A massive research study called BAYSYS was stalled this year because the researchers’ ships could not navigate the sea ice that had split from the Arctic icecap, reports Erin Blakemore for The Smithsonian. BAYSYS was on its way to study the effects of climate change on the Hudson Bay in Canada, but ice, dislodged from the icecap because of warming temperatures, blocked the way. These conditions have never been seen before in that region.

As global temperatures rise and the icecaps continue to melt, these conditions will become more frequent, and its effects could go far past stalling scientific expeditions. Without the ice, the Arctic absorbs less heat and the permafrost releases more methane into the atmosphere. The expedition will continue in July, hoping to study exactly what blocked them from reaching their research site: climate change.