The day started with the temperature still a little below zero but the winds had dropped and a little light snow was falling outside. The forecast for later in the day was not great so we got out into the field early.

By 9.00 we were in a strange bit of forest that looked like the day after the bomb had dropped, blackened skeletons of trees stretching out in every direction. It was the result of a forest fire nine years earlier. The climate makes the recovery process very slow although shrub willows and birches are growing back amongst the dead conifers.

Basically we are looking at indicators of climate change in as many different types of habitat as can be found in the area and the burnt forest is one the sites. Our job was much the same as before, recording seedling development or doing a radar survey of the depth of the active layer above the permafrost.

Although the environment is spooky the lack of wind made the job much easier than yesterday, we finished early and got back to the Study Centre before the snow turned to rain at lunchtime.

I got a cosy computer job for the afternoon whilst most of the team went out and got wet. Sometimes it's good to know how to use Corel Draw.

Just before dinner, Evan, one of the polar bear researchers told us he'd seen a bear not far from the centre and we persuaded him to show us where. The trouble is it was getting dark, it was pouring with rain and we were in a minibus with dirty windows. The white blob I saw in the distance may well have been a bear but there are many white blobs (rocks, snow geese, stuff like that) and I'd be lying if I said I'd seen it for sure.

So, for now, let's call it a bear just in case I don't get to see another one.