Générique
OFF Florian Tolle et séquence: « I
am a trained geographer and I’m a glacier specialist, here in Svalbard, on the
island of Spitzberg, which is the biggest isle of the
archipelago.
The polar glacier we have been studying
is followed by french searchers since the 1960s, not
necessarily all the time but it does give us a strong authority, as there is
more than 50 years of data today, which is quite a unique thing”
-We’re really in the last bends of the Bédière. The ridges are nice here!
-Here, we’re at the end of the glacier
and next year, it won’t be there anymore, as it will have melted. We’re in a
spot that looses 2,50m to 3 metres each time.
Today, the Artic is nearly the guard of
climate change, it’s the place where the current changes are of the biggest
scope.”
Commentaire :
Spitzberg is a very singular and beautiful
island. Lost in the Artic waters, 600 kilometres from
the first costal line, half-way between Greenland and Norway, its related
country.
Only four
human communities are settled here. Ny-Alesund is one
of them. This unique village, with a restricted access, is an advanced base for
the worldwide scientist.
Chinese,
Korean, Indians, Italians, Norwegians, around fifteen nationalities, share their
means and their knowledge to study the impact of global warming on this fragile
territory, which already attracts commercial hunger…
…
That
morning, under Amundsen’s stance, one of the polar exploration pioneers, who
disappeared here in 1928, a group of German scientists seize their spring
quarters.
IN Piotr qui discute
avec une nouvelle arrivante : « I’m going to take your luggage and we’ll
take them to the blue house »
This
meteorologist and her three atmosphere specialists will spend several weeks on
this piece of land, away from the rest of the world. They are part of Awipev, the Franco-German polar institute.
Both
countries benefit from a common research base. Their researchers cohabit in
this blue house. Each new mission starts with a briefing.
In Piotr qui briefe
les nouveaux scientifiques :« Welcome to everybody, my name is Piotr. I
work with Rudy, as the station manager. I’ve been here since April last year.
Piotr Kupieszewski is 32. This Franco-Polish researcher and his
team watch over the scientists and make sure their work conditions are optimal.
ITV Piotr : « There is a lot of logistics to
provide for the scientists. We are a building, a workshop for our logistician.
There is quite a lot of engine fixing. And we also have containers from the
continent with equipment for the scientists, for the logistics, to maintain the
equipment. And also, mountain equipment.”
Making
sure of the residents security is one of Piotr priority.
In Piotr qui briefe
les nouveaux scientifiques : « We have a radio duty, you can always find
us on the radio, on the channel P1. I will show you where to find our
talkie-walkie and I will show you how to make them work. And also weapons, you
must have a weapon license. You must pass a shooting module to carry a gun.
Because you’re not allowed to leave the village without a weapon. »
In Vegard Sand qui briefe les participants au cours
de tir : « This video is from 2012. As you can see, there is a polar bear in the
middle of the village. He comes and smells around the side of the blue house.
It’s around 4 in the morning.
It’s a Chinese
scientist from the Yellow river base who took these images. Generally, polar
bears are only curious when they come close to us. But they are unpredictable
and can change mood very quickly.
They introduce
themselves in the cabins and eat whatever they can, including cans of food.
Because they have learned that there is food in cans.
A polar bear can
run very fast on a short distance. Usain Bolt runs 44km per hour I think… but
you and I, with our mountain equipment, we aren’t as fast, so keep your
distance.”
In Vegard Sand : « Fire! »
Like for
the German team, the new comers must follow the shooting module. First with an
alarm weapon and then real bullets.
In Vegard Sand : « You feel confortable? »
The human
response to a possible polar bear attack, protected specie,
is very supervised. Shooting is only allowed in last resort.
In Vegard Sand : « When you’re ready, 4 shots to the target… Shoot !!! »
In Vegard Sand : « It’s a good grouped fire ! You got it right 3 times, it’s quite
good. You’ll be able to protect yourself if there’s a bear.”
