Introducing PolarRES in Practice Stories!

4 April 2025

PolarRES has produced numerous research findings over the past four years, covering topics from atmospheric processes to marine ecosystems. To make these complex subjects more accessible, we have launched “PolarRES in Practice Stories”, a series of concise, easy-to-understand stories. To date, five storyboards have been created, primarily written by PolarRES Early Career Researchers during the recent PolaRES ECR Bootcamp.

Science at DMI’s Geophysical Facility: Inglefield Bredning, NW Greenland

In this PolarRES in Practice Story, Ruth Mottram (DMI) recounts a fieldwork expedition to a fjord in Greenland. Get a unique behind-the-scenes look at Polar science, featuring local hunters, encounters with polar bear footprints, and camping in sub-zero temperatures.  

Ocean Acidification in the Southern Ocean

This storyboard, created by Chiara De Falco (NORCE), Lucia Gutiérrez-Loza (NORCE) and Cecilia Äijälä (UH), dives into the world of ocean acidification (OA). The process by which the ocean becomes more acidic due to anthropogenic carbon emissions. This increased acidity impacts the formation of shells and skeletons in many marine organisms. The authors discuss how PolarRES studies these effects using the aragonite saturation metric in the Southern Ocean, which indicates when calcium carbonate structures used by marine life begin to dissolve.

Antarctic sea ice

In the third “PolarRES in Practice Story “, the focus remains on Antarctica, specifically examining sea ice. Ella Gilbert (BAS), Kristiina Verro (DMI) and Marte Hofsteenge (UU) define sea ice as the layer of ice 1 -2 m thick that forms on the ocean’s surface around Antarctica. Throughout the story you will learn about the role of Antarctic sea ice in the global climate system, acting  as the planet’s air conditioner. Notably, Antarctic sea ice concentrations have dramatically declined since 2015. The full story examines the causes and considers whether we have entered a new climatic regime.

Extreme precipitation and atmospheric rivers in West Antarctica

In Ella’s second storyboard, she is joined by José Abraham Torres (DMI) to talk about extreme precipitation and atmospheric rivers in West Antarctica. Precipitation is the primary counterbalance to ice losses from glaciers and ice shelves.  Lots of precipitation falls during extreme events, including during atmospheric rivers, which are long, thin “rivers in the sky” which bring a lot of heat and moisture to Antarctica. In this story, Ella and José explain how they use regional climate models to analyse the patterns of extreme precipitation during atmospheric rivers, detailing the results of their research.

What is surface mass balance?

The final storyboard in this initial series addresses the question, “What is surface mass balance?” Marte Hofsteenge and Kristiina Verro provide a comprehensive answer and introduce the related concept of “total mass balance.” Understanding these metrics is crucial for projecting the future of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets. For a more detailed exploration of the implications, we encourage you to read the full storyboard.

All “PolarRES in Practice Stories” can be found here: https://polarres.eu/practice-stories/