From pole to pole - climate change E-Book

Jürgen Bennemann

• Herausgeber: novum publishing
• Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 336

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2024

Beschreibung

Not realizing that the impressions and experiences of that time would be almost historic 25 years later, these initially private records of two Arctic voyages in 1996 and 1998 in ARKTIS and ANTARKTIS were written from the perspective of a ship's doctor directly on board the large German research icebreaker POLARSTERN. In addition to the medical care of more than 100 male and female crew members from all over the world, the book deals with natural sciences such as geophysics, oceanography, glaciology, biology, meteorology and astronomy as well as CLIMATOLOGY, but also with seamanship and funny polar and equatorial baptisms. The rich, amateurish but equally authentic illustrations of the time were added later.

Leseprobe

Remark

With the German research icebreaker "POLARSTERN "in 1996 and 1998 to the northern and southernEISMEERAuthentic diary entries of a ship's doctor

From POL to POL

- Changing climate -

Ship's log

Volume I

ARKTIS

8.7. - 23.9.96

Our course from pole to pole

Stop to the endless ice sea video (to shorten the waiting time) 2006 in the practice waiting room

For Ulrike

This book is dedicated with great thanks to my wife, who let me go to the Arctic Ocean twice for three months, then accompanied me on board for four weeks from Cape Town and, as a friend of literature, ultimately supported and advised me patiently and expertly with good ideas during the editing of the manuscript.

Foreword

With the increasing importance of climate research, great attention is also being paid to the polar regions. In addition to remote sensing with the help of satellites and aircraft, direct measurements in the ocean - with particular attention to the ice - and in the atmosphere are absolutely essential.

Expeditions with the sailing yacht GRÖNLAND under CARL COLDEWEY to the Arctic in 1886 and with the GAUSS under ERICH von DRYGALSKI to the Antarctic in 1891 were the first German voyages of discovery to the sea ice regions of both hemispheres.

The Norwegian expedition with the FRAM 1893-1906 under F. NANSEN, which reached the North Pole, and the crossing of the Antarctic continent to the South Pole by SCOTT and AMUNDSEN in 1910 attracted great international attention in the conquest of the polar regions.

After several ventures in the last century, German polar research has received a significant boost in the last 50 years with the founding of the ALFRED-WEGENER-INSTITUT (AWI). The ice-going research vessel POLARSTERN makes an important contribution to this as a basis for national and international studies.

In order to make full use of this working platform, both the technical equipment and the crew of the ship must meet the requirements of the diverse research programs.

The scientists and technicians of the "AWI" expertly handled the former, while for the latter the experienced shipping company F. LAEISZ hired suitable ship personnel for this special mission and demonstrated great skill in filling the unusual position of doctor. A wide range of tasks must be covered here in order to give the people on board a sufficient sense of security, especially in the polar solitude.

These diary entries by the ship's doctor during an Arctic and an Antarctic voyage of the POLARSTERN offer a deep insight into his professional work and shed light on interesting incidents in life on board.

Prof. E. Augstein (personal copyright of the scientific 1996)

How it came about

On the one hand, there was an old man from the neighborhood who, even as a child, told me about his work as a coal miner on a mysterious, large, white island far up in the ice, which he called "Spitzbergen". As confirmation gifts, I also received the books "Knaur's History of Discovery Voyages" and "The Great World Tour with A. E. Johann". Still part of my library today, both contain several chapters on the discovery of the poles, among other things.

In one of my notebooks from the 1960s, the actual key word ... "Arctic" can be found for the first time.

In a diary entry from November 14, 1966, I thought I saw the "basic concept of nature and the cosmos" in "omnipresent polarity"."

In addition to two remarkable drawings of the then 6-year-old son with the two Poles, as can be seen above, there are still several letters of application from the 1970s to Norddeutscher Lloyd, in 1988 to the cruise department of HAPAG-Lloyd, the Hamburg employment office and to the Hamburg-America Line for employment as a ship's doctor, "preferably on the 'Polarstern'". After several further attempts, not least encouraged by the articles regularly appearing in the "Marine-Forum", the monthly magazine for naval officers (see 1st page of Vol. II), about the "Polarstern" as the flagship of German marine research, which was increasingly being haunted by the media, and by my sister's 1988 book "Unternehmen Polarstern" from ECON Verlag, I finally received a positive response from the "AWI" in 1995:

"We hereby confirm that you have a temporary employment contract with the F. Laeisz shipping company for the period from 8.7.96 to 30.9.96 and that you will be serving as a ship's doctor on the German research vessel 'Polarstern'. Your employment contract will be sent to you at the beginning of June. We will complete the details for the seaman's logbook in Bremerhaven at the beginning of July."

