Japanese

Arctic Ocean research, past & further advancement

Takashi Kikuchi,
Director, Inst. Arctic Climate and Environment Res.,
Research Inst.Global Change/
Group Leader,
International Observation Planning Group,
Project Office for Arctic Research Vessel (PARV)

JAMSTEC initiated Arctic research around 1990, conducting observations in the Arctic Ocean in collaboration with U.S. research institutes and universities. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, JAMSTEC developed new ice-drifting buoys by ourselves and began observation research in sea-ice areas. At the same time, JAMSTEC also started observation research using the research vessel Mirai in the ice-free area in the Pacific sector of the Arctic Ocean. JAMSTEC's Arctic Ocean research focused on “Why is the Arctic Ocean covered with sea ice?” and “What is the role of the Arctic Ocean with respect to sea ice?” Since the beginning of the 2000s, the extent of the Arctic sea ice has repeatedly reached new record lows, and the IPCC reports have repeatedly highlighted the Arctic Ocean as the most significant area of global warming, making it an urgent need to clarify "Why is the Arctic sea ice decreasing so rapidly?”

Based on our data, JAMSTEC has clarified the importance of warm water flowing in from the Pacific Ocean, and that the sea ice was moving in the Arctic Ocean faster than before. JAMSTEC’s interests have evolved to studying the impacts of rapid sea-ice reduction in the Arctic Ocean. We see that Arctic sea ice reduction is affecting the climate of the Northern Hemisphere (including Japan) and that Arctic sea ice reduction enhanced ocean acidification (under-saturated state of calcium carbonate). Observation research in ice-free sea areas using R/V Mirai shows that JAMSTEC has been able to understand how sea ice loss affects the Arctic Ocean environment and ecosystem.

The Arctic continues to warm and sea ice continues to decrease due to global warming, and these environmental changes continue to progress. The Arctic surface air temperature has risen nearly three times faster than the global temperature rise, and the Arctic Ocean from the Pacific to Siberia and to the Atlantic side has become a seasonally sea ice free area, where the sea ice always disappears in summer and early autumn. Subarctic species are invading from the south (Pacific and Atlantic) into the Arctic Ocean interior, following the warm water, while species that have historically been found in sea ice regions are in danger of extinction. The Arctic region has been transformed into a new environment, the "New Normal". The central Arctic Ocean is still covered with sea ice, making it difficult to access and observe, and there is a significant lack of data and knowledge about how these expected environmental changes will impact the ecosystem. The need to expand observations in the central Arctic Ocean, as well as in the rapidly changing Pacific and Atlantic sides of the Arctic Ocean, is urgent. JAMSTEC’s new research icebreaker will help fill this gap.

This new research icebreaker, possessing ice-breaking capabilities and observation capabilities equal to or better than those of the R/V Mirai, will be able to observe and collect samples even in the central Arctic Ocean, which up to now has been impossible for us to reach. A new understanding of the heat and freshwater budgets, and biogeochemical cycles in the Arctic Ocean and the processes of atmosphere-sea ice-ocean interaction, will now be possible. The actual conditions of biological production and ecosystems found there can now be better clarified, and the data and findings obtained can be used to improve the accuracy of future scientific predictions. Our new research icebreaker will be able to promote and expand observation and research in the Arctic Ocean by leading international projects to gain new knowledge and advance global climate research in collaboration with research institutions in Japan and importantly with other countries. JAMSTEC’s new icebreaker will give us that chance to make another scientific leap forward. We would like to utilize the Arctic research vessel as an international research platform to gain new knowledge and advance global climate research.

PAGE TOP