Laureate of the Presidential Prize Alexander Osadchiev told when the Arctic will get rid of ice

Vladimir Putin awarded the best young scientists in the Kremlin

Five of the best young scientists received an award from Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin on Wednesday. These are Ivan Fisenko, a researcher at the Research Institute of the Russian Defense Ministry, Alexander Osadchiev, a physicist from the Institute of Oceanology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Irina Timofeeva and Andrey Shishov, chemists from St. Petersburg State University, and Irek Mukhamatdinov, Candidate of Technical Sciences from Kazan Federal University.

The Prize of the President of the Russian Federation in the field of science and innovation for young scientists has been awarded to the most talented researchers since 2008. This year, among the awardees were representatives of four scientific organizations.

Immediately after the award, we managed to get on the phone with 35-year-old Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences from the Institute of Oceanology of the Russian Academy of Sciences Alexander Osadchiev, who studies ice formation in the Arctic.

– I was awarded the prize for the study of oceanographic processes in the seas of the Russian Arctic, – says Alexander. – These are the processes of river runoff in the seas, which form the surface layer of the seas and which is very important for understanding ice formation and ice melting, and the process of distribution of pollutants in the Arctic, and the circulation of Atlantic waters, which bring heat to the Arctic and thereby determine large-scale warming processes. I want to note that my work is part of a very large research to understand the Arctic processes. They are important both for ensuring the conduct of economic activities in the Arctic and for predicting future climate changes so that humanity has time to adapt to them.

– In which part of the Arctic is the fastest ice free?

– There are three sources of warm water in the Arctic. The first is the Atlantic waters that come from the West, and this process has become more intense in recent times. We observe it in the Barents Sea and, perhaps, we will observe it in the Kara Sea in the near future. The second source is the Pacific waters that enter through the Bering Strait – they affect the Chukchi Sea. The third one, which I have been very busy with, is the spring and summer inflows of warm river waters from Siberia and Asia into the Arctic Ocean. They form large desalination zones. This desalination is very important specifically for the Russian Arctic, because a large amount of runoff is concentrated in its coastal zone, where we conduct business.

– How does the desalinated water in the ocean behave with the onset of cold weather?

– If in spring it melts ice faster, then at the end of autumn, on the contrary, it forms faster in desalinated places.

– Can you tell now how fast the Arctic is “melting”?

“The way the ice melted quickly in the early 2000s led scientists to assume that it wouldn’t be there after 2020. Indeed, 2020 was the first time when all the seas of the Arctic were free of ice – it remained only in the central part of the mainland, which does not belong to the seas. But after the ice began to melt less intensively. Now ice-free periods are predicted only for 2050-60s.

Three other awards were given for the original method of cracking (decomposing) oil directly in the oil reservoir (Irek Mukhamatdinov), for “green chemistry”, which allows you to quickly and safely determine the presence of harmful substances, such as antibiotics, in products (Irina Timofeeva and Andrey Shishov) , and for high-tech developments for the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, which are marked “secret” (Ivan Fisenko).