Download or read book International Relations and the Arctic Understanding Policy and Governance written by Robert W. Murray and published by Cambria Press. This book was released on 2014-06-26 with total page 742 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Increased global interest in the Arctic poses challenges to contemporary international relations and many questions surround exactly why and how Arctic countries are asserting their influence and claims over their northern reaches and why and how non-Arctic states are turning their attention to the region. Despite the inescapable reality in the growth of interest in the Arctic, relatively little analysis on the international relations aspects of such interest has been done. Traditionally, international relations studies are focused on particular aspects of Arctic relations, but to date there has been no comprehensive effort to explain the region as a whole. Literature on Arctic politics is mostly dedicated to issues such as development, the environment and climate change, or indigenous populations. International relations, traditionally interested in national and international security, has been mostly silent in its engagement with Arctic politics. Essential concepts such as security, sovereignty, institutions, and norms are all key aspects of what is transpiring in the Arctic, and deserve to be explained in order to better comprehend exactly why the Arctic is of such interest. The sheer number of states and organizations currently involved in Arctic international relations make the region a prime case study for scholars, policymakers and interested observers. In this first systematic study of Arctic international relations, Robert W. Murray and Anita Dey Nuttall have brought together a group of the world's leading experts in Arctic affairs to demonstrate the multifaceted and essential nature of circumpolar politics. This book is core reading for political scientists, historians, anthropologists, geographers and any other observer interested in the politics of the Arctic region.

Download or read book International Study of Arctic Change written by Michael Tjernström and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page 50 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The International Study of Arctic Change (ISAC) is an open-ended, international, interdisciplinary science program. The goal of ISAC is to provide scientific information on rapid arctic change to society and decision makers so they can respond with informed strategies. This requires observation and tracking of arctic changes and understanding their nature, causes, feedbacks and connections among them. ISAC encompasses pan-Arctic, system-scale, multidisciplinary observations, synthesis and modeling to provide an integrated understanding of arctic change and projections of future change. The ISAC Science Plan provides a vision for integrating research among diverse fields and varied users and stakeholders. ISAC facilitates international cooperative efforts to understand the Arctic System and all its components on a pan-Arctic scale. ISAC is positioned to sustain research and coordination activities relevant to environmental arctic change largely initiated during the International Polar Year (IPY). As an active science program ISAC stimulates and provides guidance to develop, maintain and evolve observational activities and scientific understanding. This approach ensures a legacy of relevant high-quality science in the Arctic for decades to come. ISAC is motivated by environmental changes that are already large enough to affect life in the Arctic. The changes illustrated in this document focus on the last decade noting shrinking sea ice cover, rising atmospheric temperature, thawing permafrost, shifts in ecosystems, and linkages to human systems. Substantial future changes are projected to have profound impacts on humankind. Ecosystems are changing, species distributions shifting, and wildlife populations and fisheries are experiencing extraordinary pressures - both natural and anthropogenic. Recent changes in the Arctic have already had significant impacts on infrastructure, on food security, on human health, and on industrial development, and they are influencing domestic responses and international relations. These changes can be measured in economic, social, political and cultural risks and costs and are reflected in human decision-making from the level of the individual to the nation-state, at the international scale, and in feedbacks to the system as a whole. Future system states are uncertain and the lack of predictability hinders efforts to develop strategies for adapting to and managing a changing Arctic. The following key science questions are prompted by observed changes and our current understanding of the Arctic System. Question 1. How is Arctic Change linked to global change? Question 2. How persistent is the presently observed arctic change and is it unique? Question 3. How large is the anthropogenic component of observed arctic change compared to natural variability? Question 4. Why are many aspects of arctic change amplified with respect to global conditions? Question 5. How well can arctic change be projected and what is needed to improve projections? Question 6. What are the adaptive capacities and resilience of arctic ecological systems? Question 7. To what extent are social and ecological systems able to adapt to the effects of arctic change? Question 8. How does environmental change in the Arctic affect the resilience, adaptive capacity, and ultimately, viability of human communities? Question 9. How can new insight into arctic change and its impacts be translated into solutions for adaptation, management, and mitigation? The ISAC science program is structured around three concepts: Observing, Understanding and Responding to arctic change. All the components of the Arctic System must be observed across time and space to understand the scope and evolution of change. Understanding how the system functions and projecting future changes requires models using data that flow from the comprehensive arctic observing system. Moving beyond description to understanding change in the past, present, and future is critical. In the integrated ISAC program the observing, understanding and responding components have been developed in concert around a set of objectives. These are: -Observing the Arctic System covering all domains including the anthroposphere, the atmosphere, the biosphere, the cryosphere, and the hydrosphere. This is based on existing and new long-term observing sites and networks as well as new observing methods. (observing); -Quantifying the anthropogenically-driven component of arctic change within the context of natural variability. (observing); -Understanding the causes of pan-Arctic changes, including changes in the human component, in the context of global change. (understanding); -Improving models to project future changes in the Arctic System, including impact assessment models for responding to change. (understanding); -Exploring options for adaptation to and mitigation of arctic change and suggesting ways that will lead to a path of sustainable use and development. (responding); -Disseminating data and results from ISAC activities to the scientific community, stakeholders and the general public (cross-cuts observing, understanding, responding); Implementation of ISAC is underway, with activities designed to collect specific information relevant to addressing ISAC science questions. Among numerous programs endorsed by IPY and that have contributed to ISAC are the recently sunsetted European Commission funded DAMOCLES Integrated Project (www.damocles-eu.org), and the ongoing United States Inter-agency SEARCH Program (www. arcus.org/search/index.php). These two initiatives were formally linked through the EU/US SEARCH FOR DAMOCLES initiative (www.arcus. org/search/internationalsearch/ damocles.php). They provide an example of how partnerships within ISAC may work. Partnerships within ISAC continue to expand and program building activities are planned in concert with participating programs. An integrated observing system that is designed for pan-Arctic coverage is being developed, with much progress on this initiative made during the International Polar Year. This evolving observing system will constitute the ISAC Observing component; it will ultimately cover the atmosphere, ocean and sea ice, hydrology, cyrosphere, marine and terrestrial ecosystems, and aspects of the human dimensions of the Arctic System. The data flow within each of the ISAC program elements is coordinated by dedicated data information systems following standard data policies operated by participating organizations, programs and projects. Efforts are underway within the ISAC Program Office to coordinate the data management functions among these program elements. Development of the ISAC Understanding component is also underway as modeling is increasingly coordinated among operational ISAC program elements. These activities include model comparisons, as well as coordination of new modeling initiatives, and in the longer-term, expansion of these activities to specifically address societal needs for understanding. The Responding to Change component of ISAC drives the program with an emphasis on societally relevant science. Implementation of the Responding to Change piece began with planning efforts during the IPY, and is one of the major foci for the near future activities of ISAC"--Page iv.

