Curiously Polar

Curiously Polar

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Curiously Polar episodes

  • 168 Scramble for the North Pole

    Transcription of this episode | Watch this on video | Buy us a coffee: Chris / Henry / Mario

    showThis episode is a joint production of Curiously Polar and Polar Geopolitics. Joining today are Klaus Dodds, Professor for Geopolitics and Executive Dean for the School of Life Sciences and Environment at Royal Holloway, and Eric Paglia, postdoctoral researcher in the SPHERE project at KTH Royal Institute of Technology and producer and program host of the podcast Polar Geopolitics.

    SCRAMBLE FOR THE NORTH POLE

    Not only since 2007, when a submersible planted the Russian flag at the North Pole, the question of who owns the North Pole are a widespread topic discussed in several media outlets around the globe. With a large portion of its claim scientifically sound and confirmed by the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf, a new scramble for the North Pole has set in. But where does this interest come from and what are the implications of it, particularly with the Russian war on Ukraine and the resulting political isolation of Russia on the world stage? How will the Arctic Council as intergovernmental forum for circumpolar cooperation develop in the future and how will the claims of different Arctic states effect the work in the Arctic Council? We discuss these and other questions together with Eric Paglia and our guest, Professor Klaus Dodds.

    You can find Klaus Dodds’ latest book ‘Border Wars’ here and an overview over a selection of his other books here.

    Please consider to check out Eric Paglia’s podcast Polar Geopolitics and send us your questions or feedback to todays episode.notes

    This is an episode of the Curiously Polar podcast

    with

    Chris Marquardt https://chrismarquardt.com/
    Henry Páll Wulff: https://henrypall.com/
    Mario Acquarone https://www.buymeacoffee.com/polarmario

    Listen to all podcast episodes at https://curiouslypolar.com

    All video episodes at https://tfttf.com/curiouslypolarvideo

    Find us here:

    Web: https://curiouslypolar.com
    Twitter: https://twitter.com/curiouslypolar
    Instagram: https://instagram.com/curiouslypolar

    51 min
  • 167 The Worlds largest Waterfall

    Watch this on video | Buy us a coffee: Chris / Henry / Mario

    POLAR NEWSREEL:

    01 Mapping the Ocean Floor: The Nippon Foundation-GEBCO Seabed 2030 Project was endorsed as part of the UN Ocean Decade. The project aims to map all the world’s oceans by the end of the decade. When it launched, only 6% of the seabed was mapped to a modern standard. On May 2, 2023, HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco announced that now 24.9% of the seabed is mapped, including some 19,000 newly discovered undersea volcanoes. Mapping the ocean floor is a critical step towards informing decision-making in areas such as resource management, environmental change, and ocean conservation1 . 02 One Year in the Life of Ocean Eddies: The Alfred Wegener Institute simulated a year of ocean eddies in the Southern Ocean with the FESOM2 ocean model in a 3 km resolution.

    THE WORLDS LARGEST WATERFALL

    Deep beneath the Denmark Strait, between Iceland and Greenland, lies the largest and most powerful waterfall on Earth - the Denmark Strait cataract. This undersea wonder is around 160 kilometres wide and cascades over immense cataracts hidden from our view, descending nearly 3 kilometres to a depth of 3,505 metres. The Denmark Strait Cataract carries around 5 million cubic metres of water per second, dwarfing any giant waterfall on land.

    The Denmark Strait Cataract is a natural wonder that has been a mystery to many. It is formed by the difference in temperature between the ultra-cold Arctic waters of the Greenland Sea and the slightly warmer Irminger Sea. When the water from the Greenland Sea meets the Irminger Sea water, it slides right down through it to the bottom of the ocean. The cold, dense water quickly sinks below the warmer water and flows over the huge drop in the ocean floor, creating a downward flow estimated at well over 3,482,972.13 cubic metres per second. This massive flow equals between 20 and 40 times the sum of all river water that flows into the Atlantic.

    The existence of an undersea waterfall is astonishing in itself. The Denmark Strait cataract is not only remarkable for its height and power but also for its ability to exist at all. Its discovery is a testament to our ongoing exploration of our planet’s oceans and our continued fascination with their mysteries.

