US to retire its only icebreaker, stranding polar research

Summary

On Sept. 10, the U.S. National Science Foundation announced that the agency is terminating the lease for Nathaniel B. Palmer Icebreaker, the sole U.S. icebreaker dedicated to Antarctic research. This move, which came as a result of budget cuts under the current administration, worries polar researchers, including Naomi Ochwat, a postdoctoral researcher in CIRES’ Earth Science and Observation Center. Ochwat is a glaciologist who studies the changes on the edges of Antarctic glaciers and how they relate to climate change. Decades of data collection conducted from the decks of the Palmer has been integral to her work. “There was a cruise back in 2006, where the Palmer went to an area that I study on the Antarctic Peninsula,” Ochwat said. “It was one of the few times the sea ice was actually low enough that they could reach the front of the glaciers that I study. Now 17 years later, I've used that data, and it's been very important for the research I've done.”As the National Science Foundation plans to decommission the Palmer after it returns from its last expedition this October, Ochwat shares her take on what’s at stake. Why is the Palmer icebreaker important for United States’ Antarctica research?We are currently a global leader in Antarctic research and Antarctic exploration, where the Palmer is an integral aspect of the U.S. Antarctic Program.Earth’s climate is rapidly changing, and in order to understand the extent of those changes, we need to know what's happening in Antarctica, especially along the glacier edges, where we have a lot of drastic changes happening right now. Antarctica is really far away, and we rely heavily on research vessels to get there. The Ross Ice Shelf at the Bay of Whales, Antarctica, and the Palmer in the background. (Credit: Michael Van Woert/ NOAA)Are there other reasons beyond research?Antarctica is a very special place because nobody owns the continent, and so you don't have any official territories or any kind of land ownership. As l...