Download or read book Whither the Arctic Ocean written by Guillermo Auad and published by Fundacion BBVA. This book was released on 2021-05-01 with total page 264 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Climate change in the Arctic Ocean has stirred a remarkable surge of interest and concern. Study after study has revealed the astonishing speed of physical, chemical, ecological, and economic change throughout the expanse of the Arctic. What is more, the consequences of the changing Arctic are not restricted to the Arctic itself, but affect everyone in the Northern Hemisphere, ranging as they do from extreme weather to resource availability and food security, with implications for politics, economics, and sociology. The challenge is to comprehend the full extent and variety of these consequences, and meeting this challenge will demand a multi- and transdisciplinary understanding. Only by this means can we hope to map out a knowledge-based ecosystem and move toward knowledge-based resource management—the essential precondition for any sustainable future. In this book, leading international experts, from many felds of science and across the entire pan-Arctic region, give their specifc takes on where the Arctic Ocean is heading. All have taken care in their writing not to exclude non-experts, in the conviction that multi- and transdisciplinarity can only be achieved when communication and outreach are not tribal in nature. The recurrent guiding theme throughout these pages is “Whith -er the Arctic Ocean?” Taken in concert, the essays synthesize the current state of scientifc knowledge to project how climate change may impact on the Arctic Ocean and the continents around it. How can and how should we prepare for the imminent future that is already lapping at the threshold of the commons? What readers will hopefully take from this multi- and transdisciplinary endeavor is not the individual perspective of each contribution, but the picture that emerges across the entire suite of essays. As we move into a near future that will encompass both the probable and surprises, this book attempts to conjure the multi-dimensional space in which a sustainable future must be brought into being.

