Project is offered by Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute. The main task of the project is development and introduction of the program of complex monitoring and system of PAs information supply. Ecological researches are planned on the territory of the reserves heavily affected by pollution: the Kostomukshskii and the Pasvik nature reserves. The importance of ecological monitoring in the Arctic and Subarctic zones is connected with a low level of stability of the Arctic, Sub arctic and northern Taiga ecosystems under the pressure of anthropogenic load. The social importance of results consists in with improvement of quality of Pas management.

Climate of the Arctic and its role for Europe/Arctic System Reanalysis The overall objective of IPY-CARE (International Polar Year - Climate of the Arctic and its Role for Europe) is to create, co-ordinate and prepare a Pan-European science and implementation plan for Arctic climate change and ecosystems research programme as contribution to the International Polar Year.

Links between Climate and Human Well-being This project, involving scientists in the U.S., Canada, Russia, Sweden, Germany, and Japan, will document changes in large-scale disturbances (permafrost thaw, fire, insect outbreaks, and forest harvest) occurring throughout the Arctic. We focus especially on the effects of disturbance on future climate, ecosystem change, and the benefits that society receives from ecosystems.

Changing Trends