Heading To Greenland

Operation Iceberg is about to begin. In the next few days, a group of about 25 documentary makers, presenters, scientists, expedition experts and our support team will gather in Ilulissat in Greenland. We have six weeks to cover an enormous and fascinating subject: icebergs.

Helen Czerski

Icebergs are elusive things. I have seen them in the Antarctic while doing research in the Southern Ocean, but ships are usually required to stay at least a mile away as a safety measure. So frustratingly, there’s always just a bit too much distance between you and these beautiful ice monoliths and you rarely get a really good look. But not this time!

The whole point of Operation Iceberg is to explore iceberg science by being exactly where it happens. We’ll spend the first half of the expedition on a glacier, helping scientists who are studying the movement of glaciers and how that leads to the calving of icebergs. Then we’ll travel westwards across the ocean, to find a large iceberg that we can study in detail and even camp on top of. We will be joining and helping several groups of ice scientists as they carry out experiments to understand how icebergs are created and destroyed.

Ice is a really important component of our planet. We live at a time when the Earth has giant ice caps on Antarctica and Greenland, and the ice has a vital part to play in how our planet functions. It’s made from water that evaporated from the oceans, snowed down on top of the ice caps and got stuck there. Icebergs are usually made of snow that fell thousands of years ago. They’re floating pieces of ancient history that melt and rejoin the ocean, ready to start all over again.

I’m really excited about the opportunity to learn more about the ice. I’m also excited because the team have very varied areas of expertise and we’ll be able to learn so much from each other about the different aspects of this environment. I’m a physicist and oceanographer, used to studying the physics of the ocean surface. Chris Packham is a wildlife expert with a passion for the natural world. Andy Torbet is an experienced adventurer, able to explore some of the most inaccessible ice environments we’ll find. And the team medic Chris van Tulleken will be investigating how human physiology adapts to extreme environments. What a fascinating range of subjects! I’m sure that the dinnertime conversations are going to be a delight.

For the time being, packing is top of my agenda. My living room is accumulating small piles of thermal tops, waterproof trousers, sunglasses, dry bags, mosquito spray, gloves and much more. Anything I forget I’ll just have to do without.

I’m really looking forward to both the scientific adventure and the chance to soak up the stunning environment of the Arctic. I love places that help me imagine the scale of the planet and show what makes it tick. Operation Iceberg, here I come...