Related News - Arctic Climate Change,
Economy and Society

Montreal, Canada, April 22-27, 2012.

The IPY 2012 From Knowledge to Action Conference will be one of the largest and most important scientific conferences for polar science and climate change, impacts and adaptation. Keynote presentations, thought-provoking panel discussions and workshops will provide the focal points for translating polar knowledge into actions that will enable people to live in, adapt to, or benefit from, our changing world.

Each day of the conference will feature a program of keynote speakers, plenary panel discussions, parallel science sessions, as well as dedicated poster sessions. The conference-wide plenaries will explore important themes related to topics of polar change, global linkages, communities and health, ecosystem services, infrastructure, resources and security. Other sessions will provide the opportunity to present and discuss the application of research findings, policy implications and how to take polar knowledge to action.

The Conference program is available at www.ipy2012montreal.ca

The Call for Abstracts closed October 7, 2011.

The new conference website is up and running ( www.ipy2012montreal.ca) and features the latest information on the development of the Conference program, as well as indepth articles and highlights of polar science news from around the world on the Conference Twitter page (IPY2012).

Several sessions in the IPY 2012 meeting are being convened by principal investigators in the ACCESS project:

SESSION. 1.4.1. NATURAL RESOURCE EXPLORATION, EXPLOITATION AND COMMERCIAL ACTIVITIES INCLUDING TOURISM

Convenor: Lawson Brigham (United States) - lwb48@aol.com

Co-convenor: Andrii Fedchuk (Ukraine). 

While continental Antarctica is shielded from resource exploitation by the 1991 Protocol on Environmental Protection of the Antarctic treaty, the Arctic is becoming increasingly attractive to developers as global demand for natural resources explodes and access is facilitated by sea ice recession. The modernization of the Arctic is driven by booming exploration/exploitation of oil and gas deposits, large mining projects, new shipping routes for intercontinental and destination shipping, the projected laying of intercontinental communication cables, the search fornew fish stocks, increased popularity of polar destinations for tourism, etc. . In Antarctica, tourism is the main commercial activity in terms  of scale and influence. What have we learned on these issues during the International Polar Year? This session will focus on exploitation of natural resources, as well as socio-cultural effects and political implications of commercial pursuits in the Polar Regions. The session is particularly concerned with multidisciplinary aspects of interrelationships between human activities management and observed environmental changes (e.g., increased access to new pristine areas by ships due to climate warming) with emphasis on the need for scientific information and regulation. Presentations that demonstrate practical management and regulatory options within the context of diversification, and that propose schemes for the prioritizing of human activities in the Polar Regions are particularly welcome.

SESSION 1.5.3. ADVANCES IN TECHNOLOGY IN POLAR RESEARCH, INCLUDING SUBGLACIAL EXPLORATION

Convenor: Jeremy Wilkinson (United Kingdom) -Jeremy.Wilkinson@sams.ac.uk

Co-convenor: Denis Samyn (Belgium).

New technological developments in scientific sensors, data processing techniques and deployment platforms are providing unparalleled accessto polar  data that address problems of global significance. Although the polar regions remain isolated and harsh environments for human measurements, automated systems were used extensively during IPY to provide detailed year round data over large areas. We invite contributions to this session that report the latest technological developments for polar measurements, including subglacial exploration. These might include autonomous underwater vehicles that can penetrate the ocean depths and make measurements beneath sea ice and within ice shelf cavities; automatic systems for detailed ice, oceanographic and atmospheric measurements; robotic land and airborne sensor platforms; sophisticated new radar, lidar and seismic geophysical techniques that can provide data from within the ice sheets and from the Earth’s crust below them and the ocean; quantitative satellite borne sensors; and state-of-the-art biological techniques that provide clues to the origin of polar life and ecosystem complexity.

SESSION 2.2.7. SUSTAINABLE ARCTIC DEVELOPMENT: INTEGRATED PERSPECTIVES

Convenor: Paul Arthur Berkman (United Kingdom) – pb426@cam.ac.uk

Co-convenors: Oran R. Young (United States) and Sandra Rodrigues Balão (Portugal)

The Arctic Ocean is undergoing an environmental state change from a permanent sea-ice cap to a seasonally ice-free sea, fundamentally transforming opportunities and challenges across the marine and terrestrial North Polar Region. Natural and social science projects from the International Polar Year 2007-2008 reveal interdisciplinary perspectives on globalization, geopolitical strategies, military activities, resource extraction, transport and tourism in the Arctic. Rather than fragmented approaches for the Arctic, sustainable development and environmental protection (the «common Arctic issues» in the 1996 Ottawa Declaration that established the Arctic Council) require integrated strategies, such as ecosystem-based management and marine spatial planning. Practical considerations of institutional interplay and common interests are especially relevant to the holistic objectives of this session.

