3rd Russian-U.S. expedition over in Arctic region

VLADIVOSTOK, September 25 The third Russian-American expedition studying climatic conditions of the Arctic region ended on Sunday.

Fourteen Russian researchers collected information, and the United States supplied equipment and volunteered to process the data. The expedition aimed to study the influence of permafrost thawing on the global warming process.

Scientists from the Pacific Oceanic Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Far Eastern division explored a western Arctic region between St. Petersburg and Tiksi. Another group of researchers examined an eastern Arctic sector. The two groups met and studied the East Siberian Sea together.

This is the first time that researchers examined the entire Arctic coast of Russia within one season, expedition head and employee of the Pacific Oceanic Research Institute Igor Semiletov told Itar-Tass by telephone. He said they had found new anomalies and examined the old ones, which are fuming greenhouse gases – methane and carbon dioxin. These emissions reflect the active disintegration of the permafrost bottom. The researchers found an extensive methane anomaly in the Lena River.

The expedition was mostly funded by the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Russian Foundation of Fundamental Research. The U.S. National Atmospheric and Oceanic Association and the Alaska Arctic Research Center gave financial support to the explorers, ITAR-TASS reported.