Fractal Economy of Arctic

Author(s):  
M. Slipenchuk

In recent decades Arctic attracts the attention of a growing number of states. For effective international cooperation it is necessary to undertake several important steps, including legal work and adoption of documents regulating the statuses and activities of state in Arctic region. It is also needed to undertake a delimitation of sea spaces in the Arctic Ocean, to determine the measures for providing environmental safety in the regions, to reach international agreement on the status of the Northern Sea Route and Northwest Passage, to establish an innovation hub clusters and several others.

2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (13) ◽  
pp. 8101-8128 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eyal Freud ◽  
Radovan Krejci ◽  
Peter Tunved ◽  
Richard Leaitch ◽  
Quynh T. Nguyen ◽  
...  

Abstract. The Arctic environment has an amplified response to global climatic change. It is sensitive to human activities that mostly take place elsewhere. For this study, a multi-year set of observed aerosol number size distributions in the diameter range of 10 to 500 nm from five sites around the Arctic Ocean (Alert, Villum Research Station – Station Nord, Zeppelin, Tiksi and Barrow) was assembled and analysed.A cluster analysis of the aerosol number size distributions revealed four distinct distributions. Together with Lagrangian air parcel back-trajectories, they were used to link the observed aerosol number size distributions with a variety of transport regimes. This analysis yields insight into aerosol dynamics, transport and removal processes, on both an intra- and an inter-monthly scale. For instance, the relative occurrence of aerosol number size distributions that indicate new particle formation (NPF) event is near zero during the dark months, increases gradually to  ∼ 40 % from spring to summer, and then collapses in autumn. Also, the likelihood of Arctic haze aerosols is minimal in summer and peaks in April at all sites.The residence time of accumulation-mode particles in the Arctic troposphere is typically long enough to allow tracking them back to their source regions. Air flow that passes at low altitude over central Siberia and western Russia is associated with relatively high concentrations of accumulation-mode particles (Nacc) at all five sites – often above 150 cm−3. There are also indications of air descending into the Arctic boundary layer after transport from lower latitudes.The analysis of the back-trajectories together with the meteorological fields along them indicates that the main driver of the Arctic annual cycle of Nacc, on the larger scale, is when atmospheric transport covers the source regions for these particles in the 10-day period preceding the observations in the Arctic. The scavenging of these particles by precipitation is shown to be important on a regional scale and it is most active in summer. Cloud processing is an additional factor that enhances the Nacc annual cycle.There are some consistent differences between the sites that are beyond the year-to-year variability. They are the result of differences in the proximity to the aerosol source regions and to the Arctic Ocean sea-ice edge, as well as in the exposure to free-tropospheric air and in precipitation patterns – to mention a few. Hence, for most purposes, aerosol observations from a single Arctic site cannot represent the entire Arctic region. Therefore, the results presented here are a powerful observational benchmark for evaluation of detailed climate and air chemistry modelling studies of aerosols throughout the vast Arctic region.


2019 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 1-1
Author(s):  
Haiyan Liu ◽  
Xiaoping Pang

<p><strong>Abstract.</strong> In recent years, Arctic glaciers have gradually melted due to the global warming, which makes the exploitation of Arctic and its seabed resources possible. Though numerous disagreements and potentials over Arctic maritime jurisdiction still exist, the surround-Arctic nations have agreed the United Nations' Convention on the Law of the Sea to divide the Arctic Ocean into zones that can be regulated and exploited. The IBRU of Durham University has mapped the known claims, agreed boundaries and potential claims of the surround-Arctic nations in the Arctic to clear the maritime jurisdiction in the region. However, different countries may have different requirements within their jurisdictional areas. Clarifying these requirements is essential for Arctic Navigation of investigation ships and merchant ships for their route planning.</p><p>In this paper, based on the map of maritime jurisdiction and boundaries in Arctic region (IBRU), we analysed the international conventions and relevant laws of the surround-Arctic nations to find out the rights and obligations of ships in different zones. The limitations on activities and recommendations on navigation planning are marked for different zones according to different purposes, i.e. science or commerce. The map could not only provide navigational guidance for the activities in the Arctic Ocean, but offer references for the countries not surrounding the Arctic in the formulation of the Arctic strategies.</p>


2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eyal Freud ◽  
Radovan Krejci ◽  
Peter Tunved ◽  
Richard Leaitch ◽  
Quynh T. Nguyen ◽  
...  

Abstract. The Arctic environment has an amplified response to global climatic change. It is sensitive to human activities that mostly take place elsewhere. For this study, a multi-year set of observed aerosol number size distributions in the diameter range of 10 to 500 nm from five sites around the Arctic Ocean (Alert, Villum Research Station – Station Nord, Zeppelin, Tiksi and Barrow) was assembled and analysed. A cluster analysis of the aerosol number size distributions, revealed four distinct distributions. Together with Lagrangian air parcel back-trajectories, they were used to link the observed aerosol number size distributions with a variety of transport regimes. This analysis yields insight into aerosol dynamics, transport and removal processes, on both an intra- and inter-monthly scales. For instance, the relative occurrence of aerosol number size distributions that indicate new particle formation (NPF) event is near zero during the dark months, and increases gradually to ~ 40 % from spring to summer, and then collapses in autumn. Also, the likelihood of Arctic Haze aerosols is minimal in summer and peaks in April at all sites. The residence time of accumulation-mode particles in the Arctic troposphere is typically long enough to allow tracking them back to their source regions. Air flow that passes at low altitude over central Siberia and Western Russia is associated with relatively high concentrations of accumulation-mode particles (Nacc) at all five sites – often above 150 cm−3. There are also indications of air descending into the Arctic boundary layer after transport from lower latitudes. The analysis of the back-trajectories together with the meteorological fields along them indicates that the main driver of the Arctic annual cycle of Nacc, on the larger scale, is when atmospheric transport covers the source regions for these particles in the 10-day period preceding the observations in the Arctic. The scavenging of these particles by precipitation is shown to be important on a regional scale and it is most active in summer. Cloud processing is an additional factor that enhances the Nacc annual cycle. There are some consistent differences between the sites that are beyond the year-to-year variability. They are the result of differences in the proximity to the aerosol source regions and to the Arctic Ocean sea-ice edge, as well as in the exposure to free tropospheric air and in precipitation patterns – to mention a few. Hence, for most purposes, aerosol observations from a single Arctic site cannot represent the entire Arctic region. Therefore, the results presented here are a powerful observational benchmark for evaluation of detailed climate and air chemistry modelling studies of aerosols throughout the vast Arctic region.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 296-318
Author(s):  
Alexander N. Vylegzhanin ◽  
◽  
Elena V. Kienko ◽  

The article, in the context of the contemporary status of the Arctic, examines the legal and political documents adopted by China, Japan and South Korea in regard to their arctic policy, including those agreed upon by these three States. The alarming reaction to such documents in the Arctic coastal states, firstly, in the USA and Canada, is also considered in the article. Relevant western scholars’ arguments are scrutinized, such as the increase of “China’s military power”; China’s “insatiable appetite” for access to natural resources in the Arctic; the argument that “China seeks to dominate” the Arctic and the situation when “the Arctic Council is split”; the notion that China makes other non-Arctic States create separate legal documents concerning the regime of the Arctic Ocean. The article concludes that the western interpretation of such documents is alarming only in relation to China. The research shows that up till now there are no grounds for such estimations of China’s negative role. However, statements by Chinese officials as cited in the article and some provisions stipulated in “China’s Arctic policy” contradict the common will of the Arctic coastal states in regard to the legal regime of the Arctic Ocean as reflected in the Ilulissat Declaration of 2008. In such a dynamic legal environment, new instruments of collaboration are in demand, which might involve China and other non-Arctic states in maintaining the established legal regime of the Arctic. Thus, the new instruments would deter the creation (with unpredictable consequences) by China, Japan and South Korea of new trilateral acts relating to the status of the Arctic.


2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (5(S)) ◽  
pp. 86-88
Author(s):  
M. V. Popov

The Arctic Ocean has always been and remains one of the main epicenters of scientific research, political and economic decisions in many countries. Superiority in the development of the Northern Sea Route would allow any state to take a leading position in the international arena. Therefore, different countries conducted expeditions to develop it, one of which was the «Chelyuskin Epic» of 1933–1934.


Author(s):  
Simon Reich ◽  
Peter Dombrowski

This chapter examines the shift from a traditional strategy of isolationism to an embryonic variant of a strategy of retrenchment (called “restraint”) in the Arctic region. The Arctic is an area where environmental and economic (natural resources) concerns dominate the US agenda. Security considerations such as contested sovereignty – and the question of what proponents of a strategy of restraint call “chokepoints” – are generally neglected. The chapter therefore begins with a vignette about the Russians planting a titanium flag on the bed of the Arctic Ocean as the segue to a broader discussion of the strategic implications of the ice melt. We focus on the emergence of a new “commons;’” the development of new chokepoints that American strategists currently debate; and the lack of desire (and capacity) of the US Navy to take on this new role.


2016 ◽  
Vol 60 (2) ◽  
pp. 63-71
Author(s):  
A. Zagorskii

The article concentrates on two issues articulated by Xu Guangmiao in her article “China's Arctic Interests and Policy: History, Legal Ground and Implementation” published in the same issue of the Journal: Arctic Governance (and particularly the applicability of the "Common Heritage of the Mankind in the Arctic" concept), as well as the concept of the Northern Sea Route “internationalization” based on the navigation freedom principle. Both issues are considered controversial in Russia–China relations. In addressing those issues, the author seeks to separate real and alleged divergences between the two countries. He argues that apparent differences in their particular approaches do not reflect any fundamental divergences and can be transcended if handled pragmatically, with recognition of the sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdictions of coastal states, as well as of the non-Arctic states' rights and responsibilities under the Law of the Sea. In particular, the author argues that there is no controversy surrounding China’s expectation that an Area of the Common Heritage of the Mankind would occur in the central part of the Arctic Ocean as long as the process of the continental shelf outer limits setting by the coastal states in the Arctic Ocean takes place within the procedures established by the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. Similarly, China accepts the regulation of vessels traffic alongside the Northern Sea Route based on the Article 234 of the Convention, and would not be able to claim the freedom of transit passage through the NSR straits unless it joined the U.S. claim that the straight baselines drawn by Russia (and Canada) effectively including those straits into their internal sea waters violate the provisions of the Convention. So far, China does not. And as long as the NSR water area remains ice-covered for most of the year, this issue remains of theoretical rather than of practical importance.


Author(s):  
A. Fenenko

The article analyzes the problem of revising the interstate borders in the Arctic and the Antarctic legal status. These issues have repeatedly arisen in the international relations. However, the fight for control of circumpolar territories used to be episodic and conducted mainly by diplomatic means. Nowadays, the Arctic powers began to dispute the revision of the boundaries of the Arctic sectors and the distribution of the “oceanic co-management” system on the Arctic Ocean. The debates are conducted concerning the boundaries of the Southern Ocean’s sectors, on the status of the territories adjacent to the Antarctic and on a return to the drafts of sectoral division of Antarctic. These trends increase the risk of interstate confrontation in circumpolar areas. For Russia a possible redistribution of polar spaces does not mean anything positive.


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