By Brian Dunn
The University of Manitoba is building the largest sea-ice research institute in the world in Churchill to detect the effects of oil spills in Arctic waters. The facility, called the Churchill Marine Observatory (CMO) & Network on Oil Spills in Ice-Covered Arctic Waters, is being headed by Feiyue Wang, Canada Research Chair in Arctic Environment Chemistry, University of Manitoba.
“We have been extremely lucky there has not been a major oil spill in the Arctic,” he said at the 12th Arctic Shipping Summit held in Montreal Feb. 21-22. “If one species is affected, it could impact the entire eco system.”
There has been a 90 per cent decline in older (over four years) ice between 1982-2017, while the mean thickness is down 65 per cent from 3.6 metres to 1.2 metre, during the same period, he added. And much remains unknown about oil-ice interaction, and the main reason why CMO is being built at a cost of $44 million is to observe a controlled oil spill in a pool of ice water. The facility is expected to be operational next December and will involve 170 partners from 16 countries. The observatory is also designed to generate scientific knowledge, develop effective technologies, and support decision-making for an evidence-based policy to reduce the risk of and response to oil spills in ice-covered Arctic waters, said Mr. Wang.
Improved access to the Arctic Ocean facilitates potential oil and gas development, since 13 per cent of the world’s undiscovered oil reserves are located in the Arctic, according to the United States Geological Survey, and increased exploration activities enhance the risk of oil spills in the area. “There are very few people that have knowledge of sea-ice dynamics and oil-spill technology. We are developing a comprehensive response model as well as highly-qualified personnel who will be next generation specific.”
Major components of CMO consist of an Oil-in-Sea-Ice Mesocosm (an outdoor experimental system that examines the natural environment under controlled conditions) with movable roofs, an environmental observatory along the main shipping corridor in Hudson Bay, a coastal vessel for field studies across Hudson Bay and a petroleum environmental research lab at the University of Manitoba.
CMO partners include eleven Canadian universities, eight federal departments and agencies, two indigenous communities, three industries (including shipper Groupe Desgagnés) and 17 international collaborators.
The Year of Polar Prediction (YOPP), which kicked off last May, is a ten-year initiative by the World Meteorological Organization to improve polar weather and sea ice forecasts. It involves 21 countries at both the North and South Poles. “Why is it important? It’s in our backyard and 113,000 people call it home. And 40 per cent of our land mass is in the Arctic,” noted Paul Pestieau, Environment and Climate Change Canada Coordinator, YOPP, Government of Canada. “It also builds on Canada’s leadership and investments and the anticipated increase in commercial ship transits.”
Some of the challenges for YOPP are that few Arctic forecasts are automated, forecasting is outpacing service delivery (the Coast Guard rarely gets all the available info) and the vetting of automated outputs is slow due to poor observations, said Mr. Pestieau. “We expect ice forecasts will be available over the internet like weather forecasts within the next five years. There is full daily coverage of Arctic ice on Radarsat, but it’s too much information for most mariners.”
All ice charts and iceberg charts are currently available on the Canadian Ice Service website. It won’t necessarily show the exact location of every iceberg, but will show the number of icebergs. Weather satellites will improve the info, said. Mr. Pestieau.
There is a need for improved sea ice data collection and recent agreements such as the Polar Code (which incorporates the International Code for Ships Operating in Polar Waters) should improve cooperation, added Anita Parlow, Founder, A.L. Parlow & Associates, Washington, D.C.
“One year, a region could be ice 