The North Atlantic anchor: Canada and the Pacific Century

2018 ◽  
Vol 73 (3) ◽  
pp. 364-378 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kim Richard Nossal

This paper surveys Canada’s ambivalence towards the Asia Pacific, and seeks to put that ambivalence into the broader context of the dominant strategic perspective in Canada that has privileged, and continues to privilege, a North Atlantic focus for Canadian foreign and defence policy. It argues that Canada’s laggardly approach to Asia Pacific diplomacy can be best explained by the widespread perception among Canadians—and their government—that the North Atlantic alliance should remain the key driver of Canadian foreign and defence policy. Indeed, this geostrategic outlook has actually intensified with the election of Donald J. Trump and his unorthodox approach to the transatlantic alliance and the liberal international order. I argue that this North Atlantic outlook, so dominant for so much of Canada’s history, will continue to anchor Canadian foreign and defence policy, making Canada’s engagement in the Asia Pacific more problematic.

2014 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 977-993 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. Ruvalcaba Baroni ◽  
R. P. M. Topper ◽  
N. A. G. M. van Helmond ◽  
H. Brinkhuis ◽  
C. P. Slomp

Abstract. The geological record provides evidence for the periodic occurrence of water column anoxia and formation of organic-rich deposits in the North Atlantic Ocean during the mid-Cretaceous (hereafter called the proto-North Atlantic). Both changes in primary productivity and oceanic circulation likely played a role in the development of the low-oxygen conditions. Several studies suggest that an increased input of phosphorus from land initiated oceanic anoxic events (OAEs). Other proposed mechanisms invoke a vigorous upwelling system and an ocean circulation pattern that acted as a trap for nutrients from the Pacific Ocean. Here, we use a detailed biogeochemical box model for the proto-North Atlantic to analyse under what conditions anoxia could have developed during OAE2 (94 Ma). The model explicitly describes the coupled water, carbon, oxygen and phosphorus cycles for the deep basin and continental shelves. In our simulations, we assume the vigorous water circulation from a recent regional ocean model study. Our model results for pre-OAE2 and OAE2 conditions are compared to sediment records of organic carbon and proxies for photic zone euxinia and bottom water redox conditions (e.g. isorenieratane, carbon/phosphorus ratios). Our results show that a strongly elevated input of phosphorus from rivers and the Pacific Ocean relative to pre-OAE2 conditions is a requirement for the widespread development of low oxygen in the proto-North Atlantic during OAE2. Moreover, anoxia in the proto-North Atlantic is shown to be greatly influenced by the oxygen concentration of Pacific bottom waters. In our model, primary productivity increased significantly upon the transition from pre-OAE2 to OAE2 conditions. Our model captures the regional trends in anoxia as deduced from observations, with euxinia spreading to the northern and eastern shelves but with the most intense euxinia occurring along the southern coast. However, anoxia in the central deep basin is difficult to achieve in the model. This suggests that the ocean circulation used in the model may be too vigorous and/or that anoxia in the proto-North Atlantic was less widespread than previously thought.


2008 ◽  
Vol 21 (12) ◽  
pp. 2990-3001 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anastasios A. Tsonis ◽  
Kyle L. Swanson ◽  
Geli Wang

Abstract In a recent application of networks to 500-hPa data, it was found that supernodes in the network correspond to major teleconnection. More specifically, in the Northern Hemisphere a set of supernodes coincides with the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and another set is located in the area where the Pacific–North American (PNA) and the tropical Northern Hemisphere (TNH) patterns are found. It was subsequently suggested that the presence of atmospheric teleconnections make climate more stable and more efficient in transferring information. Here this hypothesis is tested by examining the topology of the complete network as well as of the networks without teleconnections. It is found that indeed without teleconnections the network becomes less stable and less efficient in transferring information. It was also found that the pattern chiefly responsible for this mechanism in the extratropics is the NAO. The other patterns are simply a linear response of the activity in the tropics and their role in this mechanism is inconsequential.


Author(s):  
Eve C. Southward

A description is given of Siboglinum holmei sp.nov., a shallow-water Atlantic species. It is compared with S. caulleryi, a related species from the Pacific.


2008 ◽  
Vol 86 (1) ◽  
pp. 76-79 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeff W. Higdon

The comments by A. Romero and S. Kannada (2006. Can. J. Zool. 84: 1059–1065) provide a brief summary of North Atlantic whaling history as a critique of T. Rastogi et al. (2004. Can. J. Zool. 82: 1647–1654) . However, they fall far short of providing an accurate review of whaling history in this region. The authors present a number of factual errors, misuse several key sources, and make significant omissions, ultimately defeating the purpose of providing information to biologists, managers, and historians. In this comment I highlight the mistakes in their representation of the history of North Atlantic whaling for bowhead whales ( Balaena mysticetus L., 1758). There are unacceptable errors for most nations covered, and for American whaling in particular. The authors assert that over 30 000 bowhead whales were landed by Yankee whalers in the North Atlantic when the vast majority were in fact taken on the Pacific grounds. Although a summary of whaling history is an admirable goal and of potential value, it is unfortunate that the authors missed such an opportunity by failing to adequately research this topic, failing to include important citations, and by including sources that do not provide the information indicated. Providing a whaling summary with such errors and omissions only adds further confusion to an already confusing theme.


