The Last Greenhouse World

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Zalasiewicz ◽  
Mark Williams
Keyword(s):  
United States Army ◽  
The United States ◽  
Ellesmere Island ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
The Sun ◽  
International Polar Year ◽  
Arthurian Legend ◽  
The North ◽  
Ancient Forest ◽  
International Polar

Ellesmere Island today is a destination only to a particular type of tourist: rich enough to afford the most exclusive of package tours, and hardy (or ascetic) enough to yearn for the spiritual purity of an icy wasteland, rather than the sensual pleasures of a Mediterranean seashore. The island is large—twice the size of Iceland. Yet, its largest settlement, Grise Fjord (or, in the local Inuktitut language, Aijuittuk—‘the place that never thaws’) has but some 140 souls—while its smallest, Eureka, bizarrely but somehow appropriately, was listed in 2006 as having precisely none. Squeezed between northern Canada and Greenland, Ellesmere Island is well within the Arctic Circle, and its northern tip is not much more than 700 kilometres from the North Pole. A land of mountains, fjords, glaciers, and ice-fields, it has been dubbed ‘the horizontal Everest’. In the short summer, the Sun never leaves the sky, and temperatures might, on brief sunny days, exceed 20 °C. When the winter months come, the Sun never rises, and temperatures drop below –40 °C. The only tree that can grow, here and there, is the dwarf Arctic willow, usually knee-high, while the mammals—musk ox, caribou, seals—have attracted Inuit hunters for some 4,000 years (and more lately, Viking explorers too). It was the handsomely whiskered First Lieutenant Adolphus Washington Greely (1844–1935) of the United States Army who discovered the ancient forest that had lain there, deeply buried, for fifty million years, a forest as expressive of bygone glories as any Arthurian legend. As part of the First International Polar Year, in 1882, he had been given charge of a party of soldiers, and tasked with making magnetic and meteorological measurements in the far north. They explored the Greenland coast, and traversed Ellesmere Island from east to west, stumbling upon the forest in the course of these journeys. The voyage killed most of his men, and almost killed him. When the relief crews arrived, two years late (the expedition had not been ideally planned) only six men, including Greely, were left alive. They had survived—just—by eating their own boots and, it seems, the remains of their dead colleagues.

scholarly journals International Arctic Systems for Observing the Atmosphere: An International Polar Year Legacy Consortium

2016 ◽  
Vol 97 (6) ◽  
pp. 1033-1056 ◽  
Author(s):  
Taneil Uttal ◽  
Sandra Starkweather ◽  
James R. Drummond ◽  
Timo Vihma ◽  
Alexander P. Makshtas ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
Satellite Observations ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
International Polar Year ◽  
Network Measurements ◽  
International Polar ◽  
In Situ Observations ◽  
Arctic Atmosphere

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.

scholarly journals IASI carbon monoxide validation over the Arctic during POLARCAT spring and summer campaigns

2010 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 14445-14494 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Pommier ◽  
K. S. Law ◽  
C. Clerbaux ◽  
S. Turquety ◽  
D. Hurtmans ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Monoxide ◽  
Detailed Comparison ◽  
Anthropogenic Sources ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
International Polar Year ◽  
Transport Pathways ◽  
The North ◽  
Clean Air ◽  
International Polar

Abstract. In this paper, we provide a detailed comparison between carbon monoxide (CO) data measured by the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI)/METOP and aircraft measurements over the Arctic. The CO measurements were obtained during North American campaigns (NASA ARCTAS and NOAA ARCPAC) and European campaigns (POLARCAT-France, POLARCAT-GRACE and YAK-AEROSIB) as part of the International Polar Year (IPY) in spring and summer 2008. During the campaigns different air masses were sampled including clean air, polluted plumes originating from anthropogenic sources in Europe, Asia and North America, and forest fire plumes originating from Siberia and Canada. CO-rich plumes following different transport pathways were captured well by the IASI instrument, illustrated for example by a transport event over the North Pole from Asia on 9 July 2008. The comparison between the IASI CO profiles and aircraft data was achieved by first completing the latter for higher altitudes using a latitudinally dependent climatology of ACE-FTS satellite CO profiles (2004–2009) and by subsequently smoothing the resulting full profiles by the IASI averaging kernels. Proceeding this way, the IASI profiles were shown to be in good agreement with smoothed in situ profiles (with a difference of about 10 ppbv) in spring. In summer, the IASI profiles were higher than the smoothed in situ profiles below 8 km, for all polluted cases. Correlations between IASI and combination ACE-FTS/aircraft derived total columns varied from 0.15 to 0.74 in spring and 0.26 to 0.84 in summer, with better results over the sea in spring (0.73) and over the land in summer (0.69).