Florian
Tolle, from Franche-Comté, is used to the obligations of these inhospitable
places. Passionate of mountaineering since his childhood, being an expert of
glaciers was very early on an evidence for him.
With
Jean-Michel Friedt, an engineer teacher-researcher,
he comes here twice a year since fifteen years.
The best
part of his work takes place of the slopes of the glacier where they measure
the consequences of human impact on the polar environment.
In Florian Tolle: « Here, we’re right on the top of the
glacier, so in winter it’s full of snow, it’s theoretically the zone where new
snow appears. It’s the breeding-tank for the summer period, to protect the
glacier and feed it.
We must reach the old ice, which is beneath
the snow coat to drill a beacon again, which we’ll use to measure more or less
the state of health of the glacier. We will drill it will steam. We do call it
a pressure cooker, we’re going to put the water under pressure
for the steam. We’re going to start gently.
- Awesome, no?
- We’re alright, no?
We are going to drill 6 meters deep, and we’ll
be ready to measure for years to come. Knowing that here, for the past 10
years, we’ve lost 50 centimetres to 1 meter of ice per year. We insert the
beacon in the whole, it’s as simple as that. Praying for it not to block on the
way, it’s easier.
There, it’s drilled for 7 or 8 years we hope,
it depends on what will happen.
-Touch down, perfect. We’re good!
That will be one of our points of measure,
there are 30 of them like that all over the glacier. They will allow us, on the
one side to have a full check-up of the glacier and on the other side, to map
it out, see how it goes.
-Okay, work properly, see you next year... »
For each
mission, Florian and Jean-Michel live in Corbel, a French base created in 1956,
cut from the rest of the researchers community. A perfect place to study the
glacier.
In Florian Tolle: « Here, it’s a peculiar life. The life
conditions can be a little austere for people that aren’t use to it.
-In JM : « I think I’ve got an image »
-In Florian Tolle : « You’ve got an image? Show me! »
In Florian Tolle: « And so, we’re in smaller team. Here, it’s
2, 3, 4 researchers maximum. »
-IN JM : « I’ve finally got a visual! »
In Florian Tolle : « The teams are very united, beyond the
working bond, I think they are friends, nearly like family. For example, at the
moment, there is my Austrian colleague Alexandre Prokop, who is specialised in
field listing with a laser device, in order to do topography. And there’s
Chinese colleagues, who work on similar issues, on the same glacier as us. We
ended up by collaborating, so it strengthens our work and our interactions are
strong.
-During the mission, some will do more cooing,
others will do the washing-up. We try to be complementary.
-I’m going to try cooking some beef, Corbel
style. It’s just beef with some sauce, steamed.
-There are generations of researchers that
have succeeded one another, so there’s a heritage side to it. When I come here,
I know Corbel has come before, I know that my thesis supervisor renovated this
at the end of the 70s, it gives a historical depth and an emotional aspect to
these places.
-And the status quo of the base, when we’re in
Corbel, makes it that we’re under the Paris Agreement; it’s a little bit of
France in a way. Inside the base, it’s like if we were in an embassy, so it’s
French territory.
-In the village, we have the impression of a
human community. Here, it’s an upside down zoo, I feel
like I’m in a cage, there’s so much nature around, it’s so wild. I find that
great, we’re eating and there can be a polar fox that comes by our window.
There’s always some light acting on the sides of the mountains, the fjord and
the glaciers. It’s very particular.
In Florian Tolle : « Diner is ready ! Come over Jean-Mi »
Between
March and October, Ny-Alesund, the village, hosts up
to 160 researchers. It’s managed by the Kingsbay, a
Norwegian State company. Living and working here requires a couple of rules.
In this
canteen, there’s a unique dish and radical timetables.
IN Piotr : « All our meals are taken together, breakfast, lunch
and dinner, we eat together in the canteen, which helps a lot to live together.
It’s very interesting to meet the scientists who work on various interesting
topics.
We’re all here to ease the scientists’ work, to help
them in their research and to participate in our long-term observation
programs. It’s an important base for our own meteorological measures for
example.”