    This is an episode of the Curiously Polar podcast

    with

    Chris Marquardt https://chrismarquardt.com/
    Henry Páll Wulff: https://henrypall.com/
    Mario Acquarone https://www.buymeacoffee.com/polarmario

    Listen to all podcast episodes at https://curiouslypolar.com

    All video episodes at https://tfttf.com/curiouslypolarvideo

    Find us here:

    Web: https://curiouslypolar.com
    Twitter: https://twitter.com/curiouslypolar
    Instagram: https://instagram.com/curiouslypolar

    27 min
  • 166 Race for the oldest ice

    Watch this on video | Buy us a coffee: Chris / Henry / Mario

    POLAR NEWSREEL

    01 Life at the bottom of the Southern Ocean: The team of the icebreaker RRS Sir David Attenborough has been testing the new deep sea research capabilities in the 5.6 km (3.5 mi) deep and least explored parts of the Southern Ocean, the Hesperides Deep, unveiling incredible lifeforms at the bottom of the sea. | 02 New interactive Antarctic mapping tool: The Australian Antarctic Division developed the amazing interactive mapping tool, Nilas to to assist voyage planning and enhance climate research in the sea ice zone.

    RACE FOR THE OLDEST ICE

    A global race is on to drill for the oldest known layers of Antarctic ice, so researchers can peek back in time to better understand the planet’s hotter future. Picking up from the record-breaking 2017 Allan Hills ice core, that unearthed ice dating back 2.7 million years, the US team returns to the site and aims to fill the gaps in the climate records. At the same time, the European project Beyond EPICA aims at obtaining ice cores, which are expected to provide continuous high-resolution climatic data up to 1.5 million years old at a site less than 40 km away from the Italo-French Concordia station at Little Dome C. End of January 2023, the team reached an important milestone and successfully completed the first ice core drilling campaign at a depth of 808 metres. Only five kilometres away from the European drilling site, the Australian Antarctic Division is making camp for their Million Year Ice Core project. To do so, the Australian team is mastering an incredible logistical challenge and traverses the East Antarctic Ice Sheet from the coastal Casey Station to the inland camp at the drilling site - and back. Lotter Kock, the Technical Lead for the Ice Drill System, tells his story on ABC Radio Hobart, certainly worth listening.

    Check out Henry's article "Deep Freeze: Ice Core Drilling for Earth's Climate Archive" for a deeper dive into the topic.

    Extra Media:

    Follow BAS scientists Huw Griffith and Jamie Maxwell on Twitter.

    This is an episode of the Curiously Polar podcast

    with

    Chris Marquardt https://chrismarquardt.com/
    Henry Páll Wulff: https://henrypall.com/
    Mario Acquarone https://www.buymeacoffee.com/polarmario

    Listen to all podcast episodes at https://curiouslypolar.com

    All video episodes at https://tfttf.com/curiouslypolarvideo

    Find us here:

    Web: https://curiouslypolar.com
    Twitter: https://twitter.com/curiouslypolar
    Instagram: https://instagram.com/curiouslypolar

    32 min
  • 165 The Holiday Episode

    Watch this on video | Buy us a coffee: Chris / Henry / Mario

    It's that time of the year

    HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE!! And while we covered some festive topics and traditions in the past, let's loaok at what we are doing for Christmas ourselves.

    The Curiously Polar Holiday Book Club (CPHBC):

    • Jean-Baptiste Charcot by Dominique Le Brun
    • SIKU: Knowing Our Ice - Documenting Inuit Sea Ice Knowledge and Use by Igor Krupnik et al.
    • Antarktikos Magazine - #1 Mapping Nature
    • The Mapping of Antarctica
    • Antarktische Wildnis - Südgeorgien by Thies Matzen and Kicki Ericson
    • Master of Desolation by Joseph J. Fuller
    • Le Pourquoi-pas dans L'Antarctique by Jean-Baptiste Charcot
    • Charcot, le Chevalier du Pole by Marguerite Verdat
    • The New York Taxi Back Seat Book by David Bradford

      • POLAR NEWSREEL:

      Nations Adopt Four Goals, 23 Targets for 2030

      At the 2022 UN Biodiversity Conference (COP 15) in Montreal 188 nations agreed on an unprecedented package of measures to protect and restore biodiversity and natural ecosystems. The agreement, called the “Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework” (GBF), includes four goals and 23 targets for achievement by 2030.
      The goals include protecting and restoring ecosystems, officially recognizing "nature's contribution to people", several ways of financing the process across borders.

