During the traditional summer voyage of the nuclear icebreaker "50 Years of Victory" to the North Pole specialists of the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute (AANII) conducted observations of the distribution of ice cover along the navigation route.
Recent studies show that, compared with observations of the 1990s, the average thickness of the ice cover in the polar region of the Arctic has decreased by half, the press service of the Institute reports.
The data obtained will allow to determine whether the trend towards a reduction in the average thickness of the ice cover observed by the specialists of AANII over the past 30 years continues.
"This year can be described as not the easiest. The average thicknesses were distributed mainly in the range from 80 to 140 cm. The maximum observed ice thickness exceeded 2 meters. The ice ridging during the vessel's route was mainly 1-2 points, but in some sections of the route it could reach 3-4 points. Inclusions of two-year-old ice were observed all the way north of the Franz Josef Land archipelago and in its straits," said Yulia Sokolova, a specialist at the Institute.
Alex Shishlo for Rough&Polished
