Hannele Savela Thule Institute, University of Oulu on behalf of the INTERACT Consortium
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Transcript of Hannele Savela Thule Institute, University of Oulu on behalf of the INTERACT Consortium
Research and Monitoring of Ecosystems and Biodiversity in the Arctic:
What has been done, and what does it matter?
Hannele SavelaThule Institute, University of Ouluon behalf of the INTERACT Consortium
EU Speaker’s Corner, GEO Week, Geneva, 13-17 Jan 2014
What is the Arctic?
Geographic: Region above the Arctic Circle 66° 32" N
Biological: North of the arctic tree line
Climatological: Location in high latitudes, where the average daily summer temperature does not rise above 10 C (50 F)
http://nsidc.org/cryosphere/arctic-meteorology/arctic.html
Nature
Climate
Indigenous culturesEcosystems
Biodiversity
What makes the Arctic special?
Arctic Ecosystems and Biodiversity
Ecosystems
Foodwebs consisting of plants and animals adapted to extreme conditions
One of the most productive ecosystems in the world (e.g. marine organisms, migratory birds)
Arctic wildlife have special adaptations to survive the cold and changeable environment
Biodiversity
Plant and animal species unique to high latitudes
Climate change is the most serious threat to Arctic biodiversity
Habitat loss and degradation Loss of biodiversity Emergence of invasive alien
species
Natioal Wildlife Federation (www.nwf.org). Arctic Biodiversity Assessment (www.arcticbiodiversity.is)
What is happening?
The past years have been the warmest recorded in the Arctic
Trends in mean surface air temperature over the period 1960 to 2011. Notice that the Arctic is red, indicating that the trend over this 50 year period is for an increase in air temperature of more that 2° C (3.6° F) across much of the Arctic, which is larger than for other parts of the globe. The inset shows linear trends over the period by latitude.—Credit: NASA GISS, retrieved from http://nsidc.org/cryosphere/arctic-meteorology/climate_change.html
The Arctic is changing
Time series 1995–2011 of the observed annual mass balance for the Mittivakkat Glacier, SE Greenland (Press release by S. Mernild et al. 2011 for INTERACT).
Warming of the Arctic has consequences…
Changes in glaciers, permafrost, snow cover, sea iceEndangered ecosystems and biodiversity Invasive speciesEmerging diseasesEffects on infrastructuresSocietal and cultural consequences
Human activities also affect the ArcticGlobal consequences Arctic amplification!
Melting glacier: V. Rinterknecht
What to do?What is happening?
Can we stop it?
How can we adapt?
ResearchMonitoringOutreach and
information
Boy looking at dragonfly: H. Savela
Research and monitoring: levels of activity
Organizations
Projects
Individuals
Project level: INTERACT
• Network for terrestrial research and monitoring in the Arctic
• 58 stations across the Arctic, northern and northern alpine areas
• EU FP-7 Infrastructures project 2011-2014
• One of the GEO European Projects
Monitoring• Data and monitoring on environment, biodiversity, and
ecosystemsClimate records, Hydrology, Permafrost, Vegetation,
Phenology, Species richness, Population counts, Tourism impacts
• INTERACT partners’ monitoring activities have been on-going for up to 100 yr!
• Real-time monitoring• Retrospective monitoring: Back to the Future
What has been done?
1982 to 2012
1970 to 2009
No change
1977 to 2009change
From space to the ground Xu et al., NCC, 2013
INTERACT strategically samples the complexity of greening in the North
Research: Transnational Access Free access to research facilities, field sites, databases 5400 days used at 20 stations in 8 countries 360 researchers from 136 groups from 19 countries, Biodiversity, glaciology, permafrost, climate, hydrology,
ecology, biogeochemistry, human dimension… From research to outreach: Publications, presentations, blogs,
teaching, meeting local residents…
Photo by A. Sier
• Reconstructing Holocene temperature variations using non-biting midgesfrom the margins of the Greenland Ice Sheet
• GINR in Greenland• Computer-based model of the
Greenland Ice Sheet to predict how it has changed in the past and what may happen in the future
Modelling ecosystem responses to climate change;HOLOGIS, A. Long, Durham University, UK
Photos by A. Long
Organization level: GEO
Organisations and projects working together to
Coordinate and integrate Earth Observations to GEOSS
Provide data, results and information about research and monitoring to decision and policy makers and users at different levels: GEOSS Common Infrastructure
• Cold Regions (WA-01-C3), Ecosystems (EC-01-C2), Biodiversity (BI-01)
Do care about it; we can make a difference!
Citizen scienceEveryday actions
What can you do?
Citizen scince in Action:Humpback whale photo ID
• Collection of photos of the undersides of humpback whale tail fins
• The underside of a humpback whale's tail fin can be used to identify individual whales
• Catalogue of humpback whales that visit Greenlandic waters
Do the same whales return to certain regions in Greenland year after year?
Photos by Tenna Boye.
What does it matter?• Arctic is home to 13 million people and unique ecosystems and
biodiversity• What happens in the Arctic amplifies, and effects the rest of the
planet through feedback mechanisms
Thank you for listening!Integrating Observations to Sustain the Planet