Viking Magazine - June 2022 - 47

AMBASSADOR INSIGHTS
Nansen's Legacy Lives On
BY ANNIKEN KRUTNES
hen you think about
the polar explorers
of days gone by, you might
picture brave thrillseekers.
But they were
much more than that.
Many of them were as
interested in studying the
frozen ends of the Earth
as in conquering them.
Explorer Fridtjof
Nansen's 1893-96 Arctic
expedition in the wooden
sailing ship Fram was
remarkable for the ability
of its captain and crew
to endure three years of
harsh conditions, which
included deliberately
allowing Fram to be
frozen into the ice, where it would drift
wherever the currents took it.
But the expedition was also
noteworthy for the data it uncovered.
While drifting, Nansen and crew
took measurements, and have been
credited with collecting the first
oceanographic data from the central
Arctic. Their data ended the open polar
sea theory, confirmed transpolar drift,
and determined that ice drift was not
parallel to the wind-confirming that
the Coriolis effect comes into play.
The polar explorers of today are our
scientists. Approximately 1,200 people
spend the winter on Antarctica each
year-roughly 400 scientists and the
rest support personnel. They continue
the tradition of scientific inquiry by
using cutting edge methods to gather
useful data from the Arctic and the
Antarctic.
One of the ways they do this is by
taking core samples of glacier ice,
which the Norwegian Polar Institute
@sonsofnorway
greenhouse gases in the
atmosphere.
Nansen's legacy lives on
through the aptly named
Nansen Legacy Project,
a collaboration among
10 major Norwegian
research institutions
to study the rapidly
changing marine climate
and ecosystem in the
Barents Sea and Arctic
Ocean.
Using the ice-going
research vessel Kronprins
Haakon, together with an
array of oceanographic
moorings, gliders and
satellite observations,
Nansen Legacy collects
calls " a treasure trove of information
about climate in ancient times. "
They use augurs to drill a core from
the ice, which then tells a compelling
story about changes to the planet's
atmosphere and climate over the
millennia. Glacier ice is made of up
the compacted snow from hundreds
of thousands of years of snowfall.
Layers of particulates from the air-
pollen, say, or volcanic ash-document
volcanic eruptions and other major
events. The air itself has been frozen in
bubbles in the ice, providing a snapshot
of the levels of greenhouse gases such
as carbon dioxide and methane in the
atmosphere as they've varied over time.
The ice can even tell us how the
Earth's atmospheric temperature
has changed. By understanding how
climate has changed in the past, we
are better equipped to understand
the global climate system and predict
how climate will change in the future
in response to increasing levels of
mounds of valuable data. In that way,
they carry on the proud tradition
begun by their namesake, and help us
better understand the dangerous effects
of the rapidly warming climate on the
fragile polar ecosystems-and on the
planet itself. ▼
ABOUT THE
AUTHOR
Anniken Krutnes
is Norway's
ambassador to the
United States. An
expert in security
policy, the law of the sea and Arctic issues,
she has previously served as Deputy
Director General of the Department of
Security Policy, as Norway's Ambassador
for Arctic and Antarctic Affairs, and
as ambassador to the Netherlands and
Luxembourg.
facebook.com/
NorwegianEmbassyinWashington/
@NorwayAmbUSA
June 2022
47
ILLUSTRATION COURTESY OF PICTORIAL PRESS LTD / ALAMY STOCK PHOTO, AMBASSADOR ILLUSTRATION BY RANDALL NELSON

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Viking Magazine - June 2022

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