopascals at 6pm. Once more, Hubert does not understand; with this kind of pressure, weather should normally be good and sunny.
Comments of the day (Alain Hubert)
"As the temperature is rather 'mild', the snow has become heavy and hard to ski. We are going up and down all day long. The ice is a tricky one, because the old ices are mixed with younger ones; I'm surprised once more by the variety of the ices one comes accross here in the Arctic. It's a hard job, you can believe me. We are sick and tired of this difficult ice pack, even if our daily mileage is good. You have to keep steady nerves here otherwise you can easily get mad. At night we're exhausted but we sleep well."
Even if the outcome of the expedition is close now, both men apprehend what awaits them over the next 260 kilometers.
Today's website
Posted on May 1st 2007 by journalist James Hrynyshyn on Netscape/Science: A few weeks ago, in a story that caught the attention of only the astute climate science journalists, one of the most experienced oceanographers of our time, Peter Wadhams, reported that the Arctic ice cap was melting much faster than what we thought. How much faster? So fast that the rate has made the story seem too alarmist to take it seriously.
