Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 04/10/2007 - 03:55
Forums
Ask Ms. Prevenas

Fishing is an important industry in Alaska.  What are the specific impacts that global warming have on the nitrogen levels in the sea?  And how significantly lower are the fish populations and how does it affect other species in the area?  Also what are the specific techniques you will you use to measure the biological use of nitrogen?  Also what are the major differences with the nitrogen levels between the two poles?  And what are your thoughts for what can be done about the raising nitrogen levels in the Arctic area? Thank you,Christina N.

Tue, 04/10/2007 - 20:28

Maggie Prevenas

Hello Christina,You asked a bunch of really good questions. Some of the answers are easy, others are very complicated, still others are big questions that the whole expedition is studying and won't know the answers to anytime soon.
 Like the first three of your questions. The entire expedition is working on answers to parts of these questions. Please continue to watch and read, because new data will be collected. The scientists will be gathering, analyzing and discussing the data. That is what is so exciting about this. It is science on the cutting edge. Solid answers won't be available for these for a while yet. But stay tuned, as the BEST study continues through the next few years, answers will emerge along with still more questions.
I asked our Principal Investigator, Dr. Ray Sambrotto, the next ones, What specific techniques will you use to measure the biological use of nitrogen? The scientists will be incubating phytoplankton to see their rate of nitrogen use.
Easy enough.
What are the major differences with the nitrogen levels between the two poles? There is lots more nitrogen in the Southern Ocean than in the Arctic (northern) Ocean. But that is due to circulation and currents more than anything else.
As for the last comment, What are your thoughts for what can be done about the raising nitrogen levels in the Arctic area?
I am not sure that scientists know how much nitrogen is present in the Arctic area, let alone that it is rising. That is one of the research areas the BEST cruise is investigating. your questions are right on target, and as you can see, they are very relevant to the scientific community.
The research on our expedition extends from learning more about ocean currents and ice content, to studying benthic organisms that live in the very depths of the Bering Sea. Some scientists will be counting and doing observations on walruses, others will be monitoring ice seals (bearded, ribbon, ringed and spotted seals) as they haul out on the ice. There are scientists studying the concentration of iron, and others monitoring essential trace elements in the ice as it melts. Still another group is working with echolocation as a way to monitor populations of the small fish and krill which are the basis of the Arctic food chain.
Thank you so much for taking the time to ask these questions and for your interest in our expedition. Continue to check in and follow our studies. We will try to answer your queries.