Question: How does this effect animals and the food chain and how will this effect us in the future?

Nuala Carson answered on 25 Jun 2012:

Hey thegreenapple98,

Are you asking how my research will affect animals at different points in the food chain? If so then I will attempt to give you an answer….

Generally mine, and a lot, of polar research focuses on working out what is happening to the sea ice now, how will it change in the future, and the impact of this on all different types of things (including animals). So is the sea ice melting, or growing? Is it moving? Is it becoming thicker or thinner? All of these questions affect animals which use the sea ice as a habitat, as a safe refuge from attack, or as a base to hunt from. So yes, my research will affect quite a few different types of animals in the food chain from the microscopic plants (known as phytoplankton) that live in the ocean and also the sea ice. They are the photosynthesizing animals at the bottom level of the food chain so if they didn’t exist there would be no life in the ocean at all! Moving up the food chain we know that seal, penguins and polar bears all use the sea ice. My research also affects the highest animal in the food chain – humans. The native people in the Arctic (Inuit) use the landfast sea ice to hunt for food. They pitch their tents on the floating ice and hunt off the edge. One reason why it is important to know how the landfast ice moves is to protect the hunters that use the ice. Sometimes the ice breaks and the hunters can be dragged offshore and in some cases this can be fatal.

I hope this gives you an idea of the range of animals affect by landfast sea ice. If you would like any more info then just send me a comment