Images of climate innovation

Into the Dark

An international team of researchers sets out to measure light pollution in the Arctic Ocean in the middle of the polar night. Thinning and retreating sea ice, due to climate change, means the pristine darkness of polar night is being disrupted through artificial lighting, affecting animal behaviours from zooplankton to polar bears. This research will help us to understand how the marine ecosystem is changing in the Arctic and will provide new insight into how fish stocks and top-end predators are being impacted by climate change.

The Arctic is warming faster than any other region of the planet leading to rapid reductions in sea-ice and fundamental alteration of ecosystems. Polar regions are partly defined by extremely seasonal light regimes and are almost pristine in terms of light pollution.

However, rapid regional warming is drastically reducing sea ice cover leading to higher light levels in the ocean. At the same time, increased human habitation and transport throughout the region is expected to lead to significant increases in artificial light levels.

Our international research team is attempting to understand how the polar light climate will change and how this will impact the marine food chain. The image shows members of our team heading out into the semi-frozen ocean during polar night to measure the intensity of the artificial light from our research vessel and to document animal responses to them.

Understanding how plants and animals respond to changes in the light climate is important for predicting how the marine food chain will adapt to climate change and ensuring that shipboard surveys produce accurate fisheries and animal stock assessments. Our research demonstrates how tiny changes can lead to widespread impacts and will inform important policy decisions such as management of commercial harvesting of key species and the design of lighting for Arctic communities in the future.

Understanding how the marine food web will adapt to these climate-driven changes in light levels is an under-explored but vital element in the drive to predict ecosystem change in the Arctic. This work will support sustainable exploitation of natural resources in the Arctic by both local indigenous populations and commercial enterprises, protecting both jobs and traditional ways of life. 

Entrant: David McKee , University of Strathclyde

Copyright: Michael O. Snyder

Funding: NERC Research Grant NE/P006302/1 - Arctic PRIZE; Norwegian Research Council Grant 300333 - Deep Impact.

Collaborators: Sony and GoPro (supply of equipment), and Vox (supported the short video series associated with the project).