Providence, fate, coincidence, self-propelling, fortunate concatenation, coincidence or a prime example of early coinage, whatever: the critical mass, so to speak, had been reached. The spark had ignited.

The dream, after so much tenacity, persistence and paving the way, perfectly suited to the chronic overload at work, is now to become reality.

It's getting serious

So it's not the longed-for ANTARctic after all, but the Arctic Ocean, the ARKTIS, derived from the ancient Greek arktos άρκτος Ocean, the ANTARCTIC, you have to go through it. Even in fairy tales, anyone who wants to reach the promised land, the land of milk and honey, has to go through a mountain of - already pre-sweetened - porridge.

You can talk and dream a lot. But now we've gone through all of them, the complicated phases of the long-planned, intensive preparations. Now it's time to really get going, into the real Arctic Ocean, which is actually within reach. Too late to escape.

Monday, 8.7.Journey to Bremerhaven

The stage of endless, unspeakable bureaucracy, the search for a suitable, trustworthy practice representative, the correspondence with the Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians and the Medical Association, pension insurance, maritime insurance fund, employers' liability insurance association, personal introduction to the famous "AWI" (Alfred Wegener Institute) in Bremerhaven, employment contract with the shipping company etc. etc., the obligatory seaworthiness and "seaworthiness" examination (nothing easier than that!) at the harbor doctor in Oldenburg/H. finally over. Life and thought, the time when the "Polarstern" is approaching with increasing speed, is already beginning to gather pace. Off we go to Bremerhaven for embarkation, where she, the "Polarstern", is already waiting impatiently.

Finally on board!

You want to go to the "Laptev Sea"? Laptev? Where is that supposed to be? Never heard of it before. Possibly much, much further east than your imagination could ever reach? Perhaps even further away than Siberia?

Arrival at the local "Kaiserhafen" in "imperial weather". There it is, our ship, already firmly moored at the pier.

The "AWI" at the back

Farewell in Bremerhaven. Family off board.

Deep inside his body, countless engines are already humming day and night without interruption. How exciting this monotonous, reassuringly unsettling and at the same time expectant continuous noise, as if ready to leap like a panther! That adventurous smell of diesel oil, just like the fleet back in 1993 in the largest American war port "Roosevelt Roads" on Puerto Rico. This increase in wanderlust to the point of physical pain!

We go on board. The massive, bulky ship, filled to the brim with high technology, resembles a labyrinth. My predecessor, who moves as if he were at home here (after several trips to the Arctic Ocean, he probably is), welcomes me with pleasantly reserved, friendly and committed collegiality.

His introduction to the confusingly complex inner workings of this colossus takes place over the course of a long day, with a great deal of patience and special emphasis on the ship's hospital.

From the operating theatre to the X-ray equipment, the sterilization system, the laboratory, the pharmacy, the dental ward, the specialist library, the large video archive to the "Zillertal" on-board pub managed by the doctor, etc., until my head starts to smoke. So much concentrated technology, so many complicated details, so much preparation for eventualities - almost too much to begin with.

In view of the imponderables and the many questions that ultimately have to remain unanswered, my courage wants to sink.

Tuesday, July 9.

A cool, fresh breeze blows pleasantly through the harbor on this first morning. The hospital briefing continues undaunted. The formalities take us into the city to the "command center", the "AWI", whose huge building complex seems to be modeled on the hull of a ship.

Taking this opportunity to visit the Maritime Museum and the museum submarine opposite is a point of honor. Another walk together on the beach.

Another farewell pint downtown. Farewell to the mainland for a long time. Farewell to the ice-water desert, farewell to the unknown.

"WEGENER, Alfred, (1880-1930), German geophysicist and meteorologist. Prof. in Hamburg and Graz. Developed the theory of continental drift (published in 1912); he also worked on the thermodynamics of the atmosphere and the development of geophysical instruments.

