Ice melt and the changes wrought on the Arctic environment
are causing concern at the International Polar Year Conference
in Montreal.
A new study released at this week’s
International Polar Year Conference finds the energy
dynamics of the Arctic Ocean changing drastically, and in ways
not foreseen by previous climate change predictions.
It cost scientists of 10 teams from 27 countries $40 million
over two years to conduct an all-season study of open water
along the breaks in multi-year ice, which are known as flaw
leads. The results paint a detailed picture of ways in which
climate change is altering the Arctic’s marine ecosystem, from
weather, ocean currents and the life of flora and fauna, all due
to record lows of ice coverage and thickness.
“The Arctic Ocean is definitely changing on a whole lot of
different fronts,” said Professor David Barber of the University
of Manitoba, reported
Postmedia News. The study analyzed data gathered by
researchers aboard an icebreaker in the eastern Beaufort Sea,
Postmedia News said.
It was just one of hundreds of papers being released and
showcased as thousands of scientists meet in Montreal from April
22–27 to discuss all things Arctic. The 3,000-plus mostly
non-aboriginal scientists are evaluating information gathered
during International Polar Year, which went from 2007 to 2009.
Inuit peoples at the conference are working hard to make their
voices heard and get their longstanding knowledge taken into
account.
Some of the damage is not straightforward, the study said. As
the sun’s heat reaches newly opened waters, the resulting ice
melt is affecting the carbon exchange between ocean and
atmosphere, the study researchers said. Longer, warmer summers
allow more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and that the
winter water absorbs more carbon dioxide, which drops to the
bottom of the sea, the researchers said.
Released on April 24, the study did not surprise Inuit and
other aboriginals, who have been observing nature for millennia
and seen pronounced changes over the past generation or two. At
the meeting the president of the Inuit Circumpolar Council,
Aqqaluk Lynge of Greenland, told the participants that
traditional knowledge could complement scientific evidence and
analysis and emphasized that Inuit highly prize working with
scientists.
“We as Inuit fully welcome the opportunity, indeed, the
necessity, of working with scientists from around the world,” he
said, giving the keynote speech at the conference on April 24.
“We welcome and we need the IPY research and data generated so
that our decisions may be made with sound and cutting-edge
knowledge. We Inuit want to cooperatively move from knowledge to
action.”
Lynge said that Inuit knowledge, ranging from traditional
ceremonies, to technologies, to cultural expression and
language, provides resources upon which scientific investigators
can draw to enhance their understanding of the Arctic, he said,
as reported in the
Nunatsiaq News.
“From Knowledge to Action” is the theme of this year’s
conference, and indigenous and scientific participants alike
agreed that something must be done. The changes in the Arctic
are happening so fast that scientific observation cannot keep
up, the scientists concurred.
Panels deal with everything from responsible business and
economic development to the health effects of climate change, of
which there are many. The evenings of April 24 and 25 feature a
film festival, as well, before the conference winds up on Friday
the 27th.
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