What are the global impacts of an ice-free Arctic? How will the Arctic develop with increasing climate warming? What does an ice-free Arctic mean for our environment and our society? These are the key questions that the “i2B - Into The Blue” project addresses.
Researchers from the UiT (The Arctic University of Norway), the AWI (Alfred Wegener Institute - Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research), NORCE Climate and Environment in Bergen (Norway) and the UiB (University of Bergen, Norway) are combining geological records and numerical models to investigate these questions. As part of European Research Council Synergy Grant, an i2b-expedition with the Norwegian research vessel Kronprins Haakon is now starting in the Arctic Ocean. From 16 August to 19 September 2025, 25 scientists will collect new geological archives that will shed light on Arctic climate during past ‘warmer-than-present-day’ conditions (interglacial periods). These archives are crucial to understand the impact of a “blue” (free of seasonal sea-ice) Arctic Ocean during key interglacial periods, ca. 130,000 and 400,000 years ago.
The impact of global warming on the Arctic has long preoccupied researchers, because the concrete impacts on the region and our entire planet have so far been unclear. Summer ice melt starts earlier and lasts longer each year, with future projections showing sea-ice-free summers before 2050. These trends raise broader climate challenges in the Arctic such as marine heatwaves, Atlantification of the Arctic Ocean, ecosystem shifts, altered weather patterns, ice-albedo feedbacks, methane release, and this on top of new geopolitical dynamics in an ice-free Arctic.
The scientists now collect high-resolution sediment cores at multiple sites to reconstruct temperature, sea ice conditions, oceanography and the ecosystem during warm past interglacial periods, ca. 130,000 and 400,000 years ago. They compare these data with modern observations to test how the Arctic transitioned to a “blue ocean” state in warmer climates and examine whether the past serves as a window into our future.
You can follow the i2B Arctic Ocean expedition here: https://arcg.is/0favaf0