Wrote about 'The formation of the continents and oceans', among other things."

Source: "Der grosse Brockhaus" from 1957, vol. 12, p. 383

Thursday, 11.7.

"Waiting for you ..."

Friday, 12.7.

And there! Twenty minutes before "Cast off", the urgent call for the ship's doctor over all the loudspeakers. Alarm! During final work on deck between the chains and the anchor capstan, a shipyard employee has just collapsed unconscious from sheer excitement.

On the forecastle, not yet arrived on board, but fortunately already sufficiently familiar with the emergency instruments available, immediate resuscitation measures are carried out in the usual manner until the emergency doctor arrives. The excitement is great. Defibrillator electric shock. Be careful, the steel planks could conduct the electric shock and endanger bystanders. After 30 minutes, we finally make it ashore via the narrow Stelling, where an ambulance is now parked on the pier.

Ship's Medical Board

We are already overheated and completely exhausted from the half-hour cardiac massage and are done with the world before it has even really begun. Was this supposed to be the baptism of fire? Great consternation on everyone's face. Look, everyone here will be at the mercy of the "ship's doc" for the next three months. Some of us may be shuddering right now. Where have we got to? If only it doesn't go on like this. The men, they comfort me. We would have overcome every conceivable adversity.

10:20 a.m. We cast off late. We glide out of the harbor at a slow speed. The ship's doctor informs the captain on the bridge of the sad incident, almost like in the army, but here without a military salute.

This is followed by the mandatory safety tour of the ship. Afterwards, the "ship's doc" immediately sets about his duties in the ship's hospital, including viewing the extensive specialist library. By the way, this must become his home. As we have just seen, every move has to be made as soon as possible, better today than tomorrow. In addition, passivity in this situation makes you melancholy and unstable. Activity, on the other hand, creates self-confidence and inner security. Both are needed here. To make matters worse, one of the scientists tells us that he had to have an appendectomy here on board years ago. So what? Just keep it coming!

I was immediately greeted in a friendly manner by Prof. A., the scientific cruise leader, including an introduction to the crew in the lecture hall. He would probably also be a potential ally for me in the event of intercurrent conflicts and crisis situations. That's reassuring now.

First dinner together. We have to find our feet at the officers' table. Are there no fellow sufferers in sight? How unpleasant.

The sea is still calm and the horizon is bright until midnight, which will become clearer every day as we move strictly north. In just two days we will reach the Arctic Circle at 66 degrees north latitude, from where night has turned into day at this time of year for millions of years. The only thing is, you can't really imagine it yet.

Saturday, 13.7.

On the subject of safety drills. As we all know, these are mandatory and routine not only on airplanes, but also on all seagoing vessels. Wearing polar clothing, life jackets and helmets, we board the boats.

Afterwards, the "Zillertal", our on-board pub, urgently needs to be stocked with the necessary spirits for the first happy hour of the trip in the evening. In addition, the incubator is waiting for the first bacteriological ice and water samples from the swimming pool, ice makers and all the water cranes to be tested for coli bacteria, which is as mandatory as it is annoying - how could they have gotten in there? In the spirit of occupational therapy, the ship's doctor is also traditionally the "ship's cinematographer". As such, he has to prepare the weekly video program for the crews, including the women, mind you, every evening, put it on before the two masses and play video films from the extensive video archive twice a day. Any other wishes?

We are standing at the front of the "Norwegian lion". It looks familiar somehow. It must have been almost exactly here that seven young Kiel students on a sailing trip (without an engine!) on a stormy summer night almost exactly 30 years ago, on their way to the nearby "Sognefjord", capsized in a monster wave (so-called "freak wave") with man and mouse and twice man overboard (including the local "ship's doc"), would have gone to the fishes for good by a hair's breadth. A personal minute's silence!

Day of the hurricane. It got even worse afterwards, when we could only have to take photos, even worse!

Then we went through the textbooks, defibrillator, operating table, anesthesia machine and dental station again. Prayers to the heavens. Carrying the (medical) responsibility on my oh-so-weak shoulders for the next three months without a break is a real burden after yesterday's event. The minor-key harmonica that I intuitively carry with me fits the mood well. To relax in the evening, my younger son gave me a copy of "Discovering Slowness" by Nadolny to take out of the duffel bag. To my surprise, it's a real Arctic book and, curiously enough, perfectly suited to the current situation.

