The Arctic is one of the most rapidly changing environments
on Earth, with dramatic warming of the atmosphere and the oceans, accelerating
glaciers, melting permafrost and shrinking sea ice.
All of these changes have major consequences for the
indigenous groups of the Arctic countries: changing ocean ecosystems will impact
fisheries and other natural resources, collapsing permafrost damages their
homes and infrastructure, and disappearing sea ice effects their trade routes.
All with implications for employment, education, and health.
Whilst these headlines reach the UK press, the immediate
consequences can seem far away from our shores. However, a changing Arctic has
a world-wide reach, contributing towards global sea-level and biodiversity changes,
and putting pressure on shipping, natural resources, and international
relations.
There have been recent large-scale efforts within the UK
research community to increase our understanding of the high-latitudes. The
Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) launched the multi-million pound Changing Arctic Ocean
program in 2017, initially comprising four projects investigating oceanic
processes linked with the shifting sea ice dynamics, largely in the Barents Sea
and Fram Straight regions near Iceland and Norway. Whilst these projects have
already been successful in producing critical new data, and have developed to
include a number of new projects, the focus is still firmly within the natural
sciences. There is a clear need to include other disciplines, especially social
sciences, and to expand to other geographical regions.
Earlier this week, I had an opportunity to attend a joint meeting
between NERC and Polar Knowledge, Canada, as part of the 2018 ArcticNet meeting in Ottawa. The
meeting brought together researchers and funding organisations from the UK and Canada,
together with representatives of indigenous groups and northern communities. By
getting these groups of people around a table together in one place, the aim
was to go some way to creating a new strong international Arctic research
partnership, to understand the interests and strengths in Arctic research in
the two countries, make personal links and identify the next steps for all
stakeholders.
For me, the meeting was worthwhile alone for the connections
that I made, but also for the steep learning-curve in my understanding of
Canadian research priorities: linking with people in Northern communities,
building on infrastructure, engaging with communities, and blending with
Indigenous Knowledge. I was particularly impressed with the true public
engagement that is carried out, in their Northern approach to science, through
public consultations, gap analysis, and identification of key principles in research
and research ethics.
Now it’s a matter of developing the ideas that were
discussed enthusiastically in the room, to build research plans with direct
societal impact, true stakeholder engagement, and opportunities for early
career researchers. It’s an exciting – and timely – moment to be in Arctic
research.
This blog is written by Dr Kate Hendry from the University of Bristol School of Earth Sciences and the Cabot Institute for the Environment.
