Arctic Climate Change Is Food For Thought
Studying the Arctic is like taking the pulse of our planet. But to check for irregularities, where you do place your fingers? Scientists are looking within the ocean to see how changes in temperature are affecting something we all depend on: the food chain.
"Even the tiniest of microorganisms is part of a larger food web," geneticist John Nelson tells CBS News science and technology correspondent Daniel Sieberg.
To better examine how the ocean's organisms are connected, scientists deploy a device called the rosette.
Considered the heart of the operation and worth nearly $750,000, it's the most important piece of equipment onboard — collecting water from depths close to 10,000 feet to provide a snapshot of the Arctic Ocean from surface to seabed.
"The biology of the system is intricately intertwined, and to look at just one piece of that is really walking around with blinders on," says Nelson. "You're just looking at one thing at a time. But really, to understand the whole thing, you have to look at it all."
A melting iceberg may be an obvious barometer of our warming planet, but scientists are also interested in how the fresh water is mixing with the ocean and altering the delicate marine ecosystems beneath.
Salt water ecosystems are more fragile than their fresh water counterparts, so when fresh water from an iceberg mixes with the ocean's salt water, it means the organisms living there may not survive. This starts with phytoplankton, a basic food source for marine wildlife. What happens to these micro-organisms is also important, because they absorb some of the carbon dioxide humans release and convert it to something crucial.
"Half of the oxygen you're breathing now is coming from these guys," explains marine biologist Diana Varela.
Sea animals like starfish depend on phytoplankton for food. Some ocean life is scooped up from the bottom to see how warmer temperatures here could affect where they're able to live.Follow Daniel Sieberg's Journey: Blog, Photos, and Video
"So even at the level these creatures live in the seabed, they could be affected by climate change from the surface?" asks Sieberg.
"Absolutely — because they're dependent on food from the surface," says Ed Hendricks of the Canadian Nature Museum.
At the top of the Arctic food chain are polar bears, like a mother and cub that have just eaten a seal. Polar bears hunt on the ice, and as the ice is reduced, their chance to find food diminishes. Less ice also means the bears spend more time in the water — sometimes for so long, they drown.
Thanks to expeditions like this one, our climate change picture is slowly coming into focus. The question is: Can we adapt to what they discover?