This volume brings together multiple perspectives on both the changing Arctic environment and the challenges and opportunities it presents for the shipping sector. It argues for the adoption of a forward-looking agenda that respects the fragile and changing Arctic frontier. With the accelerated interest in and potential for new maritime trade routes, commercial transportation and natural resource development, the pressures on the changing Arctic marine environment will only increase. The International Maritime Organization Polar Code is an important step toward Arctic stewardship. This new volume serves as an important guide to this rapidly developing agenda. Addressing a range of aspects, it offers a valuable resource for academics, practitioners, environmentalists and affected authorities in the shipping industry alike.

In one hundred years, or even fifty, the Arctic will look dramatically different than it does today. As polar ice retreats and animals and plants migrate northward, the arctic landscape is morphing into something new and very different from what it once was. While these changes may seem remote, they will have a profound impact on a host of global issues, from international politics to animal migrations. In Future Arctic, journalist and explorer Edward Struzik offers a clear-eyed look at the rapidly shifting dynamics in the Arctic region, a harbinger of changes that will reverberate throughout our entire world. Future Arctic reveals the inside story of how politics and climate change are altering the polar world in a way that will have profound effects on economics, culture, and the environment as we know it. Struzik takes readers up mountains and cliffs, and along for the ride on snowmobiles and helicopters, sailboats and icebreakers. His travel companions, from wildlife scientists to military strategists to indigenous peoples, share diverse insights into the science, culture and geopolitical tensions of this captivating place. With their help, Struzik begins piecing together an environmental puzzle: How might the land’s most iconic species—caribou, polar bears, narwhal—survive? Where will migrating birds flock to? How will ocean currents shift? And what fundamental changes will oil and gas exploration have on economies and ecosystems? How will vast unclaimed regions of the Arctic be divided? A unique combination of extensive on-the-ground research, compelling storytelling, and policy analysis, Future Arctic offers a new look at the changes occurring in this remote, mysterious region and their far-reaching effects.

This accessible and engagingly written book describes how national and international scientific monitoring programmes brought to light our present understanding of Arctic environmental change, and how these research results were successfully used to achieve international legal actions to lessen some of the environmental impacts. David P. Stone was intimately involved in many of these scientific and political activities. He tells a powerful story, using the metaphor of the 'Arctic Messenger' - an imaginary being warning us all of the folly of ignoring Arctic environmental change. This book will be of great interest to anyone concerned about the fate of the Arctic, including lifelong learners interested in the Arctic and the natural environment generally; students studying environmental science and policy; researchers of circumpolar studies, indigenous peoples, national and international environmental management, and environmental law; and policymakers and industry professionals looking to protect (or exploit) Arctic resources.

The Arctic, in the polar region, the northernmost part of Earth, is the hotspot for climate change assessments and the sensitive barometer of global climate variability. This book includes the scientific observations in the Arctic region’s climate and the results obtained by scientists at the Indian Arctic station Himadri over the past decade. Designed and structured to incorporate multi-dimensional climate change research output, it is a significant contribution toward understanding, among other issues, the role of persistent organic pollutants and mercury, as well as the increase of carbon monoxide during ozone reduction in the Arctic. Features include: Highlights the achievements of climate change research in the Arctic region Includes case studies of scientists in the Arctic and their significant achievements through the Indian research base Himadri Provides a thorough review of palaeoclimate change studies, the impact of climate change on biotic components and the impact of climate change on abiotic components Provides specific details on the study of ozone depletion phenomenon over the Arctic region Covers a wide range of research contributions Details sea ice variability in the context of global warming over the Arctic region Connects seismogenesis with the climate change in the Arctic region This book will be an important read for researchers, students and all interested professionals.