      New Polar Code Regulations

      The new addendum, second phase of the Polar Code, urged Member States to implement voluntary safety measures of the Polar Code on ships not certified under the SOLAS Convention, approved guidance for navigation and communication equipment intended for use on ships operating in polar waters, approved Interim guidelines on life-saving appliances and arrangements for ships operating in polar waters and gave consideration to the possible application of chapters 9 (Safety of navigation) and 11 (Voyage planning) of the Polar Code to non-SOLAS ships and discussing how best to enhance the safety of these ships when operating in polar waters. Additional link

      New artifacts extracted from HMS Erebus during 2022 campaign

      During the 11 days campaign, a team of archeologists performed 56 dives on the wreck of one of Franklin's lost ships, the HMS Erebus. They retrieved exciting and promising artefacts that will surely contribute to forming the picture of the fate of the expedition. The conditions of the wreck are excellent but delicate and this ship will be the initial focus of the work. The other ship, the HMS Terror, is in a deeper, more secure position and will have to wait until the work on the HMS Erebus is finished.

      Why is the southern hemisphere stormier than the northern?

      The Southern Ocean regions have picturesque names: “roaring forties”, “furious fifties” and “screaming sixties”. A study combining observations and models indicates that the global ocean “conveyor belt” and the large mountain ranges in the northern hemisphere are some of the main factors contributing to the difference in storminess between the hemispheres. This work also shows that the southern hemisphere is getting even stormier over time, whereas the north is not. This is consistent with what climate models simulate for a warming world. These changes are important because we know stronger storminess can result in more high-impact events, such as extreme winds, temperatures and rainfall. Additional link

      Current State of Sea Ice Cover

      Rapid changes have been occurring in the Arctic, where the ice coverage has been declining at a substantial rate. In contrast, in the Antarctic the sea ice coverage has been increasing although at a lesser rate than the decreases in the Arctic. In the North at the beginning of winter, ice extent seems to be increasing close to the average from the 2010s. In the South, sea ice extent is particularly low and in an unusual distribution. Additional link

      This is an episode of the Curiously Polar podcast

      with

      Chris Marquardt https://chrismarquardt.com/
      Henry Páll Wulff: https://henrypall.com/
      Mario Acquarone https://www.buymeacoffee.com/polarmario

      Listen to all podcast episodes at https://curiouslypolar.com

      All video episodes at https://tfttf.com/curiouslypolarvideo

      Find us here:

      Web: https://curiouslypolar.com
      Twitter: https://twitter.com/curiouslypolar
      Instagram: https://instagram.com/curiouslypolar

      1 hr 6 min
    • 164 Solan Jensen Expedition Leader

      Watch this on video | Buy us a coffee: Chris / Henry / Mario

      Henry sent a message from a ship far far away. And that message had a discussion attached to it that he had with his colleague and legendary expedition leader Solan Jensen. They talked for half an hour about this and that, about the changes in the polar regions as a global issue, about excursions into the environment, about the climate and about the overall industry. Enjoy!

      This is an episode of the Curiously Polar podcast

      with

      Chris Marquardt https://chrismarquardt.com/
      Henry Páll Wulff: https://henrypall.com/
      Mario Acquarone https://www.buymeacoffee.com/polarmario

      Listen to all podcast episodes at https://curiouslypolar.com

      All video episodes at https://tfttf.com/curiouslypolarvideo

      Find us here:

      Web: https://curiouslypolar.com
      Twitter: https://twitter.com/curiouslypolar
      Instagram: https://instagram.com/curiouslypolar

      33 min
    • 163 Sensational Discovery of Infamous Vasa Sisterhip in Sweden

      Watch this on video | Buy us a coffee: Chris / Henry / Mario

      SENSATIONAL DISCOVERY OF INFAMOUS VASA SISTERSHIP IN SWEDEN

      Maritime archaeologists from Sweden’s Vrak - Museum of Wrecks have discovered the wreck of a 17th century warship. In collaboration with the Swedish Navy the archaeologists surveyed a strait at Vaxholm just outside Stockholm. While a large shipwreck was discovered there in 2021, the team could only identify the wreck in the spring of 2022 und reveal its details as very similar to Sweden’s most famous shipwreck, Vasa. Commissioned by the King of Sweden Gustavus Adolphus and build in 1629, only a year after the sinking of Vasa, the ship was designed by the same shipbuilder who completed Vasa, but contained improvements to the design. However, the construction still proved to be unsuccessful. After service in Europe's 30 Years' War, Äpplet was deliberately sunk in Vaxholm in the Stockholm archipelago in 1659, when it was deemed unseaworthy. The important discovery adds another key piece to the puzzle of the development of shipbuilding that eventually lead to Sweden’s emergence as a great power in the 1600s and its dominance in the Baltic Sea.

