Fifty years ago the world was glued to old TV sets, some of them black and white, gosh, to watch a series of moon landings carried out by NASA. In those days there was much competition between the USA and the Soviet Union over who had the best political system. In this third decade of the 21st century there are many science projects that are still competitive but some that show how humanity should work together if we are to obtain a sustainable future. One such project is MOSAiC, a project that is currently running and has been since September 2019 and that will continue for over a year.
As a brief background we, humanity, got lucky and grew up in an interglacial period but for most individuals everything in their lives is just weather variation due to our very short loves. Unfortunately given our burning of fossil fuels and our sheer numbers we have altered the world in many different ways. While we may have delayed or even put a stop to the next ice age occurring we certainly don’t fully understand what we have done and there are many aspects of the Earth that we need to research to complete the picture. One such aspect is what is happening to Arctic ice. The amount and extent of Arctic ice effects numerous processes from the amount of radiation reflected back away from the surface of the Earth to the bringing of nutrients from northern rivers to food chains at much lower latitudes.
So take a few minutes to read up about this truly epic scientific project that encompasses all that is good about research and human collaboration.
MOSAiC
Like this:
Like Loading...
Paul Noël 