Scientists have cancelled the first leg of the 2017 climate change study expedition due to, erm... climate change.
The mission, set to be conducted by 40 scientists on research ship CCGS Amundsen, had to be aborted early on when the vessel experienced difficulties as it encountered hazardous and unexpected southward moving ice.
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This caused significant safety concerns and delayed the study enough that research objectives would not have been able to be met, reports the Guardian.
Dr. David Barber, expedition chief scientist, said in a statement: "Considering the severe ice conditions and the increasing demand for Search And Rescue operations (SAR) and ice escort, we decided to cancel the BaySys mission.
"A second week of delay meant our research objectives just could not be safely achieved.
"The challenge for us all was that the marine ice hazards were exceedingly difficult for the maritime industry, the CCGS, and science."
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Credit: PA
Barber and his team, hailing from five different universities across Canada, studied the unexpected ice using their equipment and worked out that it had come from the high Arctic.
The team believe that conditions like this will become increasingly common as climate change continues to mobilise the already unstable Arctic ice.
Despite this setback the vessel's future missions are still set to go ahead.
"This extremely unfortunate event is not expected to affect the remainder of the 2017 Amundsen Expedition resuming on July 6," Dr Louis Fortier, scientific director of the Amundsen and ArcticNet Science programs, said.
"We believe that the oceanographic studies will proceed as planned and do not anticipate an impact on the Nunavik Inuit Health Survey."
The news comes just weeks after US President Donald Trump announced that he would be withdrawing from the Paris Agreement on climate change.
Among the many important figures that slammed him for his poor decision was Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who said: "We are deeply disappointed that the United States federal government has decided to withdraw from the Paris Agreement."
After announcing the decision, President Trump claimed he 'cares deeply about the environment'.
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Credit: PA
A White House memo explaining the President's decision said: "The Paris Accord is a BAD deal for Americans, and the President's action today is keeping his campaign promise to put American workers first."
"I was elected to represent the citizens of Pittsburgh, not Paris," Trump proclaimed in a lengthy speech from the Rose Garden of the White House.
He added: "As of today, the United States will cease all implementation of the nonbinding Paris accord and the draconian financial and economic burdens the agreement imposes on our country."
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The United States is one of only three countries, along with Nicaragua and Syria, that opposes the climate agreement reached by all other nations in 2015.
A signature diplomatic achievement for the Obama administration, the Paris Agreement was celebrated at the time as a global response to the global warming crisis.
Words: Paddy Maddison
Topics: Science, climate change, Trump