THE NORWEGIAN CONTRIBUTION THE CONTRIBUTION NORWEGIAN THE NORWEGIAN CONTRIBUTION The International Polar Year 2007-2008 (IPY) was one of the largest coordinated research program- mes ever implemented. Through intensive observation and data collection over the course of a two-year period the programme has laid the foundation for studies that will improve our knowledge of the Arctic and the Antarctic in the decades to come. One key topic was the significance of the polar regions for global climate. IPY was also innovative in the way it linked research with educa- tion, outreach and communication. Norway was a major contributor to IPY. This book summari- ses the results and presents the preliminary scientific findings of the Norwegian IPY programme. THE NORWEGIAN CONTRIBUTION © The Research Council of Norway 2011 Editors: Olav Orheim and Kristen Ulstein Editorial committee: Øystein Hov, Ole Arve Misund and Kirsten Broch Mathisen English translation team: Alison Coulthard, Carol B. Eckmann, Anna Godson, Darren McKellep Cover photo: Bjørn Anders Nymoen, Jenny Bytingsvik, Svein Holo/Samfoto, Per Eide/Samfoto Design: Fete typer as Printed by: 07 Number of copies: 1000 Research Council of Norway P.O. Box 2700 St. Hanshaugen 0131 OSLO Telephone: +47 22 03 70 00 Telefax: +47 22 03 70 01 [email protected] www.rcn.no Oslo, June 2011 ISBN 978-82-12-02901-9 (printed version) ISBN 978-82-12-02934-7 (PDF) TABLE OF CONTENT The research programme 108 Sveinn Are Hanssen et al.: The common eider’s vulnerability to pollution, climate change and disease (BIRD-HEALTH) 112 Ken Drinkwater et al.: Effects of climate change on the ecosystems of 10 Olav Orheim: The prelude to the International Polar Year (IPY) the Barents Sea and Norwegian Sea (NESSAR) 15 Olav Orheim: What made the International Polar Year so big in Norway? 116 Dorothée Ehrich et al.: Arctic predators as indicators of climatic impacts (Arctic Predators) 20 Kristen Ulstein og Karl Torstein Hetland: The People’s Polar Year 120 Annika Hofgaard: Are trees invading the Arctic? (PPS Arctic Norway) 32 Per Backe-Hansen: Selection of the Norwegian projects under IPY 126 Bjørn Munro Jenssen: Polar bear health, pollution and climate change (BearHealth) 36 Øystein Godøy: Shared data management – vision and reality 130 Geir Wing Gabrielsen et al.: Will climate change increase uptake and effects of 39 Olav Orheim: The Norwegian IPY effort – activities and results contaminants in polar marine ecosystems? (COPOL) 44 Øystein Hov: The way forward after IPY – Experiences and recommendations for the future 134 Grete K. Hovelsrud: Adaptation in the Arctic: to what and by whom? (CAVIAR) 138 Ole-Henrik Magga et al.: EALÁT – Something to live on (EALÀT) 144 Winfried K. Dallmann: Oil Activity in northwestern Russia and the living conditions of indigenous peoples (MODIL-NAO) THE RESEARCH PROJECTS 150 Eiliv Larsen and Gudmund Løvø: Research and communication on climate change and adaptation strategies (SciencePub) 154 John Inge Svendsen et al.: Ice Age research in the Ural Mountains – on “unusual” 56 Jon Egill Kristjansson: Toward better forecasts of extreme weather in the Arctic (IPY-THORPEX) glaciers and mammoth hunters (ICEHUS II) 60 Andreas Stohl: How is air pollution transported to the Arctic? (POLAR-CAT) 158 Gunnhild Hoogensen Gjørv: Different understandings of “security” in the context 64 Cecilie Mauritzen: Better ocean and ice monitoring and forecasting of oil and gas activity in the Arctic (GAPS) in the Arctic (iAOOS-Norway) 161 Pia Lane: Documenting the Kven language and other minority languages in 70 Tor Gammelsrød: The Polar Oceans in the Atlantic sector: the sources of deep water circulation the northern areas (LICHEN) and uptake of CO2 (BIAC) 164 Yngve Kristoffersen et al.: Autonomous buoy for seismic reflection measurements 74 Hanne Hvidtfeldt Christiansen: Recording permafrost temperatures in Norway – a future direction for marine geoexploration in the Arctic Ocean (Seismic Buoy) and Svalbard (TSP Norway) 168 Johannes Schweitzer: The dynamic continental margin between the Mid-Atlantic Ridge 80 Jon Ove Hagen: How do Arctic glaciers react to global warming? (GLACIODYN) and Bjørnøya (Bear Island) (Continental Margin) 85 Vladimir Pavlov: Sea-level changes in the Nordic Seas (LEVANS) 174 Nikolai Østgaard: Southern and Northern Lights not identical (IPY-ICESTAR) 88 Jan-Gunnar Winther et al.: Clues to historical climate variation and future changes in sea level buried in the Antarctic ice (TASTE-IDEA) 93 Ulysses Ninnemann et al.: How could climate change affect Earth’s largest ocean current? (PALEODRAKE) OUTREACH AND EDUCATION PROJECTS 96 Svein A. Iversen: Ecosystem study and krill survey aboard G.O. Sars in Southern Ocean (AKES) 100 Kit M. Kovacs et al.: Seals used as “research assistants” in the polar oceans (MEOP-Norway) 180 Kristen Ulstein: Achievements of the education and outreach projects supported by IPY 104 Tron Frede Thingstad: Turnover of dissolved organic material in the polar microbial food web (PAME-Nor) 4 Polar year 2007–2008 Polar year 2007–2008 5 Foreword Foreword The polar areas continue to play a vital role