Author(s):  
STAŠA NOVAK

The impact of cyber technologies on the modern societies is significant. States have to adapt to the changed security environment to be able to ensure the security and stability for their territories and populations. Deterrence, which usually goes hand in hand with defence, is about preventing conflicts by dissuading potential aggressors to attack. With regard to cyber, the rules of deterrence change when compared to traditional deterrence, because of the special characteristics of the cyberspace. What is needed is new way of thinking about deterrence and a more comprehensive approach to it. The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation’s (NATO) approach to deterrence is resting upon the appropriate mix of conventional, nuclear and missile defence capabilities. However, following the 2014 Enhanced NATO Cyber Defence Policy, NATO is de facto already pursuing certain elements of cyber deterrence based on strong defence, declaratory policy and responsive measures. Responsive measures are not NATO offensive cyber capabilities, but the possibility of a collective defence response to a cyber attack, which implies a response with all available means. The article is providing an insight into NATO’s existing cyber defence policy and possible future developments of cyber deterrence at the level of the Alliance. Vpliv kibernetske tehnologije na sodobno družbo je pomemben. Države se morajo prilagoditi spremenjenemu varnostnemu okolju, da bi bile zmožne zagotoviti varnost in stabilnost svojih ozemelj ter prebivalstva. Odvračanje, ki gre po navadi z roko v roki z obrambo, pomeni preprečevanje spopadov z odvračanjem napada morebitnih agresorjev. V kibernetiki so pravila drugačna kot pri tradicionalnem odvračanju zaradi posebnih značilnosti kibernetskega okolja. Zato sta nujna nova miselnost in bolj celosten pristop k odvračanju. Pristop Nata k odvračanju temelji na ustrezni mešanici konvencionalnih, jedrskih in raketnih zmogljivosti. Kljub temu pa po sprejemu izboljšane politike o kibernetski obrambi (Enhanced NATO Cyber Defence Policy) iz leta 2014 Nato v resnici izvaja nekatere elemente kibernetskega odvračanja, ki temeljijo na močni obrambi, deklaratorni politiki in odzivnih ukrepih. Odzivni ukrepi ne pomenijo Natovih ofenzivnih kibernetskih zmogljivosti, temveč možnost za odzivanje kolektivne obrambe na kibernetski napad, pri čemer se uporabijo vsa sredstva, ki so na voljo. V članku so predstavljeni trenutna Natova kibernetska politika in mogoči prihodnji dogodki, povezani s kibernetskim odvračanjem na ravni zavezništva.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
James W. B. Rae ◽  
Wally Broecker

Abstract. In this contribution we explore constraints on the fractions of deep water present in Indian and Pacific Oceans which originated in the northern Atlantic and in the Southern Ocean. Based on PO4* we show that if ventilated Antarctic shelf waters characterize the Southern contribution, then the proportions are close to 50–50. If instead a Southern Ocean bottom water value is used, the Southern contribution is increased to 75 %. While this larger estimate may characterize the volume of water entering the Indo-Pacific from the Southern Ocean, it contains a significant portion of entrained northern water. We also note that ventilation may be highly tracer dependent: for instance Southern Ocean waters may contribute only 35 % of the deep radiocarbon budget, even if their volumetric contribution is 75 %. In our estimation, the most promising approaches involve using CFC-11 to constrain the amount of deep water formed in the Southern Ocean.


2021 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel Toucanne ◽  
Guillaume Soulet ◽  
Natalia Vázquez Riveiros ◽  
Steven M. Boswell ◽  
Bernard Dennielou ◽  
...  

Zootaxa ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 4878 (1) ◽  
pp. 169-181
Author(s):  
JOSÉ CARLOS HERNÁNDEZ-PAYÁN ◽  
MICHEL E. HENDRICKX

The rare pelagic mysid Amblyopsoides ohlinii (W.M. Tattersall, 1951) is reported for the first time off western Mexico and represents the first record in the Pacific Ocean south of Japan and the Kurile-Kamchatka Trench. So far, this species only has been recorded from seven localities in the North Atlantic and in the North Pacific. A complete description of the only specimen available (a male), including illustrations of all appendages and SEM images of the mandibles, is provided.


2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (14) ◽  
pp. 5595-5608 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hainan Gong ◽  
Lin Wang ◽  
Wen Chen ◽  
Debashis Nath

The multidecadal fluctuations in the patterns and teleconnections of the winter mean Arctic Oscillation (AO) are investigated based on observational and reanalysis datasets. Results show that the Atlantic center of the AO pattern remains unchanged throughout the period 1920–2010, whereas the Pacific center of the AO is strong during 1920–59 and 1986–2010 and weak during 1960–85. Consequently, the link between the AO and the surface air temperature over western North America is strong during 1920–59 and 1986–2010 and weak during 1960–85. The time-varying Pacific center of the AO motivates a revisit to the nature of the AO from the perspective of decadal change. It reveals that the North Pacific mode (NPM) and North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) are the inherent regional atmospheric modes over the North Pacific and North Atlantic, respectively. Their patterns over the North Pacific and North Atlantic remain stable and change little with time during 1920–2010. The Atlantic center of the AO always resembles the NAO over the North Atlantic, but the Pacific center of the AO only resembles the NPM over the North Pacific when the NPM–NAO coupling is strong. These results suggest that the AO seems to be fundamentally rooted in the variability over the North Atlantic and that the annular structure of the AO very likely arises from the coupling of the atmospheric modes between the North Pacific and North Atlantic.


1977 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 372-379 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ken-Ichi Manabe

Paleomagnetic measurements have been carried out on 103 specimens taken at about 15 cm intervals in a sea cliff exposing the marine terrace formation. Secondary components were removed by partial demagnetization in a peak field of 200 Oe. Two short reversed magnetozones are recognized. Geological and biostratigraphical evidence indicates that they are equivalent to the Blake event, which was first reported by Smith and Foster (1969) (Science 163 , 565–567) from the North Atlantic deep-sea cores. The present result suggests a split nature for the Blake Event.


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