A pearl, born naturally or artificially, is one of the most beautiful and ingenious entities inside the shell of an oyster. Canada’s Arctic region houses a pearl that is about to enhance human understanding and research to a new level.
Canada’s PEARL is the Polar Environment Atmospheric Research Laboratory, which opened in July and was designed to study ozone, air quality, and climate change. It is run by a dedicated team of scientists from eight different Canadian universities and government research laboratories led by Professor Jim Drummond of the University of Toronto and Dalhousie University.
“The environment is constantly changing, and since the influence of mankind on the environment is becoming larger and larger, eternal vigilance is necessary to ensure that we do not suffer from unanticipated consequences,” cautioned Drummond.
Described as a project of “infinite length with finite stages,” PEARL is especially important to Canada’s research community since the Arctic, representing a large part of Canada’s total landmass, has very few locations in which it is possible to study the atmosphere and how it changes over long periods of time. The Arctic, like the Antarctic, is a unique region because of its proximity to the pole, its low temperatures, and the rare circulation patterns that allow it to be called an extreme atmosphere.
“Within this atmosphere, many things happen that do not happen at lower latitudes, but which influence things that do happen at lower latitudes,” explained Drummond. “Some people have even dubbed the Arctic as the ‘canary of the climate,’ which means that we may see things happening in the Arctic before they occur at lower latitudes, and so it is crucial that we gain a better understanding of Arctic climate.”
The project over the next five years will gather data on the current state of the atmosphere in the Arctic by using a new array of equipment such as radar, radiometers, and spectrometers to record the composition, temperature, and various other atmospheric factors in the Arctic.
Certainly one of the most complex projects of Drummond’s life, the ten funding agencies, eight universities and one very difficult set of logistics present a unique set of problems for the team. The main issue standing in the way of success is the necessity of working in such a remote area with unaccountable accidents.
“PEARL is certainly one of the most challenging and complex projects that we’ve attempted and it has taken us to a unique part of the world which is extremely beautiful and challenging at the same time,” Drummond said.
PEARL will be integral in the International Polar Year (IPY) 2007-2008, a 24-month-long event where all nations with an interest in the polar regions are encouraged to intensify their research efforts and share their results to better understand this region. PEARL is part of Canada’s research contribution to IPY and will be instrumental in propelling Canada to the forefront of atmospheric research.