Frontispiece by William Turner (Copyright)

The first storm is due soon. Perhaps it would be better at home, wouldn't it? Association: "If a white ship sails to Hong Kong", in other words, wanderlust is always followed by homesickness. At 11.20 p.m., it's still as bright as day outside, something we've never seen before.

Sunday, 14.7.

The X-ray photochemistry for the darkroom has just had to be set up again. Because of the automatic developing machine and X-ray assistant that are standard in the practice, this was not really part of my routine until now. As planned, I've just loaded that darned, much-loved incubator again. Made video recordings on the upper deck. Been on the bridge. It's hard to get used to, but in the end it comes naturally over time.

We are now at the "hairline" of the aforementioned "Norwegian lion", so to speak, i.e. at 63° north latitude. I'm currently my own best patient with a cough and urinary tract infection. I would much prefer to be my own best guest in the "Zillertal". The doctor feels very lonely and exposed here now. If something happens to him here, "no one will help him", as they say. Or will they? At least he has a nice young nurse at his side. What's more, the officers have undergone brief medical training and thus acquired some basic medical knowledge. At least that's comforting. How else could it work? Things were much worse in Columbus' day.

It doesn't really want to get dark outside any more. A thick letter given to me by my brother contains, lo and behold, a never-before-seen, talking wristwatch that even crows loudly at the alarm time I set. His comment: "Such a nice, sweet, French girl's voice can be very warming in the eternal ice ... The cockcrow should replace your native bantams and frighten the polar bears. I wish you all the best for your adventure and have great respect for your courage!" Something like that is very useful here, however, namely as help in keeping an unexpected number of small (not least consultation) appointments.

We slowly make our way through the Arctic Ocean. Schubert and Horowitz from the CD player. The swell and the ship stamping lull us to sleep. How nice: the duty phone is silent.

Monday, 15.7.

Two fax messages sent home, as long as it still works. However, making phone calls from the radio booth is not possible today.

Everything is so strangely calm on board. There's even an afternoon nap - what was that - here. The awareness that every minute could, as usual, stretch me to the limit is, although familiar from clinical times, still takes some getting used to. As a prophylactic measure, I take another deep look into the amazingly qualified, on-board specialist library on gastric perforation, dental anesthesia techniques and appendectomy, although the latter in particular has probably been done hundreds of times by myself in the past until I keel over day and night.

We crossed the Arctic Circle at 4 pm. The ship's time was set one hour ahead. At 11.20 p.m. we went to bed on time today for a change.

Tuesday, 16.7.5 Day at sea

In the afternoon, a colloquium of international scientists (affectionately known here as "the fussballs" because of their beards) in the movie theater. In English. In the evening, the Lofoten chain on starboard 15 nm abeam. In the binoculars over there in the bright evening sunshine, green lowlands between wonderfully high, white mountains. The Lofoten Islands, yes, they would be worth an extra trip. The sea lulls us gently with a light green to bluish tint. Despite the many people, the ship is not at all restless. The temperature on the upper deck is now 10 °C plus.

I've just come from the "Zillertal", our off-duty communication center every evening. Was initially without the right drive, but then found it fun and interesting, as is often the case. Everyone can talk to everyone here, from the professor to the head chef. "Captain Morgan", our favorite rum, does the rest, has a stimulating effect on the brain "if available" and initially loosens the tongue, which then becomes increasingly heavy for one or the other.

On to the bridge at midnight for the evening "Ronde". No sign of the dark night. The evening sun is still shining brightly in the west. To the east, you can see the Norwegian cliffs with their snow-covered mountain massifs reflected in the bright midnight sun. The first whale of my life is frolicking on the starboard side. It slowly begins to dawn on me that at this time of year it really doesn't want to dawn here at all, not even a little. In this situation, don't artificially darken the night with the blinds. You have to experience this unreal night-time sunlight up close.

Wednesday, 17.7.

Tromsö, the historic and traditional base for all Arctic travelers, across the Arctic. A small town of fifty thousand people full of cod liver oil. Many strange seabirds accompany us. Wonderful solitude.

