The largest scientific mission to be carried out in the Arctic has returned to Bremerhaven in northwestern Germany, after a year of research on climate change.

The German Alfred-Wegener Institute announced the return of the icebreaker "Polarstern", which docked in the port with a fleet of ships and a crowd gathered from early morning on the docks.

The mission collected ample data during the months the ship spent in the frigid waters of the Arctic, which promises to reveal valuable information related to climate change.

Hundreds of experts and scientists from 20 countries participated in this mission, which was dubbed "mosaic" who resided on board the ship that traveled with the ocean current extending from east to west in the Arctic Ocean, according to what AFP reported.

And mission chief Marcus Rex said that over the summer, scientists got to see for themselves the extent of the retreat of the Arctic ice mass, which experts consider "the epicenter of global warming."

Since the launch of the mission from Tromsø, Norway, on September 20, 2019, scientists have faced long months of complete darkness and temperatures below minus 39.5 degrees Celsius, and they have received visits from about 20 polar bears.

The team of scientists also had to stay for an additional two months in the Arctic, due to the Corona virus.

During the course of 389 days, this mission embarked on studying the atmosphere, ocean, glaciers and ecosystems to collect data that would assess the implications of climate change on the region and the world at large.

It is expected that the full analysis of these valuable data will take a year or two.

The goal is to develop models for climate foresight in order to determine what heat waves, heavy rains and storms will look like in 20, 50 or 100 years.

Source: Agencies

By:Nadeemy Haded