scholarly journals The Estuarine Ecological Knowledge Network: Future Prospects

2021 ◽  
Vol 55 (3) ◽  
pp. 122-123
Author(s):  
Grant S. McCall ◽  
Russell Greaves ◽  
Robert Hitchcock ◽  
Brian Ostahowski ◽  
Sherman W. Horn ◽  
...  

Abstract Estuaries are profoundly rich, diverse, and complex ecosystems, and crucial to the overall health of Earth's oceans. Estuarine ecological complexity is matched by tremendous human cultural diversity. In the United States, millions of people live in estuarine environments from the Gulf of Mexico to the Arctic—many of whom directly depend on the productivity of marine resources in both commercial and subsistence fishing activities. Yet, estuaries are also among Earth's most threatened landscapes against the backdrop of global warming, sea-level rise, agricultural and industrial pollution, habitat loss, overfishing, and so on. This represents a looming disaster for our oceans at a global scale. The Estuarine Ecological Knowledge Network (EEKN) is based on the idea that fishing communities living within major estuaries are the key to ensuring the health of global oceans. Coastal fishing communities have vast accumulations of ecological knowledge about the functioning of estuarine ecosystems and interact with those ecosystems in intimate ways on a daily basis. This network is designed to connect coastal communities in monitoring the health of estuarine ecosystems and in using traditional ecological knowledge to develop strategies for enhancing ecosystem health and resilience.

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (16) ◽  
pp. 4497 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oran R. Young

Conditions in the Arctic today differ from those prevailing during the 1990s in ways that have far-reaching implications for the architecture of Arctic governance. What was once a peripheral region regarded as a zone of peace has turned into ground zero for climate change on a global scale and a scene of geopolitical maneuvering in which Russia is flexing its muscles as a resurgent great power, China is launching economic initiatives, and the United States is reacting defensively as an embattled but still potent hegemon. This article explores the consequences of these developments for Arctic governance and specifically for the role of the Arctic Council. The article canvasses options for adjusting the council’s membership and its substantive remit. It pays particular attention to opportunities for the council to play a role in managing the increasingly complex Arctic regime complex.


2007 ◽  
Vol 20 (14) ◽  
pp. 3561-3579 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. W. Higgins ◽  
V. B. S. Silva ◽  
W. Shi ◽  
J. Larson

Abstract Fluctuations in the frequency of daily precipitation occurrence and in the intensity of daily precipitation over the United States during the period 1948–2004 are identified and linked to leading sources of interannual and interdecadal climate variability. The El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomena are implicated in interannual fluctuations while the Pacific decadal oscillation (PDO) and the Arctic Oscillation (AO) are linked to recent interdecadal fluctuations. For the conterminous United States as a whole there have been increases in the annual frequency of occurrence of wet days and heavy precipitation days and in the mean daily and annual total precipitation over the past several decades, though these changes have not been uniform. The possibility of significant natural forcing of these interdecadal variations in precipitation is explored. It is shown that the PDO is associated with these fluctuations over the western and southern United States, while the AO is also associated with them but to a much lesser extent over the southeastern United States. Because the interdecadal fluctuations are linked to changes in the global-scale circulation and sea surface temperatures associated with the PDO, the results imply that a significant portion of the skill of climate models in anticipating fluctuations in daily precipitation statistics over the United States will arise from an ability to forecast the temporal and spatial variability of the interdecadal shifts in tropical precipitation and in the associated teleconnection patterns into the midlatitudes.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 703
Author(s):  
Megan Drewniak ◽  
Dimitrios Dalaklis ◽  
Anastasia Christodoulou ◽  
Rebecca Sheehan

