The way scientists establish time at the poles varies according to which end of the Earth they are studying, and the focus of their research. In that case, the vessels were actually existing in different time zones, creating a bizarre time gap between two ships that were just meters apart. A short time later, another ship, the icebreaker Akademik Fedorov, pulled up right next to the Polarstern to deliver supplies. This policy created some of the temporal oddities that can arise in the Arctic. Clocks had to be precisely re-set, instruments calibrated, work shifts adjusted, and communications re-organized for each time change. As the last glimmer of light disappeared, the ship´s captain decided on a policy of moving the time zone back once a week, for six consecutive weeks. The long polar sunset lingered for weeks in October. Her mission was to drift with the ice and study the effects of climate change on the Arctic ice sheet. The research ship RV Polarstern sailed out of the Norwegian port of Tromsø and into the Arctic Ocean in September 2019, coming to rest on an ice floe a few days later. One recent Arctic journey shows the time-warping effects of exploring near the pole. ©/Tsuguliev A Saga of Drifting Ice and Shifting Clocks Polar timekeeping can create bizarre events, like two ships operating in different time zones despite being right next to each other. The only humans anywhere near you would be drifting in the sea ice aboard ships. Looking up, you would see only the endless daylight of summer or the unyielding darkness of polar night.Īnd since there is no land on the Arctic ice cap, there are no permanent research stations to establish a time zone for their purposes. In the High Arctic, the Sun rises and sets just once a year. Since no local time applies, what else could you use to establish the hour? The position of the Sun? The sky above you would offer no clues about the time of day either. In fact, if you were to take a short circular walk around the Pole, you could cross every time zone in a few seconds, speeding time up, in a sense, and even changing the date when you cross the International Date Line. Standing there, shivering in the cold, you would exist in a kind of temporal anomaly - at the connecting point of all time zones on Earth. Imagine planting your feet directly on top of the Geographic North Pole. So, in order to establish a workable day, the captains of Arctic ships are usually given the power to choose the best time zone for their missions.įlights that land before you leave Standing in a Place Out of Time These factors can complicate life for polar explorers, since we humans generally need a time structure to function at our best. The Arctic is like no other place on Earth a vast, floating ice cap with no permanent population, no set time zone, and no normal daylight hours. Researchers in the High Arctic have to create a daily rhythm without the help of time zones or cues from the sky. Business Date to Date (exclude holidays).