scholarly journals OFFENSIVE STRUCTURAL REALISM AND RUSSIAN EXPANSION IN THE ARCTIC

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brandon C. Halaychik
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
Russian Federation ◽  
Security Policy ◽  
Structural Realism ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Russian Government ◽  
The North ◽  
The Russian Federation

The Russian Federations drive to reestablish itself as a global power has severe security implications for the United States, its Arctic neighbors, and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization as a whole. The former Commander of United States Naval Forces Europe Admiral Mark Ferguson noted that the re-militarization of Russian security policy in the Arctic is one of the most significant developments in the twenty-first century adding that Russia is creating an “Arc of steel from the Arctic to the Mediterranean” (Herbst 2016, 166). Although the Russian Federation postulates its expansion into the Arctic is for purely economic means, the reality of the military hardware being placed in the region by the Russians tells otherwise. Implementation of military hardware such as anti-air defenses is contrary to the stipulated purposes of the Russian Government in the region. Therefore is the Russian Federation building strategic military bases in the Arctic to challenge the United States hegemony due to the mistreatment against the Russians by the United States and NATO after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

History of the Russian Empire in the context of theoretical and legal analysis (To the 300th anniversary of the Russian Empire)

2021 ◽  
pp. 186
Author(s):  
Nadezhda S. Nizhnik
Keyword(s):  
The United States ◽  
Russian Empire ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
The Black Sea ◽  
Scientific Conference ◽  
Legal Analysis ◽  
The North ◽  
Internal Affairs ◽  
The Russian Empire ◽  
The Baltic

The review of the XVIII International Scientific Conference "State and Law: evolution, current state, development prospects (to the 300th anniversary of the Russian Empire)" was held on April 29-30, 2021 at the St. Petersburg University of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The Russian Empire existed on the political map of the world from October 22 (November 2), 1721 until the February Revolution and the overthrow of the Monarchy on March 3, 1917. The Russian Empire was the third largest state that ever existed (after the British and Mongolian Empires): It extended to the Arctic Ocean in the north and the Black Sea in the south, to the Baltic Sea in the west and the Pacific Ocean in the east. The Russian Empire was one of the great powers along with Great Britain, France, Prussia (Germany) and Austria-Hungary, and since the second half of the XIX century – also Italy and the United States. The capital of the Russian Empire was St. Petersburg (1721 - 1728), Moscow (1728 - 1732), then again St. Petersburg (1732 - 1917), renamed Petrograd in 1914. Therefore, it is natural that a conference dedicated to the 300th anniversary of the formation of the Russian Empire was held in St. Petersburg, the former imperial capital. The conference was devoted to problems concerning various aspects of the organization and functioning of the state and law, a retrospective analysis of the activities of state bodies in the Russian Empire. The discussion focused on various issues: the character of the Russian Empire as a socio-legal phenomenon and the subject of the legitimate use of state coercion, the development of political and legal thought, the regulatory and legal foundations of the organization and functioning of the Russian state in the XVIII century – at the beginning of the XX century, the characteristics of state bodies as an element of the mechanism of the imperial state in Russia, the organizational and legal bases of the activities of bodies that manage the internal affairs of the Russian Empire, as well as the image of state authorities and officials-representatives of state power.

