ESSAR addresses how climate variability and change affects the marine ecosystems of the polar (Subarctic and Arctic) seas and their sustainability. To provide accurate projections on the impact of climate warming on these ecosystems requires improved knowledge of its components and their linkages. Because of the complexity of the interactions, accurate predictions of what will happen to individual species requires knowledge on key life-history traits and of what will happen to the ecosystem as a whole, as species do not function separately from their ecosystem. ESSAR, therefore, encompasses retrospective and field studies on physics, plankton, benthos, fish and shellfish, marine mammals, sea birds and humans. The field studies will be carried out in the Atlantic, Pacific and Arctic Oceans during 2007-2008. The data gathered will be used, together with bio-physical models, to make quantifiable predictions of the effects of both climate variability and long-term climate change on arctic polar marine ecosystems.

The development of a polar-based photobioreactor for the production of bioactive compounds by indigenous micro-algae and cyanobacteria.

Indigenous youth will inherit large portions of the north and the responsibility for protecting its natural resources. They will choose future livelihoods in a world where economic, political and environmental decisions occur in multinational global forums. This project will develop future environmental decision-makers and indigenous community leaders who understand and appreciate conservation issues and the roles of science, indigenous knowledge and politics in conservation decision-making.""

This is a collective project to produce and promote quality books reflecting IPY themes with global audience appeal. Project members provide resources from their books for use in IPY education and outreach. This is an open project and we invite new authors to have their books considered for inclusion by completing this Polar Books Project Application and returning it to {encode=" This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it " title="Lauren Haney"}.

For more information, please visit the Polar Books webpage.

Polar bears are threatened by global warming and long-range transported pollution. The aim of the BearHealth project is a circumpolar monitoring and assessment of various health parameters including temporal and spatial trends of transarctic organic contaminants. Furthermore, temporal and annual distribution of polar bears in relation to sea ice extension will be conducted. The work is facilitated via the IUCN Polar Bear Specialist Group and 30 years of scientific networking

Temporal and spatial distribution of mercury and methylmercury source types, transfer and impact in the North American arctic and sub-arctic food web using seabird eggs and feathers Mercury appears to be increasing in the environment, world-wide. Scientists from North America and Europe will use seabird eggs and feathers to track sources of mercury and assess regional differences in mercury in the western Arctic by applying highly sensitive, newly developed analytical techniques. Eggs and feathers archived from past collections will be used to study changes from the past.

The Circumpolar Biodiversity Monitoring Program (CBMP) is a global network working together to harmonize and integrate efforts to monitor the Arctic’s living resources.

We have an opportunity before us to vastly improve our understanding of change in the Arctic. While the North experiences growing pressure from climate change and resource development, our current monitoring is fragmented and uncoordinated, reducing our ability to understand what’s going on and therefore, effectively respond.

Arctic nations spend over half a billion dollars monitoring biodiversity – and yet, the return on our investment is poor. The CBMP is working with over 60 global partners to boost our current monitoring effort and deliver the most cutting edge information on Arctic change. Maintaining healthy Arctic ecosystems is a global imperative as the Arctic plays a critical role in the Earth’s physical, chemical and biological balance.

"Moved by the state" is an international, collaborative research activity addressing state-induced population movements in the circumpolar North in the 20th and 21st centuries. To that end, institutions from Canada, Finland, Greenland, Russia, and the U.S.A. will conduct research in Alaska, Canada, Greenland, and Russia from 2006-2010. Extensive anthropological fieldwork and demographic data collection and analysis will be used to track similarities and differences among selected case studies.