Journal

This morning we began our journey home, and I’m writing this blog from a cozy restaurant in Longyearbyen.

This month has been incredible for me, and it will take a while to process everything we’ve done and experienced. One of the things we’re hoping to do is to put together a short video describing what we’ve noticed about the impact of climate change on the retreating glaciers of Svalbard. That will certainly keep me busy into the next school year trying to organize and process all of the videos I was able to collect. In the meantime, you can watch all of the short videos I put together on this YouTube playlist.

Homeward bound

Yesterday was another day of heavy fog. We hadn’t intended to do field work, because we had to pack up all of the scientific gear. I was hoping to do a hike after we finished with that, but, because of the risk of polar bears, hiking in the fog is a dangerous thing to do!

packing up
Packing up our gear. We need to make sure every item is put in the exact same box that it came in, for the purposes of customs.
Amundsen statue
A statue in the middle of Ny Ålesund of polar explorer, with an Arctic Tern perched atop his head!

This morning we awoke to bright sunshine, which meant that there wouldn’t be any delays with the flight to Longyearbyen.

Morning in Ny Ålesund
The bright sunny morning we awoke to after several days of fog. This is the view from my dorm window.
After breakfast we boarded the plane and flew directly over Kongsvegen and Kronebreen Glaciers. With the spectacular weather, this allowed me to get aerial shots of Ny Ålesund and the glaciers we had studied.

Ny Ålesund from the air
Ny Ålesund from the air
I went back to look at my photos from 2011, and I found aerial shots from almost the same angle for both years. From this perspective the retreat of the glaciers is really obvious. Note that the distance from the ice margin in 2011 is about 1.7km from the 2021 ice margin (about a mile)

Aerial shot of Kronebreen Glacier and Collethøgda 2011
Aerial shot of Kronebreen Glacier and Collethøgda, July 14, 2011 (photo courtesy of Ross Powell).
Aerial shot of Kronebreen Glacier and Collethøgda 2021
Aerial shot of Kronebreen Glacier and Collethøgda, July 29, 2021

The fast retreat of these glaciers has been the running theme of my experience in Svalbard, and of the blog. Our big challenge now is how to document that for a wider audience. My big hope is that through effective outreach we can influence people to help change our society to one that is fossil-fuel free in the near future.

Thank yous

As our work winds down, I want to take the opportunity to thank many people who have made this experience possible.

Most importantly, I was to thank Julie Brigham-Grette. She is an impressive scientist, and a truly wonderful human being. Her work as a scientist is driven by a desire to improve the world, which she does in such a humble and collaborative way. I am thankful that she offered to bring me back this year, and that she gave me the chance to be involved fully in the work. She even pushed me to learn a new skill - drone flying! And I have learned so much from Julie about geology, climate change, and about generally how science is done.

I also want to thank the other two members of our team, Kelly and Xander. They are wise and mature beyond their years, and I have learned a great deal from both of them as well.

A big thank you to all the people at Norse Polar and Kings Bay for all their help, support, and creature comforts at Ny Ålesund. We were able to conduct our research, sleep comfortably, and eat well because of all their efforts.

I want to thank Janet, Judy, and all the folks at PolarTREC for supporting me in 2011 and again this year, and for all the opportunities throughout the intervening years. You have exposed me to experiences that I never even knew existed!

A big thank you to National Geographic Explorers for funding the research, and to the Brookline Education Foundation, the National Education Association and the Heath School PTO for funding my participation.

Stay in touch!

We’ll be home on Saturday, where I will experience the dark sky for the first time in a month. Although I will be winding down my blog writing, I will continue to monitor the comments. So keep them coming and I will do my best to respond. Stay in touch through the bog, through Facebook, Twitter (@sciencegold), Instagram (@sciencegold), or my YouTube channel

By the way, if you weren’t able to attend Monday’s PolarConnect Zoom event, you can watch the archive here.

Fulmar flying over iceberg
A fulmar flying over an iceberg (from drone footage).
Research team photo
The research team posing after one of our long days of successful data collection last week.

Details
Author
Mark Goldner
Date
Location
Longyearbyen, Svalbard
Expedition
High Arctic Change 2021
Weather Summary
Sunny with light breeze
Temperature
8°C (47°F)
Wind Speed
3 m/s

View Comments

Comments

Wed, 09/08/2021 - 15:11

Rei Paquette-short.

Yo,what's up Mr. G?
Weird thing,My comment never went through. I think you're an interesting teacher and this trip seemed totally dope. Didn't have a device to follow along on the whole thing this summer,though. Well,anyways. My comment from whenever ago was asking like- when you were there did you see any minor or big changes with the glaciers and the ice or the weather? But like- only the time you were there. I want to know how different it was,or how different it seems.
- Ya boy,Rei.

Wed, 09/08/2021 - 15:26

Mark Goldner

Hi Rei, thanks for the complements. (I didn't realize you young'uns were still using the word "dope".) The main changes we saw were in the size and position of the glaciers. Two of the three glaciers we were studying had retreated (melted back) about a mile, and given that they are a couple of miles across and a few hundred feet deep, that's a lot of water added to the ocean in just 10 years. Weather-wise we didn't notice much change that could be attributed to climate change. If anything, it seemed that Svalbard was having a rather cool summer. There was actually more snow up in the mountains than I remembered before, and it was foggier and less sunny than I remembered. Again, this is probably just a fluke - other scientists who had been back to the research station in the intervening years described increasingly warmer summers - until this year.

Wed, 09/08/2021 - 17:12

Mariana Garcia

Dear Mr. Goldner,

Hello! I hope your trip to the arctic was an exciting and amazing experience for you! I still can't believe you got the opportunity to visit this spectacular place and I hope one day when I'm older, I could visit! I'm guessing that the changes between being in Massachusetts and suddenly going to the arctic was hard. How did you go through these changes?

Sincerely,
Mariana :))

Thu, 09/09/2021 - 10:47

Mark Goldner

Hi Mariana, I actually really enjoyed the changes, because I love cold climates! And this summer was so hot in Boston that it was a nice relief to be able to put on a jacket every day. I also love being in boats, so being able to go out in a boat every day was great. The only thing that's hard to get used to is the 24 hour daylight! It's funny to wake up in the middle of the night and have the sun shining brightly!

Wed, 09/08/2021 - 19:15

Elian

Hello, Mr. Goldner One of my wonders is, in the picture that you took on the picture of Aerial shot of Kronebreen Glacier and Collethøgda, July 14, 2011 (photo courtesy of Ross Powell). How much water was there compared to ice?

One of my thick questions is the mountain that is in the picture Aerial shot of Kronebreen Glacier and Collethøgda, July 14, 2011 (photo courtesy of Ross Powell). Is the mounting with ice, or just ice falling into the ocean affect climate change?

Thank you for listening Sincerely, Elian

Thu, 09/09/2021 - 11:29

Mark Goldner

Hi Elian, I'm not quite sure what you're asking about in your first question. But in the second question, I think you're referring to all the icebergs in the water. Icebergs are a normal process, but it's certainly likely that the rate at which icebergs are calving off the glacier will be increased as a result of global warming.

Thu, 09/09/2021 - 12:08

teo

how does the glacier have some wavy parts

Fri, 09/10/2021 - 09:41

Mark Goldner

Hi Teo, my answer to this question is really the same as my answer to your other comment:

glaciers are *solid ice* that is *flowing*! How does a *solid* object *flow*? Well, in order to do that it needs to break up into smaller chunks that essentially move separately from each other. That's why there are so many cracks in the glacier. Sometimes as the glacier gets closer to the ocean, it gets sort of stretched out - that why the cracks widen and turn into what we call *crevasses*. The ridges between the crevasses can get super unstable, and chunks will fall off in unpredictable ways. The result is the wavy structure you are referring to.

Fri, 09/10/2021 - 06:32

Cally

Hi Mr. Goldner,
From your journaling I can tell you did lot's of hard but fun hikes on your trip. I was wondering if you found any interesting things on your hikes and which hike out of all the ones you did was the most challenging? I also thought it was really cool how you decided to do a little experiment. I really liked how you compared two different things. I thought it was also really exciting to see how one sample was darker then the other according to where it was.
- Cally

Fri, 09/10/2021 - 09:44

Mark Goldner

Hi Cally, the most challenging - and rewarding hike - I took was up Collethøgda with Xander. It was challenging because we had to hike straight up a steep slope that was all loose rock (glacial debris) with small rivers running through it. Eventually we got to a flatter part where the hiking was less steep - but we had to watch out for glacial mud which can cause your feet to sink down beyond your knees! But it was incredibly rewarding because when we got to our final spot we got an amazing view of the three glaciers we were studying. We could see all three glaciers come together further up the mountain range. I brought my drone up with us too, and was able to get some spectacular footage of the glaciers from much farther up the glacier (most of the footage I took before that was from in front of the glacier).

Thu, 09/16/2021 - 07:16

Acacia

Hi Mr. Goldner!
After following your blog, I really noticed how big of an issue climate change is. From your images from the Kronebreen Glacier and Collethøgda, I noticed how much of a difference there is in between both the images from 2011 to 2020, and how much thinner the ice looks. I found your drone pictures very fascinating, and knowing how much time and effort it took to collect the information you and your team collected.

- Acacia

Thu, 09/16/2021 - 15:38

Eulalia De Oliveira

Dear Mr. Goldner,

I am so grateful that you were able to share this experience with us. It amazes me the things you got to see. I had a couple of questions. How long was your flight back home? In you opinion are the glaciers melting fast or slow? What was the most exciting thing that you found from your research? Do you think your research will ever bring you back? The aerial shots you got were compelling. I am so fascinated.

Thanks, Eulalia

Thu, 09/16/2021 - 16:15

Mark Goldner

Hi Lalia, thanks for your comment! The flight back home was broken into three flights. The first was a 45-minute flight from Ny Ålesund (the research station) to Longyearbyen, the small city on Svalbard. We stayed overnight and then flew all the way to Oslo, which was about a 3-hour flight. We stayed overnight in Oslo, and then flew home. We did stop in Amsterdam (a 1.5 hour flight from Oslo) and then had about a 6 hour flight home to Boston.

The glaciers are melting fast and, unfortunately, the rate of melting is increasing due to global warming. In ten years the Kronebreen and Kongsvegen Glaciers have receded about a mile... when you consider the thickness of the glacier (over 300 yards thick) and their width (about 3 miles across) that's a lot of ice melted - and all that water goes into the ocean contributing to sea level rise.

The most exciting thing for me was being able to fly the drone up close to the glaciers. When I was there ten years ago I was not able to get that close - with the drone I was able to see the structure of the glaciers in much more detail, and get different perspectives on their size and structure. Also with the drone I was able to see a lot of the features that the glaciers leave behind as they melt. This has a great connection to the Boston area - Boston was once under a very thick ice sheet, and there are many features here that the glaciers left behind. They are hard to see since this region is now covered with trees, buildings, roads, etc. But up in Svalbard the areas that have recently been de-glaciated show those features clearly! So that's fun to see.

I hope I get to go back - or maybe to a different location! I have no specific plans at the moment though.

Thu, 09/16/2021 - 16:15

Mark Goldner

Hi Lalia, thanks for your comment! The flight back home was broken into three flights. The first was a 45-minute flight from Ny Ålesund (the research station) to Longyearbyen, the small city on Svalbard. We stayed overnight and then flew all the way to Oslo, which was about a 3-hour flight. We stayed overnight in Oslo, and then flew home. We did stop in Amsterdam (a 1.5 hour flight from Oslo) and then had about a 6 hour flight home to Boston.

The glaciers are melting fast and, unfortunately, the rate of melting is increasing due to global warming. In ten years the Kronebreen and Kongsvegen Glaciers have receded about a mile... when you consider the thickness of the glacier (over 300 yards thick) and their width (about 3 miles across) that's a lot of ice melted - and all that water goes into the ocean contributing to sea level rise.

The most exciting thing for me was being able to fly the drone up close to the glaciers. When I was there ten years ago I was not able to get that close - with the drone I was able to see the structure of the glaciers in much more detail, and get different perspectives on their size and structure. Also with the drone I was able to see a lot of the features that the glaciers leave behind as they melt. This has a great connection to the Boston area - Boston was once under a very thick ice sheet, and there are many features here that the glaciers left behind. They are hard to see since this region is now covered with trees, buildings, roads, etc. But up in Svalbard the areas that have recently been de-glaciated show those features clearly! So that's fun to see.

I hope I get to go back - or maybe to a different location! I have no specific plans at the moment though.

Thu, 09/16/2021 - 18:38

Acacia

Hello Mr. Goldner!
I was wondering if there were any unsuccessful experiments during your trip, or did everything turn out alright? I wasn't sure if due to covid this trip might have been more difficult for you and your group, and was wondering if you all got all the info you were expecting to get. Another question I have, do you plan to come back to the arctic in a few years like you did in 2011-2021?
- Acacia

Fri, 09/17/2021 - 06:24

Acacia

Hello Mr. Goldner!
I'm submitting this question again because last night I posted one and couldn't find it when I looked for it.
I was wondering if all the experiments you and your team did were successful and you got the information you expected to get, or not. Was there anything you all weren't able to do? I wasn't sure if due to covid the trip your trip was harder than usual. Another question I have is are you planning on going back to that arctic like you did in 2011 - 2022?

- Acacia

Fri, 09/17/2021 - 06:24

Acacia

Whoops, I meant 2021!