Saildrone’s Journey Around Antarctica Uncovers New Climate Clues
Only one robot sailboat managed to complete the seven-month journey, and scientists are digging into the preliminary data.
Saildrone co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Richard Jenkins.
Photographer: Balazs Gardi for Bloomberg Businessweek
The robot sailboat is called #1020. It’s a lackluster moniker for a machine that just spent seven months battling its way through 12,500 miles of frigid, massive waves to circumnavigate Antarctica. The robot, made by startup Saildrone, is the first of its kind to complete the harrowing journey. More important, it’s the only scientific vehicle to have captured such a detailed environmental picture of the state of the Southern Ocean, bringing back data that could be key to our understanding of climate change.
Scientists have long viewed the Southern Ocean as a major carbon sink, meaning it pulls carbon dioxide out of the air and pushes it deep underwater. About 40% of the 2.5 billion tons of carbon the ocean absorbs every year is thought to make its way into these waters around Antarctica, says Bronte Tilbrook, a scientist who studies the region on behalf of CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency. This process helps in removing carbon dioxide that causes warming in the atmosphere, although it also contributes to increasing the acidity of the oceans. The truth, though, is that scientists know precious little about exactly how the Southern Ocean operates, because it’s been such a difficult spot to measure.