      Extra Media:

      Map: https://goo.gl/maps/TSiad5UDrRPQVheE6
      Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_69o4NK8aCc
      Vasa Museum: https://www.vasamuseet.se/en

      This is an episode of the Curiously Polar podcast

      with

      Chris Marquardt https://chrismarquardt.com/
      Henry Páll Wulff: https://henrypall.com/
      Mario Acquarone https://www.buymeacoffee.com/polarmario

      Listen to all podcast episodes at https://curiouslypolar.com

      All video episodes at https://tfttf.com/curiouslypolarvideo

      Find us here:

      Web: https://curiouslypolar.com
      Twitter: https://twitter.com/curiouslypolar
      Instagram: https://instagram.com/curiouslypolar

      20 min
    • 162 The Two Arctics - The Arctic Circle Assembly 2022

      Watch this on video | Buy us a coffee: Chris / Henry / Mario

      THE TWO ARCTICS - THE ARCTIC CIRCLE ASSEMBLY 2022

      The 9th Arctic Circle Assembly showcased a very divided Arctic Community, with Russian participants glaringly absent.

      It seems the circumpolar Arctic does not exist at the moment and the new chair of the Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC), Sara Olsvig, reiterates that there can’t be a solution to this in the Arctic without the inclusion of indigenous people as they live across the modern-day borders. She also said very clearly that with Arctic democracy under great pressure, the post Arctic Council and its future is reason for big concerns.

      Further, the future of the Arctic Council in the light of Russia’s unprovoked War on Ukraine has been discussed on numerous occasions. There has been speculation that the West will fundamentally reshape Arctic governance by forming a new international body, known as “Nordic Plus.” While Nordic Plus would have shared values and government norms, it would forfeit the institutional legitimacy and progress that the Arctic Council has fostered. Furthermore, little utility exists in such an organisation without Moscow.

      The Arctic Circle Assembly went highly political when the chair of NATO’s Military Committee, Robert Bauer , delivered a very blunt and aggressive speech about the state of regional security, which included the statement that Beijing was undermining the “rules-based international order,” underlining the very different narratives between the United States and China over China’s Arctic interests. His remarks were promptly criticized by China’s Ambassador to Iceland He Rulong, who was in the audience and who accused the NATO official of taking an “arrogant” stance.

      This exchange during the Arctic Circle Assembly demonstrated both how cooled the China-US relations are, as well as the high level of difficulty facing Beijing as it navigates a political Arctic much different from five years ago, when China’s own Arctic White Paper was released.

      But it’s not all gloom and doom. The Arctic Circle Assembly remains a forum to exchange on numerous topics and it also highlights particular efforts for the circumpolar Arctic with two prizes, the 2022 Arctic Circle Prize for the Alfred Wegener Institute and its groundbreaking MOSAiC Drift Ice Expedition, and the Frederik Paulsen Arctic Academic Action Award given to Professor Hanne Hvidtfeldt Christiansen and Associate Professor Marius Jonassen of the University Centre of Svalbard for their PermaMeteoCommunity project.

      This is an episode of the Curiously Polar podcast

      with

      Chris Marquardt https://chrismarquardt.com/
      Henry Páll Wulff: https://henrypall.com/
      Mario Acquarone https://www.buymeacoffee.com/polarmario

      Listen to all podcast episodes at https://curiouslypolar.com

      All video episodes at https://tfttf.com/curiouslypolarvideo

      Find us here:

      Web: https://curiouslypolar.com
      Twitter: https://twitter.com/curiouslypolar
      Instagram: https://instagram.com/curiouslypolar

      33 min
    • 161 Ice Breaker

      Watch this on video | Buy us a coffee: Chris / Henry / Mario

      HENRY IS BACK FROM THE ICE BREAKER

      After finishing its first season in the Arctic, Henry just returned from the French-flagged ice breaker Le Commandant Charcot and talks about his experiences and adventures in East Greenland, at the North Pole and in the Northwest Passage.

      This is an episode of the Curiously Polar podcast

      with

      Chris Marquardt https://chrismarquardt.com/
      Henry Páll Wulff: https://henrypall.com/
      Mario Acquarone https://www.buymeacoffee.com/polarmario

      Listen to all podcast episodes at https://curiouslypolar.com

      All video episodes at https://tfttf.com/curiouslypolarvideo

      Find us here:

      Web: https://curiouslypolar.com
      Twitter: https://twitter.com/curiouslypolar
      Instagram: https://instagram.com/curiouslypolar