Download or read book Arctic Matters written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2014-04-13 with total page 37 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Viewed in satellite images as a jagged white coat draped over the top of the globe, the high Arctic appears distant and isolated. But even if you don't live there, don't do business there, and will never travel there, you are closer to the Arctic than you think. Arctic Matters: The Global Connection to Changes in the Arctic is a new educational resource produced by the Polar Research Board of the National Research Council (NRC). It draws upon a large collection of peer-reviewed NRC reports and other national and international reports to provide a brief, reader-friendly primer on the complex ways in which the changes currently affecting the Arctic and its diverse people, resources, and environment can, in turn, affect the entire globe. Topics in the booklet include how climate changes currently underway in the Arctic are a driver for global sea-level rise, offer new prospects for natural resource extraction, and have rippling effects through the world's weather, climate, food supply and economy.

Download or read book The Arctic in the Anthropocene written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2014-07-31 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Once ice-bound, difficult to access, and largely ignored by the rest of the world, the Arctic is now front and center in the midst of many important questions facing the world today. Our daily weather, what we eat, and coastal flooding are all interconnected with the future of the Arctic. The year 2012 was an astounding year for Arctic change. The summer sea ice volume smashed previous records, losing approximately 75 percent of its value since 1980 and half of its areal coverage. Multiple records were also broken when 97 percent of Greenland's surface experienced melt conditions in 2012, the largest melt extent in the satellite era. Receding ice caps in Arctic Canada are now exposing land surfaces that have been continuously ice covered for more than 40,000 years. What happens in the Arctic has far-reaching implications around the world. Loss of snow and ice exacerbates climate change and is the largest contributor to expected global sea level rise during the next century. Ten percent of the world's fish catches comes from Arctic and sub-Arctic waters. The U.S. Geological Survey estimated that up to 13 percent of the world's remaining oil reserves are in the Arctic. The geologic history of the Arctic may hold vital clues about massive volcanic eruptions and the consequent release of massive amount of coal fly ash that is thought to have caused mass extinctions in the distant past. How will these changes affect the rest of Earth? What research should we invest in to best understand this previously hidden land, manage impacts of change on Arctic communities, and cooperate with researchers from other nations? The Arctic in the Anthropocene reviews research questions previously identified by Arctic researchers, and then highlights the new questions that have emerged in the wake of and expectation of further rapid Arctic change, as well as new capabilities to address them. This report is meant to guide future directions in U.S. Arctic research so that research is targeted on critical scientific and societal questions and conducted as effectively as possible. The Arctic in the Anthropocene identifies both a disciplinary and a cross-cutting research strategy for the next 10 to 20 years, and evaluates infrastructure needs and collaboration opportunities. The climate, biology, and society in the Arctic are changing in rapid, complex, and interactive ways. Understanding the Arctic system has never been more critical; thus, Arctic research has never been more important. This report will be a resource for institutions, funders, policy makers, and students. Written in an engaging style, The Arctic in the Anthropocene paints a picture of one of the last unknown places on this planet, and communicates the excitement and importance of the discoveries and challenges that lie ahead.

Download or read book Governing Arctic Change written by Kathrin Keil and published by Springer. This book was released on 2016-12-09 with total page 332 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume explores the governance of the transforming Arctic from an international perspective. Leading and emerging scholars in Arctic research investigate the international causes and consequences of contemporary Arctic developments, and assess how both state and non-state actors respond to crucial problems for the global community. Long treated as a remote and isolated region, climate change and economic prospects have put the Arctic at the forefront of political agendas from the local to the global level, and this book tackles the variety of involved actors, institutional politics, relevant policy issues, as well as political imaginaries related to a globalizing Arctic. It covers new institutional forms of various stakeholder engagement on multiple levels, governance strategies to combat climate change that affect the Arctic region sooner and more strongly than other regions, the pros and cons of Arctic resource development for the region and beyond, and local and trans-boundary pollution concerns. Given the growing relevance of the Arctic to international environmental, energy and security politics, the volume helps to explain how the region is governed in times of global nexuses, multi-level politics and multi-stakeholderism.

