MOSAiC Expedition: A Year Frozen in the Arctic Ice
MOSAiC was the first year-round expedition into the central Arctic to study its climate system (MOSAiC).
Image: NASA/Kathryn Hansen (GSFC_20171208_Archive_e001722, ICESCAPE mission, Chukchi Sea, 2011, public domain; not the MOSAiC ship).
Last reviewed: 2 sources cited
A ship let itself freeze into the sea ice for a whole year to study the Arctic.
From September 2019 to October 2020, the icebreaker Polarstern drifted with the sea ice across the central Arctic (MOSAiC).
Explain Like I'm 10
- Scientists let their ship get stuck in the Arctic ice on purpose.
- It drifted with the ice for a full year, even in the dark winter.
- They measured the air, ice and ocean to understand climate change.
The Five W's of MOSAiC
Who
An international consortium led by the Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI); hundreds of researchers from 20 countries.
Source: MOSAiC Expedition, home page
What
A drifting observatory on the research icebreaker Polarstern.
Why
To take the closest look ever at the Arctic as the epicentre of global warming.
Source: MOSAiC Expedition, home page
How You Can Help
- Explore the expedition: videos and stories from a year in the ice, good for classrooms
No Donate button here: MOSAiC was a completed research expedition and does not take donations. The ways to take part above are real options listed on the organization's own site.
Saving Planets features the MOSAiC expedition because its work helps the planet. This is a showcase, not a partnership: we are not partners with the MOSAiC expedition and receive nothing from it.
Connected Solutions
- ICESat-2 Measuring polar ice from space.
Impact Statement
Research solution · expedition 2019-2020
Its data will be used by scientists around the globe to take climate research to a new level (MOSAiC).
Source: MOSAiC Expedition, home page
For Further Information: MOSAiC Expedition, home page
MOSAiC had a total budget exceeding €140 million (MOSAiC).
How This Saves People & the Planet
For People
Its goal was insights key to better understanding global climate change, which affects everyone (MOSAiC).
Source: MOSAiC Expedition, home page
For Nature
It brought a research icebreaker close to the North Pole for the first time in polar winter (MOSAiC).
Source: MOSAiC Expedition, home page
Learn More About MOSAiC
Want to go deeper? Explore the expedition and its science.
For Further InformationRelated Solutions
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Help This Work
Links go straight to the organization. Saving Planets doesn't receive any of the money.