      39 min
    • 160 Polar-Space Connections

      Watch this on video | Buy us a coffee: Chris / Henry / Mario

      // Satellite broadband for the Arctic Traditional, geostationary satellites are not at all optimal for use in polar areas/high latitude. A few operators are now building satellite networks in Non-Geostationary Orbit (NGSO) that promise better covaerage for polar areas and lighter equipment. Incidentally, this will also profit internet coverage for intercontinental flights routed through the same areas. LEO Constellations and Astronomy:

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKrgg9NhG6Q" rel="noopener noreferrer">A discussion with astronomer Meredith Rawls
      // Antarctic agriculture Growing vegetables and other useful plants at stations in Antarctica is not a new trend. The Discovery expedition in 1904 was already pioneering onboard food production. A modern approach, mainly through hydroponics, is not only useful for the survival of polar personnel but also to show methods of vegetable production for space travel.
      // Penguing surveillance robot Not only emperor penguins live in one of the roughest and thoughest environment on earth, but they are also easily disturbed by human presence. If not kept in check this disturbance can have adverse effects on the species. The ECHO rover is a small robot that researchers at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) use for monitoring a colony of about 20,000 emperor penguins (Aptenodytes forsteri). This hybrid rover is partly autonomous and partly remote-controlled.

      This is an episode of the Curiously Polar podcast

      with

      Chris Marquardt https://chrismarquardt.com/
      Henry Páll Wulff: https://henrypall.com/
      Mario Acquarone https://www.buymeacoffee.com/polarmario

      Listen to all podcast episodes at https://curiouslypolar.com

      All video episodes at https://tfttf.com/curiouslypolarvideo

      Find us here:

      Web: https://curiouslypolar.com
      Twitter: https://twitter.com/curiouslypolar
      Instagram: https://instagram.com/curiouslypolar

      43 min
    • 159 A New Polar Bear Population

      Watch this on video | Buy us a coffee: Chris / Henry / Mario

      POLAR NEWSREEL:

      // A New Border The nearly 50-years-old infamous Whiskey War between Canada and Denmark/Greenland has come to an end with an agreement to divide Hans Island with the first land border between Canada and Denmark.
      // Proof of Life? Being a prime candidate for extraterrestrial life, [the most common surface feature on Jupiter’s moon Europa]([EarthSky | Do Europa’s odd ridges indicate life?]https://earthsky.org/space/odd-ridges-on-europa-greenland-habitability/) has been found its earthy analog in double ridges in Northwest Greenland, providing a possibility of liquid water in Europa’s icy shell. |
      // Earthquakes in Antarctica Orca Seamount, a long believed extinct underwater volcano in the Bransfield Strait, has been place of the largest seismic swarm ever recorded in the history of the region.

      A NEW POLAR BEAR POPULATION

      Until recently, polar bears were thought to primarily survive on ice-covered waters. Not only do they tend to breed and rest on sea ice, but they also prey on seals that use cracks and holes in the ice to breathe. A new study has now shown that a small population of a several hundred bear in southeast Greenland has evolved to survive in an area where the sea ice season tends to be shorter than four months. In the summer months, pieces of ice calve into the ocean from marine-terminating glacier, creating what scientists call a freshwater glacier mélange, a chunky slush that can pack tightly enough for polar bears to walk—and hunt—on. Being the “most genetically isolated polar bears on the planet” with a common ancestor, about 200 years ago when a small number of individuals separated from the larger group, the scientists suggest to accept the group as the 20th subpopulation of polar bears in the Arctic.

      But while it’s tempting to read the study as a new hope that polar bears can survive with less sea ice, it does not mean a salvation of polar bears as the animals are “living at the edge of the physiologically possible.” If anything, this study really is another piece of evidence of the fundamental relationship between polar bears and ice-covered water. However, the findings offer a small glimmer of hope nevertheless as the region’s conditions are said to be similar to the climatic conditions expected in the northern Arctic at the turn of the century if global warming can’t be stopped.

      This is an episode of the Curiously Polar podcast

      with

      Chris Marquardt https://chrismarquardt.com/
      Henry Páll Wulff: https://henrypall.com/
      Mario Acquarone https://www.buymeacoffee.com/polarmario

      Listen to all podcast episodes at https://curiouslypolar.com

      All video episodes at https://tfttf.com/curiouslypolarvideo

      Find us here:

      Web: https://curiouslypolar.com
      Twitter: https://twitter.com/curiouslypolar
      Instagram: https://instagram.com/curiouslypolar

      44 min

    About Curiously Polar

    From the publisher's feed

    The Arctic and the Antarctic are privileged locations for observers interested in understanding how our world is shaped by the forces of nature and the workings of history. These areas have inspired…