IN Piotr : « I’m preparing a measuring radio to launch our
meteorological measure balloon. We do that once a day. The balloon will go up
to around 30 kilometres of altitude, so it can take maybe one hour and a half.
We receive information every second. We can see the pressure, the temperatures
and the air humidity.
I fix the measuring radio to the balloon full of
helium. We’ve been doing that everyday since 1992,
it’s been more than 25 years, we have a good dataset, yes good data.
Once the measures are done, we send them to the
meteorological institute and it’s used for weather forecasting and also from
climate research and environmental change.”
This
cloud of data has delivered its first conclusions. In Ny-Alesund,
the average temperatures has raised by 1.7°C, twice as much as the rest of the
globe…
Spring
has arrived one month early. Rain has melted parts of the snow, revealing here
and there, the sleeping tundra of the long winter months.
Some
rails appear, linking this ancient locomotive to the remains of a passed era.
Ny-Alesund was once a mining station, one of the first
charcoal extraction sites in Spitzberg.
Closed
since 1963, after two lethal explosions, the mine made way to the current
scientific base.
However
in Spitzberg, the charcoal mines haven’t all disappeared.
Longyearbyen,
the archipelago capital, is a 20 minutes flight.
Created
in 1906, to exploit the charcoal, the town now includes 2200 inhabitants and
two mines, one in dormancy, the other in activity.
In Arild Olsen: « Life in Longyearbyen is ruled by the mining company.
It was our heritage.”
Inside
the mine, Arild Olsen, knows it well. After 11 years
spent underground, worn out by the extent of the labour, he has become the
spokesperson of the mining trade union, and then mayor of Longyearbyen.
In Arild Olsen: « The coal-fire power station was built in 1982. At the point in time,
I think it was a good solution because most of the grounds were still very
frozen. It was very difficult to supply energy. It was a very efficient method
to provide power. At that time, we weren’t concerned by climate change.
It’s quite schizophrenic to be fed by
charcoal here. We know that climate change happens quicker on the poles. We
have seen change here, in recent years. Everything has speeded up for the last
5 years. Sometimes it’s -15°, and the next day, it’s 5°, it’s vary changing. We
have an issue with mudslides and floods. Avalanches are problematic too. We
didn’t have these problems before. We are waiting to replace our power plant
and I hope it will be a renewable energy spring.
In Per Nilsen: « I completely
understand that charcoal isn’t the best source of energy on the long term, but
the Norwegian State, which is the owner, has decided the stop Svea’s mine.”
Per Nilssen arrived in Spitzberg 30
years ago and he has climbed the ladder to become one of the supervisors of
Mine 7. The last in activity of the archipelago.
In Per Nilsen: «I think it’s
a petty. Numbers of minors have left these 2 or 3 past years. I don’t think
they will struggle to find work, but they will have to leave Longyearbuen with they family and
join the continent. It brakes the community. »
In Arild Olsen: «In some way,
I find it sad, because we have something quite unique here in Longyearbyen. We
have a large diversity of activity and it’s Longyearbyen’s strength. If we get
rid of the scientists, society impoverishes. If we get rid of the tourist
guides, society impoverishes. If we get rid of the minors, for sure society
impoverishes and we won’t have enough power to change things in the future.”
Today,
charcoal is still the main source of power for the archipelago, maintaining it,
the unsolvable balance in between economic development and environmental
protection. However, for Florian Toll, there is an emergency…
In Florian Tolle : «The year 2018, will be
the 11th consecutive massive assessment that we produce of the
glacier. 2017 was the 10th year, and it was again a very negative
year. If I want to give a global stance to what has happened over this last
decade, all the massive assessments have been negative, except once which was
close to zero. Three of them were really catastrophic. The track record is
without appeal, there’s no doubt and we observe that each year, the glacier is further
back, in other words, it isn’t adapting to the climate it’s suffering from.