Call from home! There with a view of the domestic hearth, here at the same time of the sunlit North Cape.

This morning I finally had enough time to take another leisurely tour of the entire ship over its ten or more levels from the top to the bottom deck with a view of all the engine and computer rooms, workshops and la bors right down to the beer load and the laundry deep in the bilge.

A large shark and then a fishing trawler with a harpoon gun cross our path. If the two should meet, the former may be in a bad way.

Time seems to have somehow fallen asleep (see Nadolny above), probably because the position of the sun hardly changes here either, at least vertically. At around 9 p.m. you can still see people reading in deckchairs on the helicopter platform.

Message from the radio operator: He was laid to rest today, our poor heart attack patient. We are all so sorry. We are sad. But we couldn't do any better.

The wandering midnight sun (own collage)

Now at midnight, the sun is still 7° above the chimney and will wander around our bow, but instead of finally setting, it will immediately rise again! It's hard to believe and you have to have seen it. It all depends on the location. Truly, a journey like this must change the way you think.

Thursday, 18.7.

Whales in whole packs! They behave as if they were intelligent, which is probably true (Addendum 2023: See the logbook "Diary of an Arctic Voyage" by Arthur Conan Doyle about whaling and seal hunting from 1880).

We all want to see them. On this occasion, Mr. Cruise Director explains the basic aims of polar research to me, the greenhorn. The ultimate aim is to expand our knowledge of the climate function of the polar seas. It is about deep currents that flow around the entire globe and obey physical laws that are to be researched here. Warm water rises, while cold water sinks, creating a global, eternal cycle that extends from pole to pole and is as unexpected as it is powerful, which is also the motor of the Gulf Stream. He talks about oceanography, which is the main focus of this expedition.

"OZEANOGRAPHY (oceanography), the science of the sea; in the narrow sense it deals with the physical and chemical, in the broad sense with biological, geological and geophysical phenomena and processes in the world's oceans. In other words, it investigates the properties of seawater and the substances dissolved and suspended in it, the energy available to the sea (ocean currents) and the seabed, its forms, deposits and usable mineral resources (manganese nodules) as well as the creatures that inhabit the seawater and seabed (increasing the yield of sea fishing, harnessing new food sources, e.g. krill). One focus of modern international O. is research into the interaction between the Earth's water and air envelope, which is decisive for the climate, and another is the exploration of the mid-ocean ridges, the results of which have been summarized in a new theory on the formation of the continents and oceans (see plate tectonics)."

Source: "Der grosse Brockhaus" from 1955, vol. 7, p. 640f

We have been in Russian waters for hours. Everyone is preparing for Murmansk, our only port of call on this voyage. Russian scientists would come on board there. Glasnost (Cyrillic:гласностьpublic) and perestroika (перестройкаreorganization) have recently made it possible. And they should be able to celebrate! Usually with plenty of vodka.

Heroic self-experiment: test on the laboratory analyzer with your own blood. All values - can it be - are pretty much normal.

Friday, 19.7.Murmansk

We have just passed through the never-ending, somehow discolored Murmansk Fjord. Close to the shore - as we know, but can now see with our own eyes - it is teeming with scrapped, half-grounded hulks and rotting nuclear submarines.

Over there are units of the Russian fleet and two large, decommissioned aircraft carriers with a typical catapult-shaped forecastle, alongside several powerful nuclear icebreakers in a "pack" as a traditional Russian specialty. One of them, "Rossija", would supposedly save us in the event that we got seriously stuck in the ice, which is apparently not completely ruled out. Well then.

Hardly any greenery on the banks, instead a lot of bare rock, heavily polished by the ice ages. On a hill in front of the town, an oversized monument to the unknown soldier, roughly hewn in communist realism and reminiscent of the Statue of Liberty in New York.

Docking in the harbor punctually at 10 am. The safe maneuver seems to be controlled by a ghostly hand. All the more human in origin, but surely not the slurry that our propellers and thrusters are churning up from the bottom here.

Somewhat unenthusiastic-looking, strictly uniformed Russian customs officials, spreading general unease, come on board. Perhaps perestroika hasn't really arrived up here yet. Despite our good conscience, we are still overcome by the uneasy feeling that we have done something wrong that we don't even know about, just like when the Iron Curtain fell 50 years ago.

