Narwhals Are Helping NASA Understand Melting Ice and Rising Seas
Never send a satellite to do a whale's job.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-08-24/narwhals-are-helping-nasa-understand-melting-ice-and-rising-seas?utm_campaign=news&utm_medium=bd&utm_source=applenews
“Narwhals are oceanographers,” said Kristin Laidre, a University of Washington marine biologist.
The five-year, $10 million OMG study is designed to measure the seasonal ebb and flow of the glaciers using a combination of the whales, satellites, temperature and salinity probes, as well as airborne and ship-based observations of the sea floor. Ultimately, the study aims to determine how quickly Greenland’s ice will disappear.
“Will it take 1,000 years, a few hundred, or will we lose most of it in 50 years,” asked Willis. “That’s the part we don’t understand.”
The depth of glaciers has historically been difficult—and costly—to study accurately. “Arctic work is logistically complicated and expensive,” said Laidre. A single project requires hundreds of thousands of dollars for chartered planes, ships, equipment, power, and people.
Willis fears that future, more accurate projections of Greenland mass loss “are probably going to have to be revised upward.” If they are, we’ll have narwhals to thank for the data.
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AINT NO HOOFS ON THAT BITCH