In recent years, a continuous decline of ice-coverage in the Arctic has been recorded, but these high latitudes are still dominated by earth’s polar ice cap. Therefore, safe and sustainable shipping operations in this still frozen region have as a precondition the availability of ice-breaking support. The analysis in hand provides an assessment of the United States’ and Canada’s polar ice-breaking program with the purpose of examining to what extent these countries’ relevant resources are able to meet the facilitated growth of industrial interests in the High North. This assessment will specifically focus on the maritime transportation sector along the Northwest Passage and consists of four main sections. The first provides a very brief description of the main Arctic passages. The second section specifically explores the current situation of the Northwest Passage, including the relevant navigational challenges, lack of infrastructure, available routes that may be used for transit, potential choke points, and current state of vessel activity along these routes. The third one examines the economic viability of the Northwest Passage compared to that of the Panama Canal; the fourth and final section is investigating the current and future capabilities of the United States’ and Canada’s ice-breaking fleet. Unfortunately, both countries were found to be lacking the necessary assets with ice-breaking capabilities and will need to accelerate their efforts in order to effectively respond to the growing needs of the Arctic. The total number of available ice-breaking assets is impacting negatively the level of support by the marine transportation system of both the United States and Canada; these two countries are facing the possibility to be unable to effectively meet the expected future needs because of the lengthy acquisition and production process required for new ice-breaking fleets.


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 156
Author(s):  
Christopher J. Coke ◽  
Brandon Davison ◽  
Niariah Fields ◽  
Jared Fletcher ◽  
Joseph Rollings ◽  
...  

The novel corona virus, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), and the disease it causes, COVID-19 (Coronavirus Disease-2019) have had multi-faceted effects on a number of lives on a global scale both directly and indirectly. A growing body of evidence suggest that COVID-19 patients experience several oral health problems such as dry mouth, mucosal blistering, mouth rash, lip necrosis, and loss of taste and smell. Periodontal disease (PD), a severe inflammatory gum disease, may worsen the symptoms associated with COVID-19. Routine dental and periodontal treatment may help decrease the symptoms of COVID-19. PD is more prevalent among patients experiencing metabolic diseases such as obesity, diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular risk. Studies have shown that these patients are highly susceptible for SARS-CoV-2 infection. Pro-inflammatory cytokines and oxidative stress known to contribute to the development of PD and other metabolic diseases are highly elevated among COVID-19 patients. Periodontal health may help to determine the severity of COVID-19 infection. Accumulating evidence shows that African-Americans (AAs) and vulnerable populations are disproportionately susceptible to PD, metabolic diseases and COVID-19 compared to other ethnicities in the United States. Dentistry and dental healthcare professionals are particularly susceptible to this virus due to the transferability via the oral cavity and the use of aerosol creating instruments that are ubiquitous in this field. In this review, we attempt to provide a comprehensive and updated source of information about SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 and the various effects it has had on the dental profession and patients visits to dental clinics. Finally, this review is a valuable resource for the management of oral hygiene and reduction of the severity of infection.


Logistics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 23
Author(s):  
Rebecca Sheehan ◽  
Dimitrios Dalaklis ◽  
Anastasia Christodoulou ◽  
Megan Drewniak ◽  
Peter Raneri ◽  
...  

The analysis in hand provides a brief assessment of the United States’ and Canada’s marine transportation system and relevant search and rescue (SAR) support in relation to the Northwest Passage, with the purpose of examining to what extent these countries’ relevant infrastructure resources are able to meet the expected growth of shipping operations and business activities in the Arctic. Through an extensive literature review, this assessment will specifically describe the most important influences upon the maritime transportation system, with the issue of certain geographical details and the capabilities of existing ports standing out. Additionally, vessel activity trends and vessel traffic routing measure initiatives will be examined. Furthermore, the SAR infrastructure details and means to render assistance to people in distress along the Northwest Passage will be discussed. The reality remains that port characteristics are limited and vessel traffic routing measure initiatives and upgrades to SAR assets are commendable but slow-paced. It is true that both the United States and Canada are taking proper measures to build up infrastructure needs, but they both may run out of time to put adequate infrastructure in place to deal effectively with the changing environment.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Aart Scholte ◽  
Soetkin Verhaegen ◽  
Jonas Tallberg

Abstract This article examines what contemporary elites think about global governance and what these attitudes might bode for the future of global institutions. Evidence comes from a unique survey conducted in 2017–19 across six elite sectors (business, civil society, government bureaucracy, media, political parties, research) in six countries (Brazil, Germany, the Philippines, Russia, South Africa, the United States) and a global group. Bearing in mind some notable variation between countries, elite types, issue-areas and institutions, three main interconnected findings emerge. First, in principle, contemporary leaders in politics and society hold considerable readiness to pursue global-scale governance. Today's elites are not generally in a nationalist-protectionist-sovereigntist mood. Second, in practice, these elites on average hold medium-level confidence towards fourteen current global governance institutions. This evidence suggests that, while there is at present no legitimacy crisis of global governance among elites (as might encourage its decline), neither is there a legitimacy boom (as could spur its expansion). Third, if we probe what elites prioritize when they evaluate global governance, the surveyed leaders generally most underline democracy in the procedures of these bodies and effectiveness in their performance. This finding suggests that, to raise elites' future confidence in global governance, the institutions would do well to become more transparent in their operations and more impactful problem-solvers in their outcomes.