This is also the case when passing through the harbor guard with passport control for the obligatory shore leave. By the way, going it alone is not very popular here, not recommended and probably not appreciated by the Russians.

Tons of iron ore balls in the port

At +18 °C, the city of 500,000 inhabitants is now at a comfortable temperature and full of prefabricated buildings.

Centimeter-sized Murmansk iron ore balls in the, for the sake of interest and practice, here on board X-ray image

But they don't seem to make people so unhappy either - it's a wonder that any live here at all. People really do get used to everything. In the streets, which are still unrealistically sunny this late in the evening, yet remarkably sparsely populated, but on winter days probably spooky and pitch-black for months, we see many cheerful, nice, good faces. In between, a single beggar. A few gaunt trees in two small parks. A lone dog rose is laboriously sprouting a few flowers that will freeze before they unfold properly.

You only see real flowers on one or two balconies. You can only shop in the "Uniwermagje", apparently the only department store in town. We don't see any retail outlets. I am determined to look on the bright side. Murmansk on the other side of the Arctic Circle (polar altitude approx. 70°) can't be like Kiel or Stockholm. In the disco of the "Arktika" hotel on the main street, possibly the only reasonably desirable destination in the city according to our preliminary impression, half the crew meet up almost as if by appointment. At the bar, a beautiful Russian woman makes eyes at us. But to whom? We probably all feel like we're meant somehow. But that's probably her trick.

The rouble - 1 DM currently buys around 3000 here - is inflationary. We have to pay an astronomical 12,000 for a medium beer. Well, the nearest brewery won't be just around the corner.

24 o'clock. The golden sun, flat above the horizon, is still shining brightly and makes us feel cheerful. The Russian "Wissis" and a so-called "Observer" have boarded as planned. In the central "Blue Salon", our dedicated survival cell for emergencies, they are duly welcomed and their mayor and entourage are greeted with a large buffet. Among them are some unexpectedly attractive, intelligent-looking Russian women dressed in traditional chic. German, Russian, English and I don't know what else are buzzing around like Babylonian tongues.

As an East German, our smart 1st officer speaks fluent Russian with them and makes a brilliant interpreter. Even I can understand a few words. I make a poor attempt at Russian myself in a conversation with my neighbor, the head of the Murmansk shipping company. Up to here, he says, and I think I understand him at least that far, the Gulf Stream reaches. That's clear!

Saturday, 20.7.

Preparations are being made for departure. However, one of our crew is missing. He is apparently being arbitrarily detained in the city by the Russian police and is supposed to be released by us. We hear little or nothing about how and why.

The nice Mr. W., my contact from the "AWI", who has accompanied us this far, is flying back to Bremerhaven from here today. I mention this because he kindly wants to take a letter from me home with him.

Curiously, we are unable to set sail. The Russian side keeps coming up with new obstacles.

You now have a better understanding of the daily path of the sun near the poles. Here, it virtually follows a flat descending and then ascending path, which at this time of year does not touch the horizon day or night. Its midday altitude is now estimated at around 40°, whereas at home it is probably around 60°. But even at night, the sun is still 7° above the horizon here, i.e. without disappearing behind it.

The Barents Sea and the open sea have returned to us. We head towards Franz Josef Land, discovered in 1874 under Payer and Weyprecht, remarkably enough by the Austrians - at that time still an (Adriatic) naval power. In view of the next few days, when I was to see the first icebergs of my life, everything seemed even more surreal than I already felt. And finally, seen from the very top, all geography will lie to the south. That such a thing even exists, an extreme point without any north. Is that a borderline experience?

By the way: even the book of books is in the library here, as I was amazed to discover today. Speaking of which: the dictionary, which is of course also available there, tells me that "Bible" and "library", the two words, naturally have a common etymological root. The Egyptian papyros of the ancient Greeks came from ancient Byblos in what is now Lebanon.

What else is in store for us?

Sunday, 21.7.

All night long, we took on fuel from a Russian tanker outside the three-mile zone without making any headway. That was probably one of the reasons for the delay in Murmansk. We continued on course 38°. The sea was moderately choppy. Wind 5, bright sunshine. A radiation protection reconnaissance in the afternoon turns into a scientific-physical colloquium. Keyword e.g.: periodic system of elements, radioisotopes etc.

