The Arctic This Week Take Five: Week of 21 August, 2023
Canadian North Faces Its Worst Fire Season
As reported by Al Jazeera on August 23, Canada is experiencing its worst fire season on record. According to the Canadian Forest Fire Centre, there have been 5,881 fires recorded so far, with 1,036 fires currently active throughout Canada, including in the northern regions and the Arctic. The fires have burned at least 15.3 million hectares of land, which is ten times more than in 2022 and twice as much as the previous record in 1995. The fires have led to the evacuation and displacement of tens of thousands of people. (Al Jazeera)
Take 1: Canada’s devastating and unprecedented fire season emphasizes the increasing flammability of the Arctic. Although wildfires are a natural part of forest and tundra ecosystems, the severity and frequency of wildfires in the Arctic have increased in recent years. With the Arctic warming more than four times faster than the rest of the world, rising temperatures are drying out vegetation and soil, increasing the risk of fire. Climate change is also intensifying storms in the region, causing lightning strikes that can ignite vegetation and rapidly burn through boreal forests and peat soils rich in organic material. In addition to scorching vast portions of the region, Arctic wildfires release large amounts of carbon, exacerbating climate change. The smoke from these fires can also be transported over long distances, harming the respiratory health of Arctic communities and settling on ice and snow, which darkens the surface and accelerates melting in the region. Arctic wildfires also burn away the topsoil layer that insulates permafrost, causing permafrost thaw that releases even more carbon into the atmosphere. The immense scale of Canada’s fires is harrowing, but with global temperatures continuing to rise, wildfires in the region will likely worsen. These fires should shock the international community into taking immediate climate actions to preserve the global and Arctic environment from further catastrophes. (Environmental Research Letters, NASA, Polar Journal, The Conversation)
Russian Scientist Unveil Russian Flag in Arctic
As reported by The Barents Observer on August 22, polar scientists from the Russian Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute have displayed a large Russian flag on floating sea ice near the drifting polar station Severny polyus-41. The Institute stated that the 1,400 square-meter flag was unveiled to celebrate Russia’s State Flag Day and to demonstrate support despite being so far away from the mainland. Footage from the event illustrates that the group of scientists was accompanied by the scientific icebreakers Severny Polyus and Akademik Tryoshnikov. (The Barents Observer)
Take 2: The unveiling of the massive Russian flag in the Arctic echoes previous symbolic actions to assert Russia’s presence and dominance in the Arctic. However, unlike earlier political gestures, the flag unveiling is particularly concerning because it involves the Russian scientific community. Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, collaboration between Russia and the other Arctic states has been severely limited, and political cooperation continues to be impossible. Although the chairship of the Arctic Council passed from Russia to Norway earlier this year, Russia’s participation in the organization remains suspended. Focusing on scientific partnerships through working groups and cross-national research was seen as a potential avenue for resuming cooperation in the Arctic, as scientific collaboration has been used to improve relations and strengthen trust in the past. Yet, the incident highlights the presently unfavorable conditions for using science as a diplomatic tool and reflects changes in Russia’s Arctic strategy that reduce the importance of multilateral cooperation. With the Arctic continuing to change rapidly due to global warming, Russia’s involvement in Arctic research is necessary since it constitutes such a large part of the region and provides irreplaceable data for climatology. Thus, although the flag demonstration weakens the potential for scientific cooperation, countries should pursue other routes to restore vital collaboration in the region. (Alfred Wegener Institute, Foreign Policy, Royal Institute for International Relations)
Another Driver of Permafrost Thaw: Deep Snow
As reported by Futurity on August 21, a long-term experiment that began in 1994 has found that deeper than average snow is driving permafrost thaw in the Arctic tundra. Published in AGU Advances, the study revealed that deeper snowpacks insulate the warm ground, causing rapid permafrost thaw and carbon emissions year-round. The researchers concluded that increasing snow would accelerate the release of carbon frozen in permafrost, allowing emissions from the Arctic to continue even if other sources of greenhouse gases are stopped. (Futurity)
Take 3: Often excluded from existing climate change models since they are hard to quantify, emissions from permafrost could pose a serious risk to carbon reduction efforts. Permafrost, or perennially frozen ground, is estimated to hold twice as much carbon as currently in the atmosphere. With these long-frozen carbon reserves covering nearly a quarter of the Northern Hemisphere, emissions from thawing permafrost can substantially amplify global warming. The article reveals that the Arctic tundra is now a year-round source of ancient carbon dioxide due to increasing snowpacks. Deep snow contributes to rapid permafrost thaw by acting as a protective barrier, sustaining warmer soil temperatures and insulating the permafrost from the Arctic’s cold air. As the ground thaws, it exposes large amounts of previously frozen organic matter to decomposition, leading to carbon emissions. With snow mass increasing in many parts of the Arctic, thawing permafrost and the compounds it releases are likely to remain critical concerns far into the future. By examining the impacts of deep snow, the new study provides key insights into a process not previously recognized and fully appreciated. Emissions from Arctic sources could severely alter climate projections and policies. As the study recommends, these processes should be included in models to improve climate projections.Therefore, further research to measure and monitor these emissions is needed to better understand and forecast the changes to our environment. (Nature, Phys.org, Scientific American)
New Location for the Canadian International Arctic Centre?
