It was 149 years ago. Prince Albert-1er bought his first Swallow which would allow him to launch four explorations towards the Arctic and find Spitsbergen at the end of the 19th century.and century. Another time, another boarding.
Exactly fifty years ago, Commander Cousteau, departing from Monaco at the helm of the Calypso, left Antarctic explorer. Understanding what is happening to the ends of the planet has been inscribed in the DNA of the Principality for a century and a half. And Prince Albert II extended the inheritance. He remains the only head of state in the world to have explored both areas: the North Pole in 2005, the South Pole in 2009.
“The temperature is rising twice as fast in the Arctic”
With his foundation, he initiated to start 2022, the Polar Initiative, a three-year programmatic effort to concentrate actions towards the poles. Since 2006, the preservation of its two regions of the world has been one of the action priorities of the Prince Albert II Foundation. Behind, the whole country follows suit: a symposium, a book signed by Robert Calcagno and an exhibition from June at the Oceanographic Museum will make it possible to offer mediation to understand what is happening at the poles, federate ideas and act. for their protection.
“For a long time we considered these regions as protected, but today we can clearly see that the poles are completely impacted by humanity. The threats are the same as on the ocean or on Earth: plastic pollution, impact of heavy fuel oil used by ships, overfishing. And climate change is still impacting the poles. The temperature is rising twice as fast in the Arctic as in the rest of the world”, warns Robert Calcagno, director general of the Oceanographic Institute, who has just published At the heart of the polar worldsa book that informs and documents the situation.
What will be the tipping point?
Since 2010, at the Scientific Center of Monaco, a department of polar biology has ensured ongoing studies. A desire born after the sovereign’s visit to the polar regions, to also be an actor in this area. “Our main objective is to understand the evolution of polar ecosystems by following the evolution of seabirds. In particular penguins in the face of rapid environmental change”, explains Céline Le Bohec, researcher at the Scientific Center, winner of the prize for polar and subpolar scientific research from the Academy of Sciences.
Returning from a recent mission in Antarctica, she explains that penguin tracking is done with technology: remote cameras, drones, autonomous vehicles, Argos beacons. So many tools to ensure its conclusions. “What our studies show is that king penguins are very sensitive to warming of their ecosystem. An increase of just 0.3 degrees in surface temperature where they forage in winter leads to a decrease of about 10 % of adult survival. Other data show that 70% of the world population of king penguins could appear if no measures are taken to immediately stem global warming. In Antarctica, the problem today is to know what will be the tipping point for the ecosystem and biodiversity, when will we reach it? One thing is certain, we cannot go back”.
“Thinking Globally”
These emergencies at the poles can have consequences for the entire planet. The Antarctic ice cap, for example, contains 80% of the planet’s freshwater reserves. “You have to act locally but think globally”, admits Robert Calcagno.
“The poles are twice as sensitive to climate change as other regions of the world. The temperature of the Earth has increased by 1 degree since the beginning of the industrial era. In the Arctic, we find that it has varied by two degrees . And these phenomena are cumulative. Today, we fight against the false belief of saying, it’s far, it’s not very serious “.