The future of Antarctic scientific research

Polar Record ◽  
1993 ◽  
Vol 29 (168) ◽  
pp. 37-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
David J. Drewry
Keyword(s):  
Global Climate ◽  
Stratospheric Ozone ◽  
Critical Evaluation ◽  
Field Research ◽  
Ice Cores ◽  
Anthropogenic Pollution ◽  
World Population ◽  
The Future ◽  
Scientific Results ◽  
The Antarctic

ABSTRACTWithin the stable political context of the Antarctic Treaty regime, science has flourished, achieving considerable prominence and an increasing global relevance. Issues such as stratospheric ozone depletion and enhanced ultraviolet effects, environmental and climatic archive from ice cores, detection of anthropogenic pollution, study of global climate change (such as the carbon cycle and sea level), and analysis of unique collections of meteorites have attracted and focused unprecedented international attention on Antarctica. In the future, major challenges will continue to emerge in Antarctic science, driven by conceptual breakthroughs, innovative field research, and rapidly developing technology. Today's fashionable topics such as global wanning, biodiversity, thecarbon pump, and ozone loss may soon fade. What will replace them remains uncertain. The study of the coupling of presently diverse whole-earth systems appears a possibility: the biogeochemical coupling of landmasses, oceans, and ice geared to the study and provision of new food resources, to meet the demands of a world population in exponential growth, will feature considerably in the next century and involve much Antarctic research. Future science will develop against a backdrop of heightening external pressures: (1) the competing demands from the AntarcticTreaty System, including environmental concerns and possible operating restrictions, and the requirement to provide expert opinion from specialised research, (2) increasing problems of the coordination of an expanding and diverse scientific community, (3) the high cost and level of sophistication of modern research, and (4) accountability, particularly in respect of quality scientific results. Within each of these areas national programmes will assess and determine priorities for the future, which will severely test existing systems for collaboration, logistics sharing, and financial underpinning. Attention will need to be directed at a critical evaluation of the international mechanisms and frameworks for establishing the details of the Antarctic scientific agenda, and its meshing with discipline-based research in general.

scholarly journals A brief history of ice core science over the last 50 yr

2013 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 3711-3767 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Jouzel
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Ice Core ◽  
Ice Cores ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Interglacial Period ◽  
Last Interglacial ◽  
Last Interglacial Period ◽  
History Of ◽  
Scientific Results ◽  
The Antarctic

Abstract. For about 50 yr, ice cores have provided a wealth of information about past climatic and environmental changes. Ice cores from Greenland, Antarctica and other glaciers, now emcompass a variety of timescales. However, the longer time scales (e.g. at least back to the Last Glacial period) are covered by deep ice cores the number of which is still very limited, seven from Greenland, with only one providing an undisturbed record of a part of the Last Interglacial Period, and a dozen from Antarctica with the longest record covering the last 800 000 yr. This article aims to summarize this successful adventure initiated by a few pioneers and their teams and to review key scientific results in focusing on climate (in particular water isotopes) and climate related (e.g. greenhouse gases) reconstructions. Future research is well taken into account by the four projects defined by IPICS. However it remains a challenge to get an intact record of the Last Interglacial in Greenland and to extend the Antarctic record through the mid-Pleistocene transition, if possible back to 1.5 Myr.

What we can learn from the parallels between the COVID-19 and the future climate change crises

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rubén D. Manzanedo ◽  
Peter Manning
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Global Economy ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Future Climate Change ◽  
Substantial Portion ◽  
Preventative Measures ◽  
The Future ◽  
Behavioral Norm ◽  
Climate Crisis ◽  
Global Population

The ongoing COVID-19 outbreak pandemic is now a global crisis. It has caused 1.6+ million confirmed cases and 100 000+ deaths at the time of writing and triggered unprecedented preventative measures that have put a substantial portion of the global population under confinement, imposed isolation, and established ‘social distancing’ as a new global behavioral norm. The COVID-19 crisis has affected all aspects of everyday life and work, while also threatening the health of the global economy. This crisis offers also an unprecedented view of what the global climate crisis may look like. In fact, some of the parallels between the COVID-19 crisis and what we expect from the looming global climate emergency are remarkable. Reflecting upon the most challenging aspects of today’s crisis and how they compare with those expected from the climate change emergency may help us better prepare for the future.

Love, Inc.

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laurie Essig
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Global Climate Change ◽  
Structural Changes ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Dating Apps ◽  
Sense Of Security ◽  
True Love ◽  
The Future ◽  
False Sense ◽  
Global Movements

In Love, Inc., Laurie Essig argues that love is not all we need. As the future became less secure—with global climate change and the transfer of wealth to the few—Americans became more romantic. Romance is not just what lovers do but also what lovers learn through ideology. As an ideology, romance allowed us to privatize our futures, to imagine ourselves as safe and secure tomorrow if only we could find our "one true love" today. But the fairy dust of romance blinded us to what we really need: global movements and structural changes. By traveling through dating apps and spectacular engagements, white weddings and Disney honeymoons, Essig shows us how romance was sold to us and why we bought it. Love, Inc. seduced so many of us into a false sense of security, but it also, paradoxically, gives us hope in hopeless times. This book explores the struggle between our inner cynics and our inner romantic.

New methodical approaches to mapping of geosystems (by the example of Baikalian Siberia’s geosystems)

2018 ◽  
Vol 937 (7) ◽  
pp. 23-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
I.N. Vladimirov
Keyword(s):  
Global Climate ◽  
Remote Sensing Data ◽  
Field Research ◽  
Scientific Basis ◽  
Nature Management ◽  
Climate Data ◽  
Structural Dynamic ◽  
Digital Elevation ◽  
North Asia ◽  
Elevation Model

The article considers a new approach to landscape mapping based on the synthesis of remote sensing data of high and medium spatial resolution, a digital elevation model, maps of various thematic contents, a set of global climate data, and materials of field research. The map of the Baikalian’s Siberia geosystems is based on the principles of the multistage regional-typological and structural-dynamic classification of geosystems proposed by Academician V.B. Sochava. The structure of the geosystems of the Baikalian Siberia is characterized by great complexity, both in the set of natural complexes and in the degree of their contrast. The regional classification range covers the geosystems inherent in different subcontinents of Asia and reflects their interpenetration, being a unique landscape-situational example of Siberian nature within North Asia. The map of the geosystems of the Baikalian Siberia reflects the main structural and dynamic diversity of geosystems in the region in the systems of their geographic and genetic spatial structures. These landscape cartographic studies fit into a single system of geographic forecasting and create a new fundamental scientific basis for developing recommendations for optimizing nature management in the Baikal region within the framework of implementing state environmental policy.

scholarly journals Meaningful, but effective? A critical evaluation of Ireland’s citizens’ dialogues on the future of Europe

Politics ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 026339572199148
Author(s):  
Anthony Costello
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Public Relations ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Critical Evaluation ◽  
Participatory Approach ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Deliberative Process ◽  
Political Will ◽  
The Future

On the 25 March 2017, leaders of the EU27 and European Union (EU) institutions ratified the Rome Declaration. They committed to invite citizens to discuss Europe’s future and to provide recommendations that would facilitate their decision-makers in shaping their national positions on Europe. In response, citizens’ dialogues on the future of Europe were instituted across the Union to facilitate public participation in shaping Europe. This paper explores Ireland’s set of dialogues which took place during 2018. Although event organisers in Ireland applied a relatively atypical and more systematic and participatory approach to their dialogues, evidence suggests that Irelands’ dialogues were reminiscent of a public relations exercise which showcased the country’s commitment to incorporating citizens into the debate on Europe while avoiding a deliberative design which could have strengthened the quality of public discourse and the quality of public recommendations. Due to an absence of elite political will for a deliberative process, as well as structural weaknesses in design, participants’ recommendations lacked any clear and prescriptive direction which could shape Ireland’s national position on the future of Europe in any constructive or meaningful way.

Bringing the Future into Focus: Benefits and Challenges of High-Resolution Global Climate Change Simulations

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-1
Author(s):  
Stephen Gerald Yeager ◽  
Ping Chang ◽  
Gokhan Danabasoglu ◽  
James Edwards ◽  
Nan Rosenbloom ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
High Resolution ◽  
Global Climate Change ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
The Future

scholarly journals Simulation of Extreme Precipitation in Four Climate Regions in China by General Circulation Models (GCMs): Performance and Projections

Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 1509
Author(s):  
Mengru Zhang ◽  
Xiaoli Yang ◽  
Liliang Ren ◽  
Ming Pan ◽  
Shanhu Jiang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Extreme Precipitation ◽  
General Circulation ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Summer Precipitation ◽  
General Circulation Models ◽  
Cumulative Distribution ◽  
Extreme Precipitation Events ◽  
Increasing Trend ◽  
The Future ◽  
Semi Arid

In the context of global climate change, it is important to monitor abnormal changes in extreme precipitation events that lead to frequent floods. This research used precipitation indices to describe variations in extreme precipitation and analyzed the characteristics of extreme precipitation in four climatic (arid, semi-arid, semi-humid and humid) regions across China. The equidistant cumulative distribution function (EDCDF) method was used to downscale and bias-correct daily precipitation in eight Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5) general circulation models (GCMs). From 1961 to 2005, the humid region had stronger and longer extreme precipitation compared with the other regions. In the future, the projected extreme precipitation is mainly concentrated in summer, and there will be large areas with substantial changes in maximum consecutive 5-day precipitation (Rx5) and precipitation intensity (SDII). The greatest differences between two scenarios (RCP4.5 and RCP8.5) are in semi-arid and semi-humid areas for summer precipitation anomalies. However, the area of the four regions with an increasing trend of extreme precipitation is larger under the RCP8.5 scenario than that under the RCP4.5 scenario. The increasing trend of extreme precipitation in the future is relatively pronounced, especially in humid areas, implying a potential heightened flood risk in these areas.

Chemical Composition of Ice Containing Tephra Layers in the Byrd Station Ice Core, Antarctica

1988 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 315-330 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julie M. Palais ◽  
Philip R. Kyle
Keyword(s):  
Chemical Composition ◽  
Silicate Glass ◽  
Residence Time ◽  
Volcanic Ash ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Ice Core ◽  
Volcanic Eruptions ◽  
Tephra Layers ◽  
The Antarctic ◽  
Hydrolysis Of

The chemical composition of ice containing tephra (volcanic ash) layers in 22 sections of the Byrd Station ice core was examined to determine if the volcanic eruptions affected the chemical composition of the atmosphere and precipitation in the vicinity of Byrd Station. The liquid conductivity, acidity, sulfate, nitrate, aluminum, and sodium concentrations of ice samples deposited before, during, and after the deposition of the tephra layers were analyzed. Ice samples that contain tephra layers have, on average, about two times more sulfate and three to four times more aluminum than nonvolcanic ice samples. The acidity of ice samples associated with tephra layers is lowered by hydrolysis of silicate glass and minerals. Average nitrate, sodium, and conductivity are the same in all samples. Because much of the sulfur and chlorine originally associated with these eruptions may have been scavenged by ash particles, the atmospheric residence time of these volatiles would have been minimized. Therefore the eruptions probably had only a small effect on the composition of the Antarctic atmosphere and a negligible effect on local or global climate.

The Future Growth of World Population

1958 ◽  
Vol 60 (3) ◽  
pp. 216
Author(s):  
Carl-Erik Quensel
Keyword(s):  
World Population ◽  
The Future ◽  
Future Growth
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