Download or read book Arctic Ecology written by David N. Thomas and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2021-01-26 with total page 468 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Arctic is often portrayed as being isolated, but the reality is that the connectivity with the rest of the planet is huge, be it through weather patterns, global ocean circulation, and large-scale migration patterns to name but a few. There is a huge amount of public interest in the ‘changing Arctic’, especially in terms of the rapid changes taking place in ecosystems and exploitation of resources. There can be no doubt that the Arctic is at the forefront of the international environmental science agenda, both from a scientific aspect, and also from a policy/environmental management perspective. This book aims to stimulate a wide audience to think about the Arctic by highlighting the remarkable breadth of what it means to study its ecology. Arctic Ecology seeks to systematically introduce the diverse array of ecologies within the Arctic region. As the Arctic rapidly changes, understanding the fundamental ecology underpinning the Arctic is paramount to understanding the consequences of what such change will inevitably bring about. Arctic Ecology is designed to provide graduate students of environmental science, ecology and climate change with a source where Arctic ecology is addressed specifically, with issues due to climate change clearly discussed. It will also be of use to policy-makers, researchers and international agencies who are focusing on ecological issues and effects of global climate change in the Arctic. About the Editor David N. Thomas is Professor of Arctic Ecosystem Research in the Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki. Previously he spent 24 years in the School of Ocean Sciences, Bangor University, Wales. He studies marine systems, with a particular emphasis on sea ice and land-coast interactions in the Arctic and Southern Oceans as well as the Baltic Sea. He also edited a related book: Sea Ice, 3rd Edition (2017), which is also published by Wiley-Blackwell.

Download or read book Sustainable Shipping in a Changing Arctic written by Lawrence P. Hildebrand and published by Springer. This book was released on 2018-08-11 with total page 474 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume brings together multiple perspectives on both the changing Arctic environment and the challenges and opportunities it presents for the shipping sector. It argues for the adoption of a forward-looking agenda that respects the fragile and changing Arctic frontier. With the accelerated interest in and potential for new maritime trade routes, commercial transportation and natural resource development, the pressures on the changing Arctic marine environment will only increase. The International Maritime Organization Polar Code is an important step toward Arctic stewardship. This new volume serves as an important guide to this rapidly developing agenda. Addressing a range of aspects, it offers a valuable resource for academics, practitioners, environmentalists and affected authorities in the shipping industry alike.

Download or read book Arctic Thaw written by Stephanie Sammartino McPherson and published by Twenty-First Century Books. This book was released on 2014-08-01 with total page 68 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ice in the Arctic is disappearing—and opportunity is calling. As climate change transforms the top of the world, warmer conditions are exposing a treasure trove of energy resources previously trapped in ice. The Arctic's oil, natural gas, minerals, and even wind and hydroelectric power are becoming more accessible than ever before. With untold riches hanging in the balance, the race is on to control the Arctic and its energy potential. Oil companies vie for drilling rights that go to the highest bidder. Nations around the globe—whether they're on the Arctic's doorstep or half a world away—hope to claim territory for themselves. And the indigenous peoples who have called this region home for thousands of years are determined to be on the ground floor of its development. But the Arctic's new possibilities come with grave risks. The pursuit of oil and natural gas threatens to further damage the Arctic's fragile ecosystems and accelerate global warming worldwide. International disputes over who owns which pieces of the Arctic could bring countries to the brink of war. The fate of the entire planet may hinge on how far people are willing to go to tap and control the Far North's energy resources. From oil rigs to military bases, the Arctic has never before hosted so many warring interests, and the stakes have never been so high. Join Stephanie Sammartino McPherson on a journey to the Far North to explore the energy controversies that will decide the future of the Arctic—and of the earth.

Download or read book Study of Environmental Arctic Change written by and published by . This book was released on 2005 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Arctic Science International Law and Climate Change written by Susanne Wasum-Rainer and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-06-14 with total page 380 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Developments in the Arctic region are increasingly part of international discussion. The book contains a comprehensive and interdisciplinary analysis of the current problems around marine scientific research in the Arctic region. It combines scientific, legal and policy aspects. The main questions addressed are: ongoing and future Arctic marine research, marine research in the Arctic Ocean in practice, the legal framework, enlarged continental shelves and the freedom of marine science and particularities and challenges of the Arctic region. The contributors are leading experts in the field of politics, law and science.

