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Fresh Water in the Arctic

October 2, 2018

The Canadian icebreaker Louis S. St-Laurent negotiates thick ice floes near Beaufort Gyre, a major Artic Ocean circulation system north of Alaska. Global warming may be disrupting the natural rhythms of the gyre, which has been accumulating vast amounts of fresh water during the past decade. If it leaks out into the North Atlantic, climate patterns in North America, Europe, and beyond could be affected. As part of the Beaufort Gyre Exploration Program, WHOI scientists aboard the St-Laurent, in collaboration with researchers from Fisheries and Oceans Canada, are using a variety of instruments to measure changes in the amount of fresh water swirling under the icepack from year to year. (Photo courtesy of Hugo R. Sindelar)