The National Academy of Marine Research (NAMR) and National Sun Yat-sen University’s Department of Oceanography participated in artic research this summer after obtaining approval from the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research following a year of work, an academy official said yesterday.
In August, the NAMR represented Taiwan on the German institute’s RV Polarstern research icebreaker when the ship traveled to the Arctic Ocean and North Pole on a two-month science expedition, academy president Chen Chien-hung (陳建宏) said yesterday.
On June 25, 2022, the NAMR, the National Central University and Poland’s Nicolaus Copernicus University collaborated in the establishment of an arctic research station, Chen said.
Photo courtesy of the National Academy of Marine Research
The station in the Svalbard islands highlights Taiwan’s growing international recognition in polar ocean science and the country’s marine research, he said.
Through scientific collaboration, Taiwan has demonstrated its concern for global issues and monitoring changes in polar ecosystems, paving the way for future cooperation with experts in Arctic Ocean research, National Sun Yat-Sen oceanography professor Fang Ying-chih (方盈智) said.
NAMR researcher Fu Ko-hsien (傅科憲), who represented Taiwan on the polar expedition, said that the team of 53 researchers from 12 countries traveled more than 12,000km through the arctic.
They conducted ice surveys, collected samples, recorded changes in temperature and more during the expedition, in the hopes of understanding the effects of climate change on the arctic, Fu said.
Ice coverage continues to shrink, with satellite images from September showing that arctic sea ice covered 4.39 million square kilometers, the ninth-lowest in the past 45 years, demonstrating a continuing negative trend, he added.
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