Download or read book The Changing Arctic Environment written by David P. Stone and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2015-02-16 with total page 375 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This accessible and engagingly written book describes how national and international scientific monitoring programmes brought to light our present understanding of Arctic environmental change, and how these research results were successfully used to achieve international legal actions to lessen some of the environmental impacts. David P. Stone was intimately involved in many of these scientific and political activities. He tells a powerful story, using the metaphor of the 'Arctic Messenger' - an imaginary being warning us all of the folly of ignoring Arctic environmental change. This book will be of great interest to anyone concerned about the fate of the Arctic, including lifelong learners interested in the Arctic and the natural environment generally; students studying environmental science and policy; researchers of circumpolar studies, indigenous peoples, national and international environmental management, and environmental law; and policymakers and industry professionals looking to protect (or exploit) Arctic resources.

Download or read book Climate Change and Arctic Security written by Lassi Heininen and published by Springer. This book was released on 2019-07-30 with total page 137 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book assesses the construction of security in the context of climate change, with a focus on the Arctic region. It examines and discusses changes in the security premises of the Arctic states, from traditional security to environmental and human security. In particular, the book explores how climate change impacts security discourses and premises as well as theoretically discussing the possibility for another change, from circumpolar stability into peaceful change. Chapters cover topics such as the ethics of climate change in the arctic, China’s emerging power and influence on arctic climate security, the discursive transformation of the definition of security and the intersection between urban, climate and Arctic studies. The book concludes with the question of whether a paradigm shift in our understanding of traditional security is possible, and whether it is already occurring in the Arctic.

Download or read book Arctic Studies written by Masaki Kanao and published by BoD – Books on Demand. This book was released on 2019-11-13 with total page 102 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Arctic region is the keystone to understanding the present status ofcurrently ongoing Earth systems and to predicting future imagesof our planet as viewed from northern high latitudes. The Arctic region,composed of ice-covered Arctic ocean in its center and surroundingfragmentation of the major continents, has been investigatedduring the last half century through all kinds of scientific studies:bioscience, physical sciences, geoscience, oceanography, and environmental studies, together with the technological domain. This book covers topics on the recent developments of all kinds of scientific research in and around the Arctic region, with a view to monitoring the current variations in the extreme environment, affected by remarkable changes in temperature and sea-ice extent, mass loss of ice-sheet and glaciers, and variations in marine and terrestrial ecosystems, including human activities.

Download or read book Arctic Governance in a Changing World written by Mary Durfee and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2019-01-14 with total page 345 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This comprehensive text explains the relationship between the Arctic and the wider world through the lenses of international relations, international law, and political economy. It is an essential resource for any student or scholar seeking a clear and succinct account of a region of ever-growing importance to the international community. Highlights include: •Broad coverage of national and human security, Arctic economies, international political economy, human rights, the rights of indigenous people, the law of the sea, navigation, and environmental governance •A clear review of current climate-related change •Emphasis on the sources of cooperation in the Arctic through international relations theory and law •Examination of the Arctic in the broader global context, illustrating its inextricable links to global processes

Download or read book Climate Change and Arctic Sustainable Development written by UNESCO and published by UNESCO. This book was released on 2009-01-01 with total page 373 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Arctic is undergoing rapid and dramatic environmental and social transformations due to climate change. This has ramifications for the entire planet, as change spreads through interconnected global networks that are environmental, cultural, economic and political. Today, with the major thrust of research shifting away from deciphering causes and monitoring trends, the central preoccupation of a growing circle of actors has become the exploration of strategies for responding and adapting to climate change. But to understand the far-reaching nature of climate change impacts and the complexities of adaptation, a truly interdisciplinary approach is required. Unique in the UN system, UNESCO brings together the domains of natural sciences, social sciences,culture, education and communication. Given this broad mandate, UNESCO favors integrated approaches for monitoring and adapting to climate change in the Arctic, fostering dialogue among scientists, circumpolar communities and decision-makers. This book brings together the knowledge, concerns and visions of leading Arctic scientists in the natural and social sciences, prominent Chukchi, Even, Inuit and Saami leaders from across the circumpolar North, and international experts in education, health and ethics. They highlight the urgent need for a sustained interdisciplinary and multi-actor approach to monitoring, managing and responding to climate change in the Arctic, and explore avenues by which this can be achieved.--Publisher's description.

Download or read book Arctic Oceans Research written by United States. Congress. Senate. National Ocean Policy Study and published by . This book was released on 1991 with total page 132 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: