8. Arctic futures

2021 ◽  
pp. 137-142
Author(s):  
Klaus Dodds ◽  
Jamie Woodward
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Genetic Diversity ◽  
Economic Development ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Small Community ◽  
Arctic Amplification ◽  
Arctic Council ◽  
Svalbard Archipelago ◽  
Governance Model

‘Arctic futures’ discusses the future of the Arctic that starts in the Norwegian territory of Svalbard wherein the Global Seed Vault functions as an Arctic sanctuary for the genetic diversity of crops. The Svalbard archipelago is a hotspot of Arctic amplification as rapid warming has been keenly felt by the small community. However, the environmental changes, no matter how stark and widespread, will not dampen interest in economic development and strategic posturing. Arctic states and northern peoples remain eager to improve their social and economic conditions as well as adapt to ongoing climate change. The Arctic is a haven of international peace and cooperation as the Arctic Council is cited as a governance model that others could emulate.

scholarly journals Phylogeography of the Brittle Star Ophiura sarsii Lütken, 1855 (Echinodermata: Ophiuroidea) from the Barents Sea and East Atlantic

Diversity ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 40
Author(s):  
Evgeny Genelt-Yanovskiy ◽  
Yixuan Li ◽  
Ekaterina Stratanenko ◽  
Natalia Zhuravleva ◽  
Natalia Strelkova ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Diversity ◽  
Barents Sea ◽  
Haplotype Diversity ◽  
Brittle Star ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Coi Gene ◽  
High Genetic Diversity ◽  
Svalbard Archipelago ◽  
Mitochondrial Coi ◽  
The Barents Sea

Ophiura sarsii is a common brittle star species across the Arctic and Sub-Arctic regions of the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans. Ophiurasarsii is among the dominant echinoderms in the Barents Sea. We studied the genetic diversity of O.sarsii by sequencing the 548 bp fragment of the mitochondrial COI gene. Ophiurasarsii demonstrated high genetic diversity in the Barents Sea. Both major Atlantic mtDNA lineages were present in the Barents Sea and were evenly distributed between the northern waters around Svalbard archipelago and the southern part near Murmansk coast of Kola Peninsula. Both regions, and other parts of the O.sarsii range, were characterized by high haplotype diversity with a significant number of private haplotypes being mostly satellites to the two dominant haplotypes, each belonging to a different mtDNA clade. Demographic analyses indicated that the demographic and spatial expansion of O.sarsii in the Barents Sea most plausibly has started in the Bølling–Allerød interstadial during the deglaciation of the western margin of the Barents Sea.

scholarly journals How Does the Arctic Council Support Conservation of Arctic Biodiversity?

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (12) ◽  
pp. 5042
Author(s):  
Tom Barry ◽  
Brynhildur Daviðsdóttir ◽  
Níels Einarsson ◽  
Oran R. Young
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Environmental Protection ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Arctic Council ◽  
National Interests ◽  
Conflicting Demands ◽  
Agent Of Change ◽  
Insight Into

The Arctic Council is an intergovernmental forum promoting cooperation, coordination and interaction among Arctic states, indigenous communities, and peoples on issues of common importance. The rising geo-political importance of the Arctic and the onset of climate change has resulted in the Council becoming a focus of increasing interest from both inside and beyond the Arctic. This has resulted in new demands placed on the Council, attracting an increasing number of participants, and instigating a period of transformation as Arctic states work to find a way to balance conflicting demands to improve the Council’s effectiveness and take care of national interests. This paper considers whether, during this time of change, the Council is having an impact on the issues it was formed to address, i.e., environmental protection and sustainable development. To provide answers, it looks at how the Council reports on and evaluates progress towards the implementation of recommendations it makes regarding biodiversity, how it identifies where activities have had impacts and uncovers the mechanisms through which they were successful, to provide an insight into how the Arctic Council can be an agent of change.

scholarly journals Is It Time for a Reset in Arctic Governance?