As reported by NNSL Media on August 23, the Mayor of the Town of Inuvik has sent a letter to the Minister of Foreign Affairs asking for the federal government to move the Canadian International Arctic Centre (CIAC) to Inuvik. Global Affairs Canada announced earlier this year that the CIAC would be relocated from Oslo, Norway, to Ottawa. The mayor stated that the center should remain in an Arctic location, and headquartering the CIAC in Inuvik could facilitate cooperation with other Arctic research and political institutions in the area. (NNSL Media)
Take 4: With climate change and global developments leading to a renewed focus on the Arctic as a region of environmental and geopolitical concern, many countries have strengthened their foreign engagement in the region. Much of this activity has focused on Norway, which hosts many prominent Arctic institutions, including the Arctic Council Secretariat. For instance, the US recently announced the opening of a diplomatic mission in Tromsø, and the UK also established an Arctic military base in Northern Norway. While Canada’s decision to close the CIAC diminishes its Arctic presence, positioning the center in the Canadian Arctic sends a stronger signal of Canada’s commitment to Arctic affairs than relocating the CIAC to Ottawa. Most of the core priorities in Canada’s International Arctic Policy relate to Arctic communities and Indigenous peoples. As one of the institutions responsible for implementing the policy, the CIAC’s international engagement would benefit from direct communication with Arctic inhabitants. Being in the Arctic would encourage greater involvement of Indigenous people in policymaking, enhance the government’s understanding of conditions in the region, and allow the CIAC to develop stronger policies that support the needs of communities across the Arctic. Although the government has made no plans to relocate the CIAC to Inuvik or any other Arctic community, the mayor’s letter emphasizes the importance of keeping the Canadian International Arctic Center in the Arctic. (Government of Canada, University of Washington, Wilson Center)
New Study Documents Key Changes in Arctic River Chemistry
As reported by Phys.org on August 22, new research published in Nature Geoscience has evaluated the impact of climate change on the Arctic’s rivers and natural processes. Using water samples from major Arctic rivers in the US, Canada, and Russia between 2003 to 2019, the study revealed that the region’s alkalinity has increased, indicating more weathering or the erosion of rocks in the watershed. The research also found that nitrate, which is a vital nutrient, has declined. (Phys.org)
Take 5: Watersheds are essential to the natural environment and provide many ecosystem services, including nutrient cycling, carbon storage, erosion control, and increased biodiversity. As a result, changes in river chemistry have severe implications for the rest of the ecosystem and the natural processes connected to these waterways. Like rivers in other ecosystems, the chemical makeup of rivers in the Arctic can provide a snapshot of the region’s ecological health, which is especially important since the Arctic is rapidly transforming due to climate change. The new study has revealed that several key chemical parameters are shifting, including a decline in nitrate. Nitrate is an essential nutrient for plants and marine organisms as it is required for photosynthesis. Less nitrate from rivers could reduce primary production and affect the balance of life in the oceans, cascading through the entire system. Moreover, watersheds are capable of sequestering large amounts of carbon in vegetation, organic soils, and sediment. Yet, reduced nutrient availability could affect vegetation, hindering its carbon storage capabilities. With carbon emissions rising from Arctic and global sources, maintaining natural carbon sequestration processes is critical to offsetting greenhouse gases. Although further studies on river dynamics are essential to understanding the drivers and consequences of environmental change across the Arctic, the new research also highlights the importance of cross-border collaborations and long-term monitoring. (EPA, Geophysical Research Letters, Pressbooks, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences)