In Search of a Frozen Ocean
Recent Harvard PhD graduate Christopher Horvat subject of joint film, research expedition to high Arctic
Recent Harvard PhD graduate Christopher Horvat has spent the past 6 years modeling how sea ice floes affect Earth's climate and ecology, but never has he had an opportunity like this. Teaming up with veteran Canadian explorer and film director Stephen Smith, Horvat will lead the scientific portion of an epic journey down Nares Strait, the narrow waterway that separates Greenland from northernmost Canada. Part film project, part scientific expedition, they will draw attention to the harsh realities of the disappearing Arctic sea ice cover and the scientists who live, work, and study there.
"This will not be your usual climate change film," says Smith, one of just two explorers in recorded history to successfully navigate Kennedy Channel, the northernmost portion of Nares Strait and where the expedition team will begin their journey. "It will be a fun, almost Shackletonian affair. Hopefully, we'll have an easier time of it." Joined on their journey by father and son team Mike and Bryce Dillon and Smith's wife, organic farmer Diana Kushner, these five will be the most isolated group of humans on the planet during their 6-week expedition.
The comparison to historic expeditions is appropriate: Kennedy Channel is hundreds of miles from the nearest occupied settlement, and thousands from the nearest hospital or commercial airport. The expedition members will carry all of their provisions in their three double kayaks. Camping on shore or on the floating ice, bordered by towering mountains and glaciers, they will live among polar bears, seals, walruses, and even narwhal.
The area they will be traversing is known as "The Last Ice Area" as it will be the last with sea ice in future climate. It plays an important role as a gateway for thick, multiyear ice to leave the Arctic Ocean. "Most people, even most polar scientists, have a hard time conceiving of the vastness of the Arctic, and are disconnected from the changes happening there," says Horvat. His research, recently published in the journal Science Advances, show the thinning of Arctic ice has led an abundant photosynthetic ecosystem under the sea ice. "We have to make this Arctic environment tangible to the public by being immersed in it." Smith has come to much the same conclusions after forty years working in the Arctic. The Arctic is as otherworldly and unknown as Mars.
Smith met Horvat at a conference of Arctic scientists last Fall. "Chris's presentation stood out. In a room full of mathematicians and physicists, Chris made it clear that not only was he interested in the mathematics behind modeling, but was fascinated by the ice itself." Horvat's work focuses on how the individual pieces of ice, known as floes, that make up the sea ice mosaic determine how the sea ice cover evolves and affects climate. Horvat plans to use his time in the Arctic to document how those big floes break up.
The team will be blogging about their journey daily. For more information visit www.enduringice.com.