According to scientists, even though the warmer temperatures in the north have resulted in an increase in the number of plants growing on the Arctic tundra, it could still become a large source of carbon dioxide. more »

Canada’s recent mapping flights in the Arctic have explored past the North Pole and into areas that Russia is claiming as its own, Canadian federal officials have confirmed.  While Russia has made no bones about the fact that it sees the waters leading up to the North Pole as Russian territory, the Canadian mapping flights could mean that Canada plans to challenge Russia on the ownership of those waters. more »

After seeing a decade of stability of methane over the Arctic region, a recent increase in the concentrations of the powerful greenhouse gas has some experts worried about the immense stores of methane currently trapped in the permafrost, and what could happen if they are thawed as the ice melts. more »

In the May 19th edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, geoscientists from the University of Texas at Austin and Texas A&M University say that sediments deposited in the ocean by the Colville, Mackenzie and other Arctic rivers have long been ignore as an area of study that could lead to a better understanding of what the Earth’s climate will do in the upcoming decades. more »

Thousands of researchers haling from more than 60 different countries took advantage of the International Polar Year to study regions in both the Arctic and the Antarctic. And even though the International Polar Year ended March 31^st, that doesn’t mean that scientific research into the Arctic is likely to slow down any. People within the organizations supporting scientific research in the Arctic say that there are even more applications being received to do research in the Arctic.

Senior research officer at the Nunavut Research Institute, Mary Ellen Thomas said, “We’re seeing the same kind of level of activity.” The Research Institute is located in Iqaluit.

The organization that organizes the transportation, equipment and any other logistical services for researchers and scientists in the North, the Polar Continental Shelf Program, provided support for 155 projects during the International Polar Year.

This year the program will be handling close to 160 projects according to program director Marty Bergmann.  This years programs are varied, including archeological, zoological and glacier research.

“It is a very much a ‘business as usual’ year,” Bergmann said, “which surprised us because we thought in a post-IPY environment, there would a decrease of some sort.

Thomas says that there in an increased level of interest this year coming from film crews.

“What we are getting [is] more interest in film projects who want to look at everything — from woolly caterpillars to the BBC perhaps doing a program in the North. I think the actual Polar Year woke people up to the science of the Arctic. Now we’re seeing the science education and promotion and outreach, and that’s a new stage.”

Bergmann said that major renovations at the Polar Continental Shelf Program facility is Resolute Bay, Nunavut will help the program support the growing number of research project in the Arctic.

“The office space and living accommodations, basically we’re looking at a 50 per cent increase in the amount of space available for scientists that use Resolute [Bay] as a base of operation during the summer, and also as a point of departure out into the field.”

Despite resent criticism that Russia is being extremely aggressive when it comes to its rights in the Arctic, the country has once again reached out to another Arctic power in search of cooperation and a peaceful solution to the growing issue of who has what claim to the Arctic and its energy resources. more »

In With Respect, Canada’s North, a Canadian Senate report released last Thursday, it was suggested that the Canadian federal government would be better off listening to what people living in the North have to say before making any decisions that will affect the Arctic, including the hot topics of Arctic sovereignty, climate issues and natural resources.  more »

Commonwealth North, a non partisan group in Alaska concentrating on public policy, will be holding a forum on May 20^th centered around the Law of the Sea.   Some of the guest speakers slated to talk on the issue are Commander James Kraska from the U.S. Naval War College, John Morton, the director of Oceans Law and Policy at the University of Virginia’s School of Law and Stephen de Boer, the director of Oceans and Environmental Law Division of Canada’s Department of Foreign Affairs. more »