It affects transportation routes, navigation and access to ice became more sophisticated, with ship expeditions
resources such as fish and oil in polar waters and in seas and ice drifting stations (mostly Russian) in the Arctic
with seasonal and periodic ice cover. It is crucial to the live- and various expeditions to Antarctica. Modern polar re-
lihoods and cultures of coastal Arctic indigenous people. search is supported by ships or land-based stations with
advanced instrumentation, satellite observations and
People have been studying sea ice for millennia, from moorings as well as advanced modelling. During the
Arctic indigenous people who continue to study and International Polar Year (2007–2008) research activity
adapt to sea-ice conditions as part of their daily lives, is aimed at improving understanding of sea ice, its in-
through 16th century commercial whalers, to the early teraction with atmosphere and ocean, its role in marine
polar scientific researchers of the 19th century (Figure ecosystems, and the consequences of changes in sea ice
5.2). During the 20th century scientific research on sea brought about by global warming.
Figure 5.2: The “Fram” expedition to the Arctic
Basin from 1893-1896 was led by Fridtjof Nansen,
one of the first polar scientists to study sea ice.
Photo: Norwegian Polar Institute Archives
66 GLOBAL OUTLOOK FOR ICE AND SNOW