Arctic

Dramatic climate changes have been occurring in the Arctic during the past decade. These changes include unusual melting of glaciers, sea ice, and permafrost, and shifts in patterns of rain and snow fall, freshwater runoff, and forest/tundra growth. The consequences to the region include disrupted wildlife migration patterns, altered fish stocks, modified agricultural zones, and increased forest fires. These arctic changes have impacted the lives of Native residents who depend on the environment for a continuation of their traditional subsistence lifestyle, and may also have significant impacts on the oil industry, tourism, and shipping routes. The latest report from the US Arctic Research Commission states that "change in the Arctic may play a substantial role in climate change throughout the globe", and moreover, that "global change, particularly climate change may have its most pronounced effects in the Arctic." Conditions in the Arctic are very different from those at lower latitudes on the globe, and "the Arctic remains one of the least explored, studied and understood places on earth." Arctic sea ice covers significant portions of the northern hemisphere's ocean, forming and persisting at temperatures below the freezing point of seawater. That freezing point is generally around -1.9°C when the salinity is 33 parts per thousand; however, the arctic freezing point changes with the concentration of salt in the seawater. As ice crystals grow in the arctic water during the autumn season, small ice platelets begin to accumulate at the ocean surface, to inter-link, and to form a porous structure of ice crystals filled with liquid, which is referred to as brine. The brine directly affects the freezing and melting points of the ice. This is just one example of a recent arctic discovery that has shown to affect the surrounding areas.

The most rapid advances in developing better scientific and technological answers to the problems that global change and increasing populations will generate for the Arctic in the next century can be obtained by continuing the declassification of the information collected since World War II, especially Arctic Ocean temperature and current information. Combined with a continued presence of icebreaker and submarine cruises, we may find the necessary information in the Basin to gives us better predictive capabilities. Those involved in search and exploration will be promoting better underwater research vehicles also. It will be critical to bring together on a continuing basis those studying physical systems with those working on biological systems in each arctic region. It would be a mistake to assume that this is happening as a regular part of our way of doing science. The greatest danger to the arctic will come from the continued global population increase and the stresses created for the entire planet, including the Arctic.