Follow the expedition of the Polarstern, an Arctic icebreaker that is making exploration history and taking climate research to the next level, through this photographic journey.
Since September 2019, a team of 600 researchers from 19 countries have united in a common mission known as MOSAiC – the Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate – whose mission is to chart conditions in the Arctic for one continuous year. This illustrated account of that incredible voyage features amazing images from acclaimed photographer Esther Horvath, who documents every step of the expedition. Learn how researchers prepare for the journey with survival training. Watch as they plow through the ice and set up a network of research stations that drift along on a floe across the North Pole. See them take ice samples, measure wind and temperature, and study every element of the atmosphere, terrain, and ocean to obtain data that will help shape the course of climate science for generations to come. Horvath's camera captures life on board the vessel, visits by curious polar bears, the wonders of the Arctic sky, the endless waves of wind-blown snow and ice, and the beauty and ferocity of some of the most brutal conditions on earth. Accompanying these pictures are texts and commentary by researchers taking part in the expedition. This stunning book offers a front-row seat to the most important climate research project in recent history and helps readers grasp why studying the Arctic is essential to our survival on this planet.
Esther Horvath is a fellow at the International League of Conservation Photographers and is the science photographer at the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research in Bremerhaven, Germany. Her images have appeared in National Geographic, Audubon Magazine, Stern, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Time, and other publications.
Sebastian Grote studied history and Scandinavian studies at the universities of Cologne, Helsinki and Uppsala. A traineeship in the Press and Communication Department at the University of Cologne brought him to science communication. Then he moved on to the communications department of the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Sea Research. Grote took part in expeditions to the Arctic and Antarctic. During the MOSAiC launch phase, he reported form the expedition ship Polarstern.
Katharina Weiss-Tuider works as manager for communication and media for the MOSAiC expedition at the Alfred Wegener Institute in Potsdam. As a participant in the expedition, she was able to experience the Arctic and its changes for herself. She has a PhD in literature and the media and has long been a freelance writer on topics such as the environment, climate and agriculture / nutrition. Katharina Weiss-Tuider lives with her husband in Berlin and is committed to the environment, climate and animals in her free time.
Markus Rex is the head of atmospheric research at the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Sea Research, and he is professor for atmospheric physics at the University of Potsdam. He had already joined numerous expeditions to the Arctic, Antarctica and other remote regions of the world to research the complex climatic processes that lead to at times dramatic climate changes. He heads the MOSAiC project, a unique research collaboration by 90 institutions from 20 countries.