ACCESS partners'contribution to different sessions:

 Click on the appropriate link to download the corresponding abstract (PDF)

SESSION 1.1.2 -  Polar ocean processes:

Should we modify our understanding of the Arctic Ocean circulation? M. Karcher, R. Gerdes, F. Kauker and J.N. Smith, AWI, O.A.Sys, BIO. [24/4 13:30 - Room 516B]

The influence of the Barents Sea inflow branch on the Arctic Ocean circulation and water mass transformation processes, B. Rudels, M. Korhonen, S. Pisarev, B. Rabe, U. Schauer, A. Wisotzki. [24/4 14:15 - Room 516B]

Arctic shelves – alternative source of the THC – driving dense water in the warmer climate? V. Ivanov, AARI. [25/4 16:45 - Room 516B]

Large Staircase-like microstructure in the deep Arctic Ocean, P. Bourgain, J.C. Gascard, LOCEAN. [24/4 10:15 - Room 516B]

The Arctic Ocean haloline ant its interannual variability from 1997 to 2008, P. Bourgain, J.C. Gascard, LOCEAN. [23/4 17:00-19:00 - Poster Room]

SESSION 1.1.3 - Polar processes and global biogeochemical:

Impact of sea ice decrease and freshening on phytoplankton and carbon cycle in Western Arctic, D. Ruiz-Pino, J. Chen, P. Coupel, A. Bouvet, J.C. Gascard, V. Garçon, R. Horner. LOCEAN [26/4 14:15 - Room 520EF]

SESSION 1.2.1 - Atmospheric, physical and chemical processes in the polar regions:

Transport of anthropogenic  pollution and Boreal forest emissions to the Arctic during simmer 2008, J.C. Raut, J.L. Thomas, K. Law, G. Ancellet, P. Rasch, J. Fast, G.Pfister and L. Emmons, LATMOS, PNN and NCAR. [25/4 11:15 - Room 516C]

SESSION 1.2.2 - Evolving coaostal near-shore and shelf processes (physical processes):

The interaction between the ocean and outlet glaciers in West Greenland fjords, N. Chauche, J.C. Gascard, A. Hubbard, C. Provost, J. Box, R. Bates and F. Gillet-Chaulet, LOCEAN, Aberystwyth University, Colombus University, Andrew University, LGGE. [26/4 10:30 - Room 516E]

SESSION 1.2.3 - Diminishing snow and ice:

Sea ice retreat and its consequences for Fram Strait ice export and the Arctic Ocean fresh water balance, R. Gerdes, C. Köberle, T. Krumpen, AWI, Jacobs University. [25/4 11:15 - Room 516A]

Changes in  Arctic sea ice distribution and variability  during the next decades, K. Riemann-Campe, AWI

SESSION. 1.4.1. Natural resource exploration, exploitation and commercial activities including tourism:

Arctic Climate Change Economy and Society: the ACCESS EU project, J.C. Gascard, LOCEAN. [25/4 11:30 - Room 520D]

SESSION 1.5.2 - Polar observing systems, including observations from space:

Arctic ice, atmosphere, ocean observing system: the EQUIPEX-funded IAOOS project, C. Provost, J.C. Gascard, J.P. Pommereau, P. Lattes, M. Calzas, C. Drezen, A. Abchiche, N. Amarouche, A. Desautez, J. Descloitre, LOCEAN, LATMOS, INSU, IPEV, ICARE. [24/4 17:00-19:00 - Poster Room]

SESSION 1.5.3. Advances in technology in polar research, including subglacial exploration:

An autonomous, long-term, long-range drifting system for sea-ice and underwater observations: The ACOBAR cluster, J.C. Gascard, P. Lattes, P. Brault, P. Simon, A. Smerdon and N. Lefevre, LOCEAN, NKE, ENSTA and Aquatec. [23/4 15:45 - Room 520D]

SESSION 2.4.5 - Polar governance, policy, and management in the face of change

The EU “ACCESS” project – Stress-testing governance options in the Arctic over the next thirty years of climate change, L. Parson, A-S. Crepin, J-C. Gascard, M. Karcher, K. Rehdanz and all ACCESS project partners.

Interdisciplinary collaboration and the forecasting of Arctic future, K. Riemann-Campe, AWI.

SESSION 2.5.4 - Accessing, sharing and preserving data: defining an IPY legacy:

Arctic Data Center, Ø. Godoy, H. Klein, E. Støren, Ø. Torget, G. Aalberg and P. Sannes , MET.NO. [24/4 17:00-19:00 - Poster Room]

Global Cryosphere Watch from the data management perspective, Ø. Godoy, H. Klein, E. Støren, Ø. Torget, G. Aalberg and P. Sannes, MET.NO. [24/4 13:45 - Room 520A]

SESSION 2.5.5 - Improved projections and forecasts from climate and weather models:

Models validation using recent observations in the Arctic Ocean, P. Bourgain, G. Garric, J.C. Gascard, N. Ferry, LOCEAN,MERCATOR OCEAN. [24/4 16:30 - Room 516B]