The Arctic sea-ice cover is in the midst of a major transformation, with the Pacific Arctic sector and Alaska experiencing some of the most profound changes in ice cover anywhere in the Arctic. With impacts on Arctic coastal communities and increases in maritime activities, both observations of changes underway and predictions at the scale of less than a week to several months out are of importance to the research community and those living and operating in ice-covered seas. The presentation will explore key benefits or hazards deriving from sea ice, and explore the types of information and predictions most relevant to sea ice users, with a focus on Alaska coastal environments. Specifically, use of coastal land fast ice by Indigenous communities and industry serves to illustrate the importance of stakeholder input and guidance in defining the research problem and types of observations and predictions needed. The presentation will explore how the combination of surface-based observations, Indigenous and local knowledge, and remote sensing is particularly effective in addressing a hierarchy of issues of deriving from rapid changes in coastal ice environments.

Why do people move to an eroding village? Why do fishermen go farther north in the Bering Sea in cold years? Why would hunters report an ecosystem in trouble when subsistence harvests are up? And what does AmazonPrime have to do with food security?

Research on human-environment interactions in the Arctic has demonstrated the strong connections between people and their ecosystems. But those connections do not always lead to the outcomes one might expect. In addition to examining the physical and biological aspects of Arctic change, we need more attention to the social dynamics that shape human responses to climate and other types of change.

This presentation will review some of the basics of what we know in these areas, and then discuss how to start studying the things we cannot yet explain.

Mark's presentation will provide an update on the activities of the U.S. Arctic Executive Steering Committee and the upcoming White House Arctic Science Ministerial being planned for this fall.

There is growing realization of the strong interactions between degradation of near-surface permafrost on the dynamics of ecosystems, and that these interactions together influence local and global environmental, economic, and social systems.

Degradation of near-surface permafrost (perennially frozen ground) caused by modern climate change is adversely affecting human infrastructure, altering Arctic ecosystem structure and function, changing the surface energy balance, and has the potential to dramatically impact Arctic hydrological processes and increase greenhouse gas emissions.

The Study of Environmental Change (SEARCH) (https://www.arcus.org/search-program) Permafrost Action Team is developing new knowledge about permafrost change impacts on the ecosystem services critical to local residents of the permafrost zone through research synthesis. This framework of synthesis builds on activities of the Permafrost Carbon Network (PCN) (www.permafrostcarbon.org), an international scientific effort that links biological carbon cycle research with networks in the physical sciences focused on the thermal state of permafrost.

This presentation will discuss the use of synthesis science by both the SEARCH Permafrost Action Team and Permafrost Carbon Network to identify and understand the widespread implications of changing permafrost at both regional and local scales.

This event is being conducted in partnership with The Arctic Institute

The intensity and extent of ocean acidification in the Arctic will increase rapidly as atmospheric CO2 levels continue to rise making the region a bellwether for the global ocean during the next few decades. The environmental changes brought on by ocean acidification could pose a significant threat to Arctic ecosystems that are already facing challenges from changes in sea ice distribution, warming and increased freshwater discharge. New ways of collecting and integrating critical environmental intelligence will be discussed in the context of developing resilience and adaptation strategies for dealing with ocean acidification.

Scientists now have a better understanding of how vulnerable ice sheets and glaciers are to small amounts of polar warming.  Ongoing sea level rise due to the loss of ice mass into the sea is and will impact coastlines profoundly but to different degrees — i.e., the oceans are not a simple bathtub subject to uniform sea level rise.  Adaptation may require a range of actions.

Does it seem as though the weather gods have gone crazy lately? It is not your imagination. The question on everyone’s minds is why? And is it related to climate change? In this presentation, I will explain new research that links increasing extreme weather events with the rapidly warming and melting Arctic during recent decades. Evidence suggests that Arctic warming is causing weather patterns to become more persistent, which can lead to extremes such as droughts, cold spells, heat waves, and some flooding events.