Polar Record ◽  
1961 ◽  
Vol 10 (67) ◽  
pp. 365-371
Author(s):  
T. A. Harwood

In 1946 the United States Weather Bureau and the Canadian Meteorological Service installed the first of the Joint Arctic Weather Stations at Resolute Bay. The network of satellite stations was extended into the Arctic archipelago in the following years on roughly a 275-mile spacing to Mould Bay, Isachsen, Eureka and Alert.


2016 ◽  
Vol 97 (6) ◽  
pp. 1033-1056 ◽  
Author(s):  
Taneil Uttal ◽  
Sandra Starkweather ◽  
James R. Drummond ◽  
Timo Vihma ◽  
Alexander P. Makshtas ◽  
...  

Abstract International Arctic Systems for Observing the Atmosphere (IASOA) activities and partnerships were initiated as a part of the 2007–09 International Polar Year (IPY) and are expected to continue for many decades as a legacy program. The IASOA focus is on coordinating intensive measurements of the Arctic atmosphere collected in the United States, Canada, Russia, Norway, Finland, and Greenland to create synthesis science that leads to an understanding of why and not just how the Arctic atmosphere is evolving. The IASOA premise is that there are limitations with Arctic modeling and satellite observations that can only be addressed with boots-on-the-ground, in situ observations and that the potential of combining individual station and network measurements into an integrated observing system is tremendous. The IASOA vision is that by further integrating with other network observing programs focusing on hydrology, glaciology, oceanography, terrestrial, and biological systems it will be possible to understand the mechanisms of the entire Arctic system, perhaps well enough for humans to mitigate undesirable variations and adapt to inevitable change.


2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (10) ◽  
pp. 149-166
Author(s):  
Dmitry V. Gordienko ◽  

The paper examines the interests of Russia, the United States and China in the regions of the world and identifies the priorities of Russia's activities in Europe, Central Asia and the Caucasus, the Asia-Pacific region, the Arctic, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America, their comparative assessment with the interests of the United States and China. An approach to assessing the impact of possible consequences of the activities of the United States and China on the realization of Russia's interests is proposed. This makes it possible to identify the priorities of the policy of the Russian Federation in various regions of the world. The results of the analysis can be used to substantiate recommendations to the military-political leadership of our country. It is concluded that the discrepancy between the interests of the United States and China is important for the implementation of the current economic and military policy of the Russian Federation.


Author(s):  
Amanda Henton ◽  
Thanos Tzounopoulos

Tinnitus is a pervasive public health issue that affects approximately 15% of the United States population. Similar estimates have also been shown on a global scale, with similar prevalence found in Europe, Asia, and Africa. The severity of tinnitus is heterogeneous, ranging from mildly bothersome to extremely disruptive. In the United States, approximately 10-20% of individuals who experience tinnitus report symptoms that severely reduce their quality of life. Due to the huge personal and societal burden, in the last twenty years a concerted effort on basic and clinical research has significantly advanced our understanding and treatment of this disorder. Yet, neither full understanding, nor cure exists. We know that tinnitus is the persistent involuntary phantom percept of internally-generated non-verbal noises and tones, which in most cases is initiated, by acquired hearing loss and maintained only when this loss is coupled with distinct neuronal changes in auditory and extra-auditory brain networks. Yet, the exact mechanisms and patterns of neural activity that are necessary and sufficient for the perceptual generation and maintenance of tinnitus remain incompletely understood. Combinations of animal model and human research will be essential in filling these gaps. Nevertheless, the existing progress in investigating the neurophysiological mechanisms has improved current treatment and highlighted novel targets for drug development and clinical trials. The aim of this review is to thoroughly discuss the current state of human and animal tinnitus research, outline current challenges, and highlight new and exciting research opportunities.


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