The Arctic This Week Take Five: Week of May 4, 2020
Joint Operations in The Barents Sea
On May 4, the U.S. Navy’s sixth fleet confirmed that four U.S. Navy ships (three destroyers and one support ship) and one British Royal Navy ship had entered the Barents Sea north of Russia in a joint mission to conduct maritime security operations above the Arctic Circle. The Russian Ministry of Defense was notified of the mission on May 1, and the country’s Northern Fleet is now tracking the group of ships (Daily Mail, U.S. Navy).
Take 1: The operations up north mark the first time since the mid-1980s that any U.S. Navy surface ships have operated in the Barents Sea. It sends a clear and powerful message to Russia and other countries that the U.S. is indeed “committed to promoting regional security and stability, while building trust and reinforcing a foundation of Arctic readiness.” While the U.S. has in the past been criticized for lagging behind in terms of its presence, military capabilities, and engagement in the region, the recent and current Arctic activity helps put the U.S. in a different light. The military activity demonstrates that the country is serious and understands the importance of the region.
A Potential New Norwegian Ice Zone Policy
On May 7, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) urged Twitter users from across the globe to join them in a new campaign on May 13 to save Arctic species from the expansion of oil drilling. This comes as Norwegian politicians have been working on a new marine management policy that either will ratify a small or large marginal ice zone (the area where Arctic sea ice meets the open ocean). The government has already endorsed a new protection plan that only covers 14 % of what has been recommended by scientists, and will now make its final decision at the end of the month of whether to protect the edge of Arctic sea ice by following advice given by scientists, or focus on more oil and gas development in the region (WWF).
Take 2: The marginal ice zone that stretches thousands of kilometers across the Arctic is one of the world’s most threatened marine ecosystems, and is considered critical habitat for species like seals, walrus, polar bears, beluga, bowhead whales, and zooplankton and phytoplankton that are the base of several aquatic food webs. It will be interesting to see if the Norwegian Parliament chooses nature over oil, or further puts pressure on this vulnerable area. The campaign is important because it definitely will send a powerful message to the government to protect life in the area from oil and gas development. Environmentalists hope that the politicians will hear the message loud and clear, and understand that their international reputation is on the line.
New Russian Weather Satellite
On May 4, it was reported that Russia manufactured a weather satellite called Arktika-M that will be launched on December 9. The satellite is currently undergoing electric and radio tests, but when ready for launch Russia’s Hydrometeorological Center will be able to receive non-stop meteorological and hydrological data on the condition of the atmosphere and Earth’s polar areas. If everything goes as planned, a second Arktika-M satellite will launch 2023 (Arctic.ru, Sputnik).
Take 3: The manufacturing of a new Russian weather satellite in the Arctic definitely gets the world’s attention as it continues to demonstrate how invested Russia is in the region. While anything Russia and Arctic related raises concern in the western world, it is good to know that such a satellite can help with improving weather forecasts and enabling scientists to better study climate change.
A Reduction in Shorefast Ice
On May 4, a new Arctic study published in the journal Nature Climate Change by Brown University scientists discusses weather data findings. The researchers used 19 years of weather data and almost daily satellite observations of 28 Arctic communities in Northern Canada and Western Greenland to determine the timing of “shorefast ice” breakup (the sea ice that forms along shorelines). The findings showed that by 2100, climate change can have reduced the “shorefast ice” buildup by anywhere from five to 44 days, with the coldest communities in the study seeing the largest reductions (Nature, PHYS, Science Daily).
Take 4: The reduction of “shorefast ice” is worrisome for all Arctic communities that depend on the ice for connecting communities and providing access to hunting and fishing grounds. However, as the results show, climate change will not affect all places equally even within the Arctic. This is a reminder on the importance of considering local factors when making policy to prepare for future climate change. It may also be a good idea to take more localized and community-relevant approaches to studying climate change. At the same time, the lost shorefast ice might have other secondary or third order effects that need to be researched in the future.
Wolf Spiders Feast on Their Own to Survive
On May 4, the journal of Animal Ecology released the findings from a 2012 study on wolf spiders that had been conducted by researchers from Washington University in St. Louis, USA. The scientists had collected and measured a total of 575 female wolf spiders in two tundra sites located in the northern foothills of the Brooks Range in Alaska, and they further used two different methods (a stable isotope analysis and a mesocosm experiment where they manipulated the number of wolf spiders in an enclosed space) to investigate how variations in wolf spider density and change in body size in a warming world would influence feeding ecology. The research team found that as the rising temperatures cause females to grow larger and produce more offspring, spiders cannibalize each other more often due to competition of resources (Daily Mail, Journal of Animal Ecology).
Take 5: Past studies have already shown that wolf spiders have been greatly affected by climate change in terms of body size increase, and females producing more offspring. While it has been assumed that there will be more spiders around because the spiders produce more young, the study clearly shows that this is not the case as the wolf spiders resort to cannibalism to reduce the number of other spiders. This finding is crucial, because although cannibalism among wolf spiders has been seen in the wild, this study is the first to determine that it regulates the population of spiders. The study will serve as a reminder of how climate change can have ecological consequences that include shifts in competition, diet, and population structure of an invertebrate.