The Brazilian expedition to Antarctica is looking into environmental damage

The largest Brazilian expedition to Antarctica, consisting of 12 Brazilian researchers, will spend 40 days inside the icy continent with the aim of studying more than 200 years of environmental data. The information is from the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MCTI).

The expedition started on the 7th of this month. The latest report, received on the 20th from the expedition leader, Professor Jefferson Simoes, of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), tells us: “Excellent sunny days, with an average temperature of about minus 17 degrees. Early mornings drop to Minus 22. Steady winds with a speed of about 20 to 25 kilometers per hour, which leads to a thermal sensation of minus 25 degrees.

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The Brazilian researchers are divided into three groups and are staying in different locations: on the Pine Island glacier, in the Crosvera 1 unit, and at the place where the Croosvera 2 unit will be installed, with a distance of approximately 700 kilometers between them. The camp is located in Criosfera Unit 1, 2,500 km south of Comandante Ferraz Antarctic Station. The researchers will maintain this laboratory in Latin America, located in the very south of the planet.

Simões is at Ilha Pine and watches the deep ice collection work. With the sun, business ahead of schedule, on the lookout E-mail🇧🇷 “We are already 90 meters deep in our well, which guarantees over 200 years of environmental data.” Analysis of glaciers enables an understanding of Earth’s climatic history.

Cryosphere 2

One of the mission’s goals is to install the Criosfera 2 module, a 100% automated laboratory that will expand environmental data collection, including meteorological information and atmospheric chemistry. The unit is designed using Brazilian technology to collect data on climate and the concentration of carbon dioxide, or carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas, throughout the year.

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Criosfera 2 will be installed by the team of Professor Francisco Aquino. All team members are already in Antarctica. The unit was flown from Punta Arenas, in the far south of Chile, ten days ago, on an Ilyushin Il-76TD cargo plane, a model capable of landing on ice in the interior of Antarctica.

In the next few days, the polar tractor will cross about 180 kilometers between the ice landing runway, which is located in Union Glacier, Ellsworth Mountains, to the module installation site. The four researchers — three from UFRGS and one from Chile — will fly the plane with skis to the place called Skytrain ice height, at the location 79.5 degrees south, 78 degrees west.

Professors from UFRGS, the Federal University of Pará and the State University of Rio de Janeiro participated in the expedition. The activities are part of the Brazilian Antarctic Program and Operator 41, coordinated by the Interministerial Secretariat for Marine Resources.

investments

The cost of the logistics operation, which includes transportation and installation of the Criosfera 2 module in Antarctica and maintenance of the Criosfera 1 module, is R$3.5 million. This amount is financed by MCTI and by the Funder of Studies and Projects (Finep), with resources from the National Fund for Scientific and Technological Development and the Research Support Foundation of the State of Rio Grande do Sul.