Scientists begin setting up ice camp for year in Arctic

BERLIN (AP) - Scientists say they’ve chosen an ice floe on which to begin setting up a research camp for a year-long international expedition to study the Arctic.

Germany’s Alfred Wegener Institute said Friday that researchers found a suitable floe measuring about 2.5 kilometers by 3.5 kilometers (1.5 miles by 2.2 miles) that will serve as a base for the mission.

It quoted mission leader Markus Rex as saying that the floe isn’t perfect but it “offers better working conditions than we could have expected after a warm Arctic summer.”

He added that “we’ll have to wait and see if it’s also stable enough to withstand the autumnal storms that are now brewing.”

The 140 million-euro ($158 million) expedition aims to improve scientific models that underpin understanding of the Arctic and climate change.