Turkish scientists study climate change in Arctic Ocean

Turkish scientists are intensifying efforts to measure the effects of climate change in the Arctic Ocean, conducting biological, chemical, and physical monitoring during the country’s fifth national expedition.

The multidisciplinary team collected environmental DNA (eDNA) samples from seawater, sea ice, glaciers, and sediments, while using CTD (conductivity, temperature, and depth) instruments to measure oceanographic changes. The goal is to build a long-term dataset to assess how the polar ecosystem is shifting under global warming.

Deputy expedition leader and researcher Erhan Arslan said CTD readings are key to showing the extent to which the melting of ice affects the marine ecosystem.

PhD candidate in marine biology Bilge Durgut described the project as one of the first systematic monitoring initiatives in the Arctic led by Türkiye. She said comparisons with last year’s samples from sea ice and glaciers will reveal how microbial and larger communities evolve over time.

“Monitoring the long-term effects of these changes on ecosystems is key to understanding the impact of climate change,” she said. “By integrating molecular biological methods with oceanographic and biogeochemical data, we contribute both to the conservation of Arctic biodiversity and Türkiye’s position in Arctic research.”

Assistant professor of marine sciences Aslihan Nasif, who has taken CTD and oceanographic readings in the Arctic for two years, underlined the importance of repeated monitoring in the same locations.

She said that the Arctic is one of the regions where climate change is felt most rapidly. Melting ice alters the water column as fresh water flows on the surface. “We track the changes year by year, meter by meter, and even centimeter by centimeter.”

“Sometimes, surface temperatures change, other times, we observe fluctuations in the salinity of the water — each measurement station provides insight into the hydrographic changes in the region, and this data is important for all of us because what happens here affects other parts of the world,” she added.

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