UK submarines help climate change research

The Ministry of Defense’s Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) is working with the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and the UK Hydrographic Office to prepare data for the benefit of environmental researchers.

Environmental data such as water temperature and salt content is routinely monitored by all UK Navy vessels, including submarines. The data set from a UK submarine mission can provide a snapshot of conditions under the ice and shed light on the changes taking place in the Arctic.

This could tell scientists a lot about how the Arctic is likely to change as it becomes more seasonally ice-free. Last year, Arctic sea ice shrank to its second-lowest level since satellite records began.

Scientists have previously made trips under the Arctic aboard nuclear submarines in order to measure ice thickness. But these were dedicated scientific missions; environmental data collected as part of standard Navy operations have rarely been released, the Ministry of Defense’s web site reads.

USA is also using its submarines to study the Arctic ice. As BarentsObserver reported, the U.S. Navy and civilian scientists have established a program called SCICEX - short for Science Ice Exercise, which enables scientists to use Navy submarines to collect data from Arctic regions that are normally beyond scientists’ reach.