That glacier, when
it melts quicker that it should, ads clean water to the sea and raises its
level. It rises progressively and just like for climate, with small regular
rises, it’s the poles that will trigger some problems.
That the glacier disappears will change the
landscape, but what’s new and what we see today, it the speed in which it’s
happening.
This
domino effect of the glaciers melting, some scientists have looked into measure
the direct impact it has on the living.
On Ny-Alesund’s harbour, Clara Hoppe, is ready to leave for the
fjord. This German researcher from the University of Brême,
is doing her fourth expedition for Awipev.
IN Clara en
live et posée: « I work on the climate effect on phytoplankton. They
are plants that grow on the surface of the sea. We try to understand how they
adapt to climate change and the repercussion on the arctic ecosystem »
Phytoplankton,
these micro-algae, that PEUPLENT the seas and oceans of the globe, contribute
to creating more than half the oxygen we breathe.
IN Clara :
« We are KB3 point, we’ve been doing measure for a
long time here. It’s also the deepest spot of the fjord. Here, the currents mix
up. It’s a more oceanic environment than by the coastline.
-It’s a very old research tool. Explorers were already
using it over a hundred years ago. It enables to gather everything that is
found in water. We set it up 25 meters deep and bring it back to the surface
very slowly. We can see all the things that are in suspension in the water. The
little dots are the animals and this brown colour is the alga that interests
us.
-Can we turn on the beast?
-Yeah
-We come here every 2 or 3 days, and we do some
sampling of the phytoplankton blossoming. It’s a bit like when trees get green
quickly, the same thing happens to these little plants that live in the ocean.
They grow very quickly in spring. It’s what is happening. And we try to
understand the dynamic of this spring blossom, by measuring some physical,
chemical and biological factors.
-We study around 25 different perimeters. The organism
that interests us only measures a couple of thousands of millimetres, so we
need a microscope to observe them.
-You see these little pearls that look like a
necklace, like pearl on a thread. Phytoplankton is very interesting because it
is that that produces a great part of our oxygen. Thanks to these little ocean
plants, you can breath, much more than forests.
Phytoplankton contributes immensely to the air we breathe.
-Here you can see species that were already observed
last year, so I’d say it’s a normal spring period for the ecosystem. We can
also see small animals. It’s a crustacean larva eating phytoplankton.
Some
larva enjoying these plants, are at the origin of the region’s food chain. The
infinitesimally small impacting the infinitely large, is Clara’s study
transposable to the whole planet?
IN Clara : « If we compare with phytoplankton from other oceanic
zones, ours is very resistant to climate change. It adapts better, it’s less
sensitive. Then again, the sampling of the fjord nutriments shows that the
phytoplankton offsets properly to its unstable environment. The fjord evolves
very quickly year after year, but the phytoplankton adapts very well. I think
that in this fjord, it adapts well to climate change.
Despite
these comforting and quite surprising results, the Arctic ice continue melting
early and quicker,
Opening
to tourism, commercial routes and off shore drilling and promising oil deposits
Some
threats on these zones, up to then protected…
In Florian Tolle : « -The change that is happening here is a
symbol of what we all do elsewhere, around the world. All our industrial
production, our infinite usage of energy and power, has altered our life system
and that has consequences all around the globe, despite the fact that our
common vessel is quite strong.
We worship
growth, we can grow forever, and the earth is limited. It is like a reversed
aquarium in some ways. And also today, we aren’t in an era where nations can
function… We can’t believe anymore that because you build a wall, you are
protected, atmosphere doesn’t care, you can build a wall as high as you want,
we will still be subject to atmosphere, so it isn’t easy because it’s requires
something we do very badly, and we’ve never managed to do it properly: foresee.
Coming back to a more reasonable approach, more than thinking about how we use
it, instead of having more, we need try and have better. And that I think everybody
would gain from it, wherever on earth, including this little glacier there, up
to our daily lives. I think that’s where we should be aiming, every little
steps counts and that is what will prevail and I hope we’ll be fast enough.”
FIN