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (16) ◽  
pp. 4497 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oran R. Young
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
The United States ◽  
Global Scale ◽  
Peripheral Region ◽  
Great Power ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Arctic Council ◽  
Ground Zero ◽  
Regime Complex

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.

scholarly journals Contrasting changes in space use induced by climate change in two Arctic marine mammal species

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 20180834 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charmain D. Hamilton ◽  
Jade Vacquié-Garcia ◽  
Kit M. Kovacs ◽  
Rolf A. Ims ◽  
Jack Kohler ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Marine Mammals ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Life Cycles ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Delphinapterus Leucas ◽  
Behavioural Plasticity ◽  
Mammal Species ◽  
Dietary Specialization ◽  
Environmental Pressures

Global warming is inducing major environmental changes in the Arctic. These changes will differentially affect species owing to differences in climate sensitivity and behavioural plasticity. Arctic endemic marine mammals are expected to be impacted significantly by ongoing changes in their key habitats owing to their long life cycles and dependence on ice. Herein, unique biotelemetry datasets for ringed seals (RS; Pusa hispida ) and white whales (WW; Delphinapterus leucas ) from Svalbard, Norway, spanning two decades (1995–2016) are used to investigate how these species have responded to reduced sea-ice cover and increased Atlantic water influxes. Tidal glacier fronts were traditionally important foraging areas for both species. Following a period with dramatic environmental change, RS now spend significantly more time near tidal glaciers, where Arctic prey presumably still concentrate. Conversely, WW spend significantly less time near tidal glacier fronts and display spatial patterns that suggest that they are foraging on Atlantic fishes that are new to the region. Differences in levels of dietary specialization and overall behavioural plasticity are likely reasons for similar environmental pressures affecting these species differently. Climate change adjustments through behavioural plasticity will be vital for species survival in the Arctic, given the rapidity of change and limited dispersal options.

The Arctic Economic Council – the Origins

2015 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 225-248
Author(s):  
Natalia Loukacheva
Keyword(s):  
Economic Development ◽  
Business Community ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Arctic Council ◽  
Economic Council ◽  
History Of ◽  
New Vision

On 2 September 2014, in the Canadian town of Iqaluit – the territorial capital of Nunavut – the founding meeting of the Arctic Economic Council took place. By relying on founding documents, interviews with stakeholders who were engaged in the development of the concept of the Council, and by following the process of its establishment, the author examines why the Arctic Council established this new independent body. The article looks back at the history of the Arctic Council’s relationships with business and examines what the objectives of the new Arctic Economic Council are. It also explores how the new council will do business and concludes by posing questions about how the Council might facilitate economic development, entrepreneurship, a new vision and dialogue, and generally how it can best serve the circumpolar business community, Northern and Indigenous stakeholders.

scholarly journals Climate change negatively impacts dominant microbes in the sediments of a High Arctic lake

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Graham A. Colby ◽  
Matti O. Ruuskanen ◽  
Kyra A. St. Pierre ◽  
Vincent L. St. Louis ◽  
Alexandre J. Poulain ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Community Structure ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
High Arctic ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Large Lake ◽  
Spatial Gradients ◽  
Functional Potential ◽  
High Runoff ◽  
Sediment Microbes

AbstractTemperatures in the Arctic are expected to increase dramatically over the next century, yet little is known about how microbial communities and their underlying metabolic processes will be affected by these environmental changes in freshwater sedimentary systems. To address this knowledge gap, we analyzed sediments from Lake Hazen, NU Canada. Here, we exploit the spatial heterogeneity created by varying runoff regimes across the watershed of this uniquely large lake at these latitudes to test how a transition from low to high runoff, used as one proxy for climate change, affects the community structure and functional potential of dominant microbes. Based on metagenomic analyses of lake sediments along these spatial gradients, we show that increasing runoff leads to a decrease in taxonomic and functional diversity of sediment microbes. Our findings are likely to apply to other, smaller, glacierized watersheds typical of polar or high latitude / high altitudes ecosystems; we can predict that such changes will have far reaching consequences on these ecosystems by affecting nutrient biogeochemical cycling, the direction and magnitude of which are yet to be determined.

scholarly journals Biden Administration's Arctic Policy Outlook

2021 ◽  
pp. 0
Author(s):  
Nikita Lipunov
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Infrastructure Projects ◽  
Arctic Council ◽  
White House ◽  
Multilateral Cooperation ◽  
Arctic Policy ◽  
Rules Of The Game

The goal of US Arctic policy today is to consolidate its status as an Arctic power. To that end, the Biden administration has reshuffled personnel and institutions, stepped up the fight against climate change, initiated infrastructure projects in Alaska, and emphasised multilateral cooperation, including through NATO and the Arctic Council. The White House is not interested in excessive confrontation with Russia in the region and recognises the need for clear 'rules of the game' in the Arctic.

scholarly journals Arctic Futures–Future Arctics?

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (16) ◽  
pp. 9420
Author(s):  
Oran R. Young
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Driving Forces ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Multiple Perspectives ◽  
Arctic Council ◽  
The Future ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
The One ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
Socioeconomic Consequences

Is the Arctic sufficiently distinctive and uniform to justify adopting a holistic perspective in thinking about the future of the region? Or do we need to acknowledge that the Arctic encompasses a number of different subregions whose futures may diverge more or less profoundly? In the aftermath of the Cold War, a view of the Arctic as a distinctive region with a policy agenda of its own arose in many quarters and played a prominent role in shaping initiatives such as the launching of the Arctic Environmental Protection Strategy in 1991 and the creation of the Arctic Council in 1996. Yet not everyone found this perspective persuasive at the time, and more recent developments have raised new questions about the usefulness of this perspective as a basis for thinking about the future of the Arctic. As a result, some observers take the view that we need to think more about future Arctics than about Arctic futures. Yet, today, climate change provides a central thread tying together multiple perspectives on the Arctic. The dramatic onset of climate change has turned the Arctic into the frontline with regard to the challenges of adapting to a changing biophysical setting. Ironically, the impacts of climate change also have increased the accessibility of massive reserves of hydrocarbons located in the Arctic, contributing to a feedback loop accelerating climate change. This means that the future of the Arctic will reflect the interplay between efforts to address the biophysical and socioeconomic consequences of climate change on the one hand and the influence of the driving forces underlying the political economy of energy development on the other.

scholarly journals 40 years High Arctic climatological dataset of the Polish Polar Station Hornsund (SW Spitsbergen, Svalbard)

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tomasz Wawrzyniak ◽  
Marzena Osuch
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Changes ◽  
High Arctic ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Data Series ◽  
Annual Data ◽  
Climate Data ◽  
Atlantic Sector ◽  
Svalbard Archipelago

Abstract. The article presents the climatological dataset from the Polish Polar Station Hornsund located in the SW part of Spitsbergen - the biggest island of the Svalbard Archipelago. Due to a general lack of long-term in situ measurements and observations, the high Arctic remains one of the largest climate‐data deficient regions on the Earth, so described series is of unique value. To draw conclusions on the climatic changes in the Arctic, it is necessary to analyse the long-term series of continuous, systematic, in situ observations from different locations and comparing the corresponding data, rather than rely on the climatic simulations only. In recent decades, rapid environmental changes occurring in the Atlantic sector of the Arctic are reflected in the data series collected by the operational monitoring conducted at the Hornsund Station. We demonstrate the results of the 40 years-long series of observations. Climatological mean values or totals are given, and we also examined the variability of meteorological variables at monthly and annual scale using the modified Mann-Kendall test for trend and Sen’s method. The relevant daily, monthly, and annual data are provided on the PANGAEA repository (https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.909042, Wawrzyniak and Osuch, 2019).

Conclusion

2020 ◽  
pp. 224-256
Author(s):  
Jonathan N. Markowitz
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Economic Development ◽  
Middle East ◽  
Technological Innovation ◽  
Resource Competition ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Territorial Expansion ◽  
Territorial Conflict ◽  
The Core ◽  
General Decline

Chapter 9 concludes with a discussion of the core findings and implications for the future of resource competition and territorial conflict. It demonstrates Rent-Addiction Theory’s generalizability by applying it broadly to explain the decline in territorial conflict worldwide and the prospects for resource competition in regions beyond the Arctic, such as the Middle East and Africa. The core findings support the book’s thesis that what states make influences what they want to take. The theory suggests that, contrary to existing findings on the link between economic development and conflict, resource-driven development may make states more, rather than less, conflict-prone. This insight is critical for policymakers seeking to anticipate states’ responses to climate change and technological innovation, which are rapidly revealing seabed resources. Finally, the theory provides a novel explanation for why, despite a general decline in conquest, some states still have a strong interest in seeking profits from territorial expansion.

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