for Norway. This year we are celebrating The International Polar Year (IPY) has achieved nearly all of its objectives. Over the the 150th anniversary of Nansen’s birth and the 100th anniversary of Amundsen’s course of a two-year period, internationally coordinated observation and data collec- arrival at the South Pole. Norway is responsible for the management of substantial tion have produced unique data sets which would not have been possible to obtain in resources in the Arctic and Antarctic. The treaty on maritime delimination with Rus- any other way. Analysis of the data has already given us a great deal of new knowledge, sia in the Barents Sea and the Arctic Ocean has largely extended these responsibilities. and it will continue to expand our understanding in the coming years about the global Achieving sustainable management of these resources in a manner that benefits the climate and the Arctic and Antarctic regions. Thanks to NOK 320 million from the world community requires extensive knowledge. In order to acquire this knowledge, Fund for Research and Innovation, Norway has distinguished itself as the third largest we need strong polar research communities at Norwegian institutions as well as wide- contributor of extraordinary funding to the International Polar Year. ranging international research cooperation. The Research Council is pleased to have been given the task of administering the The International Polar Year (IPY) showed that there is great attraction in polar IPY activities in Norway. It is a task that has been both challenging and inspiring. At research, not only within the small group of countries that have interests in the polar a time when internationalisation is high on the research policy agenda, it has been areas, but throughout the world at large. Interest among young researchers is espe- exhilarating to glean the experience from a research programme that has recognised cially great. the need to internationalise its research field since the 1880s. It has been motivating to Norway is one of the most important gateways to the Arctic, thanks to Svalbard, and capture and channel the interest of young people. The IPY programme has also man- we play a major role in the Antarctic as well. As a result, we have a special responsibil- aged to achieve what few research programmes can replicate – outreach to an entire ity to ensure good working conditions for the many polar researchers from around nation through a comprehensive programme of education and outreach. the world. We have done this during IPY, and we will continue to do so in the future. Especially promising is that so many young researchers are showing an interest in Even though we are a small contributor to the worldwide science production, Norway research on the polar regions. We know that this is where the most important keys is among the leading nations in polar research, in terms of quantity as well as quality. to understanding the mechanism underlying climate change are found. This is why Polar research is not a distinct discipline. It is a geographic delineation for a field recruitment to polar research is crucial. We are proud to have given 50 research fellows of research and it encompasses a vast range of research activity conducted in the this opportunity through the Norwegian IPY programme. One of the most important polar areas. Nonetheless, polar research has traditionally been dominated by various outcomes of IPY has been the establishment of the Association of Early Career Polar kinds of geophysical research. This time IPY expanded the scope of polar research to Scientists (APECS), which we have hosted in Tromsø. include researchers from the humanities and social sciences. The need for a broader Thanks to the Government’s strong emphasis on polar research during the Interna- knowledge base has emerged more clearly in light of the growing understanding that tional Polar Year, Norway has successfully fulfilled its responsibility to provide logistics to climate change may lead to dramatic changes in the living conditions of population the international research community. A key objective of the IPY has been to increase the groups in the polar areas. use of the research infrastructure Norway has developed, most prominently on Svalbard. There are claims in the public debate on research that a fundamental conflict We have achieved this objective, and are building on the experience gained from IPY to exists between programme-based research and basic research fuelled by curiosity, develop integrated observation systems and establish a knowledge centre through the and that it is the latter of these in particular that generates high-quality research. ESFRI project “Svalbard Integrated Arctic Earth Observation System” (SIOS). A total The experience with the IPY does not confirm such notions. Quite the contrary, this of 27 institutions from 14 countries are taking part in the planning, and the project will book is tangible proof that the Norwegian IPY programme has delivered research of be a vital follow up to the international research cooperation established during IPY.