Sea glider.
Seaglider goes forth
27 April 2009
Arctic sea ice reached a record low extent in summer 2007 and its thickness the following winter also decreased. Researchers are keen to figure out what's behind the melt and are concerned that climate change might be to blame.
To try to understand how heat is transported from the seas of the tropics to the Arctic Ocean, researchers at the Scottish Association for Marine Science plan to send an autonomous underwater glider to collect vital information about the ocean between Scotland and Iceland.
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The path of the so-called seaglider will cross a major ocean current in the North Atlantic and the information it brings back may help researchers tell how, or even if, the current is changing.
Science writer and broadcaster Richard Hollingham meets Dr Mark Inall and Estelle DuMont at the Scottish Association for Marine Science to find out more.
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