Radiogenic Isotope Signatures of Holocene Sediments from Kane Basin: Linkage with the Re-opening and Evolution of Nares Strait

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lina Madaj ◽  
Friedrich Lucassen ◽  
Claude Hillaire-Marcel ◽  
Simone A. Kasemann
Keyword(s):  
Ellesmere Island ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Baffin Bay ◽  
Low Salinity ◽  
The Core ◽  
The Past ◽  
Nares Strait ◽  
The North ◽  
Sediment Input ◽  
Detrital Sediment

<p>The re-opening of the Arctic Ocean-Baffin Bay gateway through Nares Strait, following the Last Glacial Maximum, has been partly documented, discussed and revised in the past decades. The Nares Strait opening has led to the inception of the modern fast circulation pattern carrying low-salinity Arctic water towards Baffin Bay and further towards the Labrador Sea. This low-salinity water impacts thermohaline conditions in the North Atlantic, thus the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation. Available land-based and marine records set the complete opening between 9 and 7.5 ka BP [1-2], although the precise timing and intensification of the southward flowing currents is still open to debate. A recent study of a marine deglacial sedimentary record from Kane Basin, central Nares Strait, adds information about subsequent paleoceanographic conditions in this widened sector of the strait and proposed the complete opening at ~8.3 ka BP [3].</p><p>We present complementary radiogenic strontium, neodymium and lead isotope data of the siliciclastic detrital sediment fraction of this very record [3] further documenting the timing and pattern of Nares Strait opening from a sediment provenance approach. The data permit to distinguish detrital material from northern Greenland and Ellesmere Island, transported to the core location from both sides of Nares Strait. Throughout the Holocene, the evolution of contributions of these two sources hint to the timing of the ice break-up in Kennedy Channel, north of Kane Basin, which led to the complete opening of Nares Strait [3]. The newly established gateway of material transported to the core location from the north via Kennedy Channel is recorded by increased contribution of northern Ellesmere Island detrital sediment input. This shift from a Greenland (Inglefield Land) dominated sediment input to a northern Ellesmere Island dominated sediment input supports the hypothesis of the newly proposed timing of the complete opening of Nares Strait at 8.3 ka BP [3] and highlights a progressive trend towards modern-like conditions, reached at about 4 ka BP.</p><p>References:</p><p>[1] England (1999) Quaternary Science Reviews, 18(3), 421–456. [2] Jennings et al. (2011) Oceanography, 24(3), 26-41. [3] Georgiadis et al. (2018) Climate of the Past, 14 (12), 1991-2010.</p>

scholarly journals Chironomidae (Insecta: Diptera) from the eastern Canadian Arctic and subarctic with descriptions of new life stages, a possible new genus, and new geographical records

2016 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 53 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Namayandeh ◽  
K.S. Heard ◽  
E.A. Luiker ◽  
J.M. Culp
Keyword(s):  
Benthic Invertebrates ◽  
New Genus ◽  
Canadian Arctic ◽  
Ellesmere Island ◽  
Life Stages ◽  
Larval Form ◽  
International Polar Year ◽  
International Polar ◽  
A New Species ◽  
Eastern Canadian Arctic

Chironomidae larvae constituted the largest proportion of benthic invertebrates collected from 99 rivers stretching from northern Labrador (latitude 58°N) to northern parts of Ellesmere Island (82°N). We describe 92 species of Chironomidae (mainly larval forms) providing new descriptions, a revision for the adult female of <em>Parametriocnemus boreoalpinus</em> Gowin <em>et</em> Thienemann, a possible new genus (larval form only), and 9 larval forms that may represent a new species. In addition, new geographical distribution records are specified for 1 Nearctic species, 6 species in Canada, 10 for Labrador, and 17 for Nunavut. This work contributes to Environment Canada’s International Polar Year output (2007-2009).

Resuscitation and Surgery for Soldiers of the American Civil War (1861–1865)

1985 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 76-85 ◽  
Author(s):  
James R. Watson
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Civil War ◽  
United States Army ◽  
United States Of America ◽  
The United States ◽  
Surgeon General ◽  
Southern States ◽  
The North ◽  
Surgical History ◽  
History Of

On June 2, 1862, William A. Hammond, Surgeon General of the United States Army, announced the intention of his office to collect material for the publication of a “Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion (1861–1865)” (1), usually called the Civil War of the United States of America, or the War Between the Union (the North; the Federal Government) and the Confederacy of the Southern States. Forms for the monthly “Returns of Sick and Wounded” were reviewed, corrected and useful data compiled from these “Returns” and from statistics of the offices of the Adjutant General (payroll) and Quartermaster General (burial of decreased soldiers).

