Jökull - 01.12.1969, Qupperneq 162

Main Conciusions and Recommenclations
of the Sea Ice Conference
All scientific conferences have one thing in
common: a complete coordination o£ the vari-
ous facts and conclusions presented or some
absolute final conclusions are never reached at
the conferences themselves. It is only after
some time has passed, when the individual
papers have been studied carefully, or a critical
view of the overall contents of the conference
is possible that the full result of the confer-
ence emerges. Sometimes many years go by be-
fore someone discovers an important point
presented at a conference but ignored or un-
noticed at the time. Hopefully the value of
this conference will also increase by careful
and leisurely study of its contents.
Various results have already been uncovered
ancl some conclusions are justified. Much is
known about the origin of the ice which drifts
towards the south on the Greenland Sea, and
how the various types of ice are formed. All
speakers agreed that the southward transport
of ice and its visits to Iceland had many causes,
the main ones being currents and winds. In
addition, the formation of new ice due to the
freezing of cold surface sea is a factor as well
as the decay of ice, especially when consider-
ing the chances of ice drifting south across the
sea temperature frontal zone southeast of Ice-
land, where the influence of coastal water is
also present. Tlien, finally, there is the fact,
which prompted this conference, that a cool-
ing trend both in the air ancl in the ocean
north of Iceland has occurrecl together with
two serious ice-years.
It is a difficult task to analyse the inter-
relationship between these many factors, since
some of them, such as surface winds, are con-
stantly changing. Of the many factors listed
above influencing the ice drift, the wind is the
main one.
Meteorologists consider it impossible to pre-
dict surface winds on a claily basis for more
than a few days. On the other hantl, long term
158 JÖKULL 19. ÁR
forecasts, although possibly less accurate, could
give an indication of the danger of ice. It. is
also possible to follow the continuous clrift ice
mass in the Greenland Sea by weather satellite
pictures, which are received here. It is there-
fore recommendecl, that continuous monitoring
o£ the ice by this method be carried out in
addition to the ice reconnaissance flights.
In this connection the Conference proposes
to the Icelandic Government that the Meteoro-
logical Office be given the task to report on
the possibilities of sea ice forecasting.
With such a report in mind the Conference
considers it outside its scope to make any re-
commendations about methods or frequency of
reporting ice study results. However it is con-
sidered natural that the evaluation of possible
ice forecasting methods be carried out bv the
Meteorological Office in cooperation with the
Marine Research Institute and the University
Science Institute.
It is clear that a large volume of weather
ancl ice data not yet processed, exists from the
first part of this century. The Conference re-
commends most emphatically that processing
of these data be completed so that their fore-
casting value may be evaluated. The Confer-
ence further recommends more extensive
oceanic research than is fundecl at present,
especially basic research. The Conference em-
phasizes the importance of ice reconnaissance
flights ancl recommends that airborne survevs
be conducted whenever possible.
In the historic part of the Conference it was
clearly established, that rnore complete and
reliable information is available now to write
the history of the climate o£ Iceland than
existed when Thorvaldur Thoroddsen wrote
his important works on this subject. It was re-
commended that historians, meteorologists,
oceanographers and geographers cooperate to
publish a new History of the Climate, and it
is expected that the historians take the initia-