The overall objective of IPY Arctic GOOS to develop and implement operational monitoring and forecasting systems in the Arctic Ocean and adjacent seas. The systems will be based on state-of-the-art remote sensing, in situ observations, numerical modelling, data assimilation and dissemination techniques. Several components of Arctic GOOS are presently in operation, producing daily information that can be downloaded from web sites.

Thawing permafrost could release large amounts of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere causing even more global warming !

This initiative was launched because there is considerable concern and increased awareness both within the international scientific community and the general public about the effects that global warming could have on frozen grounds in Arctic regions (Main Photo). A significant proportion of this permafrost would start to thaw out over the coming decades, with a potential release of large amounts of greenhouse gases (both carbon dioxide and the much more potent methane) to the atmosphere from previously frozen soil organic matter that will start to decompose. This is a so-called positive feedback within the Earth System, as climate warming results in permafrost thawing that causes a further increase of greenhouse gases in the Earth's atmosphere resulting in even more warming. We are not dealing only with a gradual process related to progressive thawing of the ground with depth over time. Also more dramatic events like ground subsidence due to melting of buried ice bodies (Photo 2) and lateral erosion along the edges of thaw lakes (Photo 3) would accelerate the release of greenhouse gases.

The objective of The Economy of the North is to present a comprehensive overview of the economy of the circumpolar Arctic, including the traditional production activities of the indigenous people. The report discusses the importance of the Arctic economy from a global perspective, with particular focus on the natural resources in the Arctic region. Finally, likely effects of climate change on the Arctic economy are discussed.

STUDENTS ON ICE is an award-winning organization offering unique learning expeditions to the Antarctic and the Arctic. Our mandate is to provide students from around the world with inspiring educational opportunities at the ends of our earth, and in doing so, help them foster a new understanding and respect for our planet.

The Students on Ice - International Polar Year Youth Expeditions series has been endorsed by the IPY Joint Committee as a prominent and valued component of the IPY program. These special IPY-themed voyages to the Arctic and Antarctic offer once-in-a-lifetime opportunities to over 500 youth to explore the Polar regions!

These unique educational expeditions are designed for international high school and university youth. Participants will travel together with teams of polar scientists, experts and educators. The ice-strengthened ship-based expeditions will be unparalleled platforms for Polar and Environmental Education and outreach for the International Polar Year.

Doing science in the polar regions depends on humans performing under the most extreme environmental conditions. By collecting data for a new epidemiological database of health events in Antarctica, this 18-nation project will improve our understanding of how individuals and groups interact in confined environments, and how human physiology adapts to such extreme conditions. The results should help improve the health of polar scientists, help deliver better healthcare in other remote areas of the world, and help space scientists understand the likely effects of isolation on astronauts during long-duration missions.

Rapid Climate Change (RCC) has serious consequences for indigenous peoples in the north with respect to ethnic mobilization and conflict, change of life style and resource utilization, also their agency on the world stage to secure land and resource rights. Through a combination of research and education in partnership with northern indigenous peoples of Russia, the CLUE initiative has been designed to grasp the resource/ethnicity relation of indigenous circumpolar societies confronting RCC. Although the CLUE project concentrates on the Russian field, material from Fennoscandia and Alaska will serve a comparative purpose. In some respects Fennoscandia, and in other respects Alaska, have carried much further discourses concerning some of the issues which are still in their infancy in Russia.