Arctic shipping guidelines: towards a legal regime for navigation safety and environmental protection?

Polar Record ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
pp. 107-114 ◽  
Author(s):  
Øystein Jensen
Keyword(s):  
The Arctic ◽  
Legal Issue ◽  
Polar Regions ◽  
International Polar Year ◽  
Safety Standards ◽  
International Polar ◽  
Key Issues ◽  
Arctic Ice ◽  
The Antarctic ◽  
Near Future

ABSTRACTWith the International Polar Year (IPY) having commenced in March 2007, key issues relating to the polar regions are again in focus. This article reviews one central legal issue re-emerging in the Arctic: global regulation of safety standards for international shipping. The ‘Guidelines for ships operating in Arctic ice-covered waters’ are examined, with a view to the probable expansion of shipping in the Arctic in near future. Following an introduction to navigational issues within the Arctic context, the article describes how the guidelines came into being, and then analyses key elements and structure of the regulations and shortfalls of today's arrangements. The possible relevance of the guidelines to the Antarctic is also discussed briefly. Finally, the article inquires into the key repercussions of introducing binding regulations.

James Buckland Mawdsley (1894-1964)

ARCTIC ◽  
1965 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 146
Author(s):  
A.R. Byers
Keyword(s):  
Great Influence ◽  
Mineral Resources ◽  
Field Work ◽  
The United States ◽  
Geological Survey ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Lake Area ◽  
Northern Canada ◽  
Geographical Society ◽  
The North

James Buckland Mawdsley, M.B.E., Ph.D., F.R.S.C., a Charter Associate of the Arctic Institute of North America, died very suddenly on 3 December 1964 at the age of 70. As Director of the Institute for Northern Studies, University of Saskatchewan, he played a major role in its organization and development and exerted a very great influence on research in northern Canada. He was born on 22 July 1894 near Siena, Italy, the son of British-American parents. In 1904 the Mawdsley family left Italy and settled in the village of Gainsborough, southeastern Saskatchewan. After receiving his public and high school training in Saskatchewan he entered McGill University in 1913. His career, like that of many of his contemporaries, was interrupted by the First World War. Twice wounded in France, first with the Princess Patricia Canadian Light Infantry and then as a pilot with the Royal Flying Corps, he was awarded the M.B.E. at the end of the war. In 1919 he returned to McGill and two years later graduated in Mining Engineering. He then went to Princeton University where he obtained his Doctor of Philosophy degree in Geology in 1924. That same year he joined the Geological Survey of Canada and for the next five years applied his scientific knowledge to the problems of the regional geology of northwestern Quebec. A new chapter in his life began in 1929 when he accepted the appointment of professor and head of the Department of Geology at the University of Saskatchewan, a position he held until he became Dean of Engineering in 1961 and also the Director of the Institute for Northern Studies. In 1963 he retired as Dean and was then able to devote all his time to the affairs of the Institute. In addition to his academic duties his professional activities included field work in northern Saskatchewan for the Geological Survey of Canada and the Saskatchewan Department of Mineral Resources, and private consulting assignments took him to other parts of northern Canada, to the United States and Great Britain. He was the author of 51 scientific papers and his honours were many. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 1933 and was chairman of Section IV for the year 1954-55. He was president of the Geological Association of Canada during 1955-56 and of the Canadian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy for 1961-62. In 1953 he was awarded the Institute's Barlow Memorial Medal in recognition of his paper entitled "Uraninite-bearing deposits, Charlebois Lake area, northeastern Saskatchewan". He was a Fellow and Director of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society, a Fellow of the Geological Society of America, a member of the Society of Economic Geologists, the Engineering Institute of Canada, and the Association of Professional Engineers of Saskatchewan. He had an eventful life, travelled widely, met and was a friend to many people. Such qualities as tact, kindliness, sincerity and respect for the thoughts of others enabled him to present his views without arousing undue antagonism, and to cooperate with others in reaching decisions. Recognized as an able administrator, scientist, and teacher, perhaps his greatest service will prove to be the influence he had on those who worked or studied under him. In them he not only instilled a feeling of scientific curiosity but also a keen interest and love of the North.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document