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Marine biologists from the Norwegian Polar Institute are searching for newly-born bearded seal pups. Sailing through the inhospitable waters of Svalbard (Spitsbergen) Archipelago, about midway between Norway and the North Pole, they are measuring and weighing 2-3 day old seal pups. The researchers also take blood and whisker samples to help determine what they eat. They are interested in the feeding habits and birth rates of the seals in this fast changing environment. The surface layer of broken ice under which the bearded seals live, reproduce and feed is becoming rapidly scarce. Last year the seals attempted to give birth in holes and caves along the coast due to a lack of sea ice. The changes in the arctic environment are occurring at a faster rate than many species can keep up with. Assuming the predictions for climate change are correct, future years will be an extreme challenge for the breeding seals. This will in turn affect other dependent species, for example, polar bears and native peoples.

French marine biologists are investigating the very base of the arctic food chain. As the waters become warmer more Atlantic plankton species are migrating north. However the Atlantic species are smaller and contain fewer lipids than the arctic species. Since lipids are required by animals to make fat reserves, an imbalance of plankton species could upset the entire artic food chain. Chemical analysis is being used to measure lipid levels. It is a necessary step to achieve an overview of the dietary effects on arctic fish.

Another IPY project is the EU-funded DAMOCLES (Developing Arctic Modelling and Observing Capabilities for Long-term Environmental Studies) involving 45 institutions from 12 European countries with a €16 million budget. As a part of this project, meteorological balloons are released daily to measure temperature, pressure, humidity and gas traces at various altitudes in the upper atmosphere. It can be seen that over the last 30 years the average global temperatures have risen between 0.9° and 1.2° Celsius, whereas the average arctic temperature has risen between 3° and 5° Celsius. Any climate change is intensified in the Arctic. The clean white snow reflects more light, which heats up the air; and the sea ice hinders the light absorption by the oceans.

The Spitsbergen Archipelago has 1000 glaciers, some 600 square kilometres large, and all of them are in poor health. Their levels can be closely monitored by extracting ice cores. One can see how much ice builds up during the winter and how much melts in the summer. Some glaciers retreat 100 metres per year, releasing warmer water into the Arctic Ocean. In the last ten years the retreating of the glaciers has rapidly increased, having a major effect on sea levels. The current increase in sea levels is measured by satellites to be about 3mm per year.

Regardless of the distance and isolation of the arctic region, the entire globe will feel the impact of the changes taking place there. With the scientific monitoring and investigation provided by the IPY projects we can attain a fuller understanding of this fragile ecosystem and its effect on the planet.