An Expedition to the Arctic in Preparation for Climate Change

The Advancing Knowledge of Methane in the Arctic (AKMA) project is a collaborative research project between UiT - The Arctic University of Norway and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute in the US. The project focuses on methane activity in Arctic regions, and gathers scientists and students from around the world, including the Earth Observatory of Singapore (EOS).

From 29th April to 10th May, the Norwegian state-of-the-art Research Vessel Kronprins Haakon will sail from Tromsø out on the Barents Sea with a scientific team of over 30 people and additional ship crew. Two young Singaporean scientists from EOS, Ms Yan Yu Ting and Ms Toh Yun Fann, have been chosen to join the excursion.

The IPCC states that human activities will cause global temperature to increase at least 1.5 degrees in total within the next three decades.

Chief scientist Professor Giuliana Panieri and co-chief scientist Professor Stefan Bünz from Department of Geosciences at the Arctic University of Norway UiT will be leading the excursion.

"The expedition will focus on the interplay between changing ocean conditions and the physical, biological, and chemical response of extreme environments such as methane and oil seeps on several sites in the Barents Sea", explains Professor Panieri to The Norwegian Embassy in Singapore.

"The science plan comprises collecting data and physical samples on greenhouse gas that naturally emits from the seafloor using the Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) Aurora from REV Ocean ROV and performing sea surface surveys using drones", Panieri adds.

The professors says that understanding methane from natural sources is essential for assessing the global methane budget and finding realistic pathways to mitigate climate change.

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