The Arctic is the most northern part of our Earth. It is a huge area that spans over several countries including; Canada, Denmark (Greenland), Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Russia, and the USA. However, the largest part of the Arctic is not on land but is covered by water – the Arctic Ocean. For hundreds of thousands of years, large parts of the Arctic Ocean were covered by ice all year around. Many animals, such as polar bears, Arctic foxes, seals, fish and birds, and even some people have made this icy place their home. They have learned to live with the ice, and some animals even need it to live. But recently, things in the Arctic have been changing. You have probably already heard a lot about Climate Change. Climate Change impacts the long-term weather (climate) everywhere on our planet. Many areas get warmer, some get colder, and everywhere we see more extreme or unusual weather, such as storms, floods or droughts. But nowhere is Climate Change happening as fast as in the Arctic. You might have also heard about the “2°C goal”. This is a goal that many governments around the world have agreed to. The plan is essentially to make sure the average global warming of our atmosphere stays at less than 2°C compared to what people like to call “pre-industrial time” (the year 1948 is used as a reference). Right now, most of the world is at around 0.8°C warming. In the Arctic, we are already at 2.3°C warming – that is 0.3°C above what should be the absolute maximum according to the “2°C goal”. Now you probably ask why it is so bad that the Arctic is getting a bit warmer. That should make it a nicer place to live, right? Unfortunately, the warm temperature means that the ice that has covered the Arctic Ocean for all this time is melting. It looks like that will change the Arctic Ocean forever and with it the animals and people that call the Arctic their home. In this collection, we want to tell you what we, as scientists, know about the changes in the Arctic; how we investigate these changes and what we have learned from our travels to the Arctic and the analyses we do in our research institutes. We will tell you about how the higher temperatures in the Arctic change the ice. How very tiny animals can have a huge impact. We want to introduce you to life in the ice, under the ice, and at the seafloor. We will talk about processes that make the Arctic Ocean so special and chemicals that can travel from our homes and cities all the way to the Arctic.

The Arctic is often portrayed as being isolated, but the reality is that the connectivity with the rest of the planet is huge, be it through weather patterns, global ocean circulation, and large-scale migration patterns to name but a few. There is a huge amount of public interest in the ‘changing Arctic’, especially in terms of the rapid changes taking place in ecosystems and exploitation of resources. There can be no doubt that the Arctic is at the forefront of the international environmental science agenda, both from a scientific aspect, and also from a policy/environmental management perspective. This book aims to stimulate a wide audience to think about the Arctic by highlighting the remarkable breadth of what it means to study its ecology. Arctic Ecology seeks to systematically introduce the diverse array of ecologies within the Arctic region. As the Arctic rapidly changes, understanding the fundamental ecology underpinning the Arctic is paramount to understanding the consequences of what such change will inevitably bring about. Arctic Ecology is designed to provide graduate students of environmental science, ecology and climate change with a source where Arctic ecology is addressed specifically, with issues due to climate change clearly discussed. It will also be of use to policy-makers, researchers and international agencies who are focusing on ecological issues and effects of global climate change in the Arctic. About the Editor David N. Thomas is Professor of Arctic Ecosystem Research in the Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki. Previously he spent 24 years in the School of Ocean Sciences, Bangor University, Wales. He studies marine systems, with a particular emphasis on sea ice and land-coast interactions in the Arctic and Southern Oceans as well as the Baltic Sea. He also edited a related book: Sea Ice, 3rd Edition (2017), which is also published by Wiley-Blackwell.

The current warming trends in the Arctic may shove the Arctic system into a seasonally ice-free state not seen for more than one million years. The melting is accelerating, and researchers were unable to identify natural processes that might slow the deicing of the Arctic. Such substantial additional melting of Arctic and Antarctic glaciers and ice sheets would raise the sea level worldwide, flooding the coastal areas where many of the world's population lives. Studies, led by scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and the University of Arizona, show that greenhouse gas increases over the next century could warm the Arctic by 3-5°C in summertime. Thus, Arctic summers by 2100 may be as warm as they were nearly 130,000 years ago, when sea levels eventually rose up to 6 m higher than today.