Followed by a small, unscheduled drink with the captain. It's always very interesting there too.

Monday, 22.7.

A last fax message was sent home, because tomorrow the satellite connection is due to be lost for many weeks. Fog surrounds us. The water temperature here is only around 4 °C plus. There was almost nothing for the "ship's doc" to do all day. Finally able to read in one piece again. How nice.

Colloquium. Brilliant lecture by Prof. A. on the basic conditions of the global climate with special consideration of the polar regions and on the meaning of our actions here, followed by a discussion. My question about the influence of chaos theory on the oldest ice cores that have been drilled so far and their age. Answer: Chaos, of course, yes. The age of the ice cores: 200,000 years and more. Of course, this applies to the Antarctic. Here in the Arctic, the ice cover "only" reaches a thickness of up to 12 m in places. Despite permanent solar radiation, the Earth's climate is normally in a state of equilibrium, mainly due to the exchange of heat via global air and ocean currents.

In reality, the controversial "ozone holes" only ever occur in short phases. Their significance is (addendum: 1996!) still unclear. Warm periods like the current one, possibly only partly caused by humans, have often occurred in the Earth's history. Carbonic acid is not only absorbed and assimilated by CO2-hungry plants, but also in huge quantities by phytoplankton, seawater and algae in the oceans, i.e. it is reduced and broken down. In this respect, it naturally acts as a fertilizer for their growth. What I'm saying. A classic feedback mechanism. It is possible that the increase in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is not only the cause, but also partly the result of natural fluctuations. These views (relativity of science too) would be upheld until they were refuted. Keyword falsification. As we know, this is the case with so much information, which, as we read here and there, is not as true "as previously assumed".

A miracle happened. All the urge to get things done, all the need to unhook fell away from me, and probably not just because of the distance. It was more likely a kind of "total vegetative switchover".

9 pm. Our professor spontaneously asked us to join him today in a small group, this time in his spacious room, for a round of red wine. It was absolutely necessary for us to come. The reward was - you may find it remote or monotonous - important conversations about the accompanying music, including Beethoven and Haydn. He even took the precaution of having the phone call I was expecting from home routed from the radio booth to where we "had an important meeting".

Tomorrow we are supposed to meet the Swedish icebreaking research vessel "Oden", which is also conducting climate research nearby, just for the sake of variety and entertainment. And then we should finally see it, the long-awaited Arctic Ocean.

Above all, it was casually two o'clock past midnight again. Kind of looks like a night owl.

Dreaming of endless tunnels at night in an excited search for an exit. Comment superfluous.

Barents Sea, 22.7.on board Polarstern

Dear U.!

I want to get back to you quickly by e-mail, because I hear that the satellite connections to home may be severed tomorrow. That shows you how far north we are already. Yesterday I saw the map with the circles that the geostationary news satellites are still covering up here. A few more miles and we'll be out of the world!

The weather has been wonderful here the last few days. Bright sunshine day and night!

It's hard to know when to go to rest. A thick fog has just rolled in, but the sun is still penetrating it.

I'm not doing too badly now. I read a lot, but thankfully hardly any specialist literature. My appetite is good and I'm leading a more regulated life than I have for a long time, in line with the on-board routine. As a doctor, I've hardly been challenged any further so far. Heaven help me if things get bad again.

Scientific colloquia take place every day. Yesterday, in the captain's naturally somewhat more spacious, almost suite-like chamber, we had a dignified conversation with the professor and captain (the former I0 (1st officer) from Ossiland, whom you know from Bremerhaven) to the sound of classical music. I was also "ashore" with them in a small group in Murmansk, really nice. I received many answers to questions that had always interested me, but to which I otherwise lacked the right access, even when there was time.

Fortunately, I still have a lot of basic knowledge from school and university to help me with this.

I am often on the huge bridge and receive many explanations, even without having asked. We see whales, sharks, seagulls of all kinds, about which a young biology student has just told me all sorts of interesting things. Some horror stories from previous expeditions also reach my ears.

It is true that this is not a journey like any other.

Tuesday, 23.7.

Boarding time 11 o'clock. Position 77° north/55° east. Water temperature +3 °C, air +4.7 °C. Relative humidity 100 % (fog). 12 kn speed. The satellite images tell us that we will be at the ice edge in five hours. Let's enjoy the peace and quiet. From then on, there should be constant crunching, rumbling and cracking day and night.

2 pm. 77.5° N/57° E. The first chunks of ice appear outside my window.

1410 hrs: We are already in the middle of the floe ice (video/DVD). And indeed: the whole hull shakes, crunches, cracks and sways with heeling up to 20° more than expected. That doesn't sound like much, but in reality it's a lot when you're on board. The sea, on the other hand, is suddenly as smooth as a duck pond, as the waves are now broken by the ice. The water temperature today is -1.6 °C - for physical reasons, it can't be any lower in a salty environment. Air: +0.5 °C

At 01:20 at night. It is as bright as day. The crew of the "Oden", with which we went alongside today, invaded our "Zillertal" like a swarm of locusts in the evening. The waves were high there. At a late hour, German-Swedish fraternization scenes promptly broke out in English, also from "ship's doc" to "ship's doc". Krister, Uli, Volker and Steffen. It was almost like the boozy student days.

Several polar bears and their numerous tracks in the snow were spotted.

It's freezing cold outside. High latitudes.

Wednesday, 24.7.IN THE ARCTIC ICE

As soon as I wake up, my astonished gaze falls for the first time, unforgettable and wondrous, on a white-blue blanket of sheer endless ice.

Lo and behold, fresh impressions of thick paws in the snow close to the ship.

Polar bears are the order of the day here!

2022 drawn by 14-year-old A. B.

To hell with banal everyday life! A fitting fax from home. I should be happy about the time that would be given to me here.

"Tracks in the snow"

12:15 p.m. We no longer set the clocks forward. What's the point? Here we are as "free as the wind". At 80° N and 65° E, we live as if detached from earthly time, which is almost forgotten here. We could actually delay the clocks or even stop them completely. You wouldn't even notice it in our remote, quasi self-sufficient system.

Over there, finally a first medium iceberg. Filming with an open shirt collar on the upper deck.

As predicted, the satellite connection was actually lost today. Worse than in space travel. The so-called "heavy ice driving" by day and by night fits in with this. In other words, we can only make progress through ice several meters thick by constantly moving back and forth with the 20,000 hp and the full force of our 17,000-ton ship. The modern, raised bow construction means that we don't have to split the floes with unnecessary force, but first float up and then break them with our own weight. To do this - paradoxically at first glance - there has to be as much space as possible at the sides, otherwise we could easily get stuck and wedge ourselves in.

The most beautiful colors in the sky, the deep blue ice, the hilly cloud formations over the Kimm: never seen like this before.

Thursday, 25.7.

Position 80° N/80° E. The Dutchman Barents came this far back in 1596, which is why this sea north of Norway still bears his name today. At breakfast I hear, not without some unease, that on a trip to Antarctica years ago, in addition to the aforementioned appendectomy, I even had a gastric rupture. Robber stories? The main problem was the anesthesia. But I believe that straight away and still admire my colleagues at the time.

We rumbled and pumped all night long. Machines don't get tired.

Radio Deutsche Welle. News about bombers and plane crashes barely reaches us and cannot disturb our icy peace. Everything is still in balance here. Yes, all is (still) well with the world here.

Unbelievable: the pack ice shimmers in at least five colors - blue, white, brown (algae), red and green. We thunder through it almost unchecked and with concentrated power. You wouldn't think it possible.

We push aside floes the size of two football pitches with ease. Even my friend, the veteran helmsman , says, "No one at home believes us." You can't have enough of it. The roaring, rumbling and bumping make it almost impossible for me to work on my laptop at this moment.

And again: you might find it monotonous. But up close, a thousand details are constantly changing. And inescapably for another 9 (in words nine!) whole weeks. Is it short or long that three weeks have already passed? In my mind I'm already at the South Pole, where I didn't even see the North Pole. Always slow progress. See Nadolny.

The good thing about our "Zillertal" is that many a good conversation takes place there, which might never happen without its cozy atmosphere. What else could the designers and organizers have had in mind with this on-board pub? Here in particular, it acts as a vital catalyst for communication, which could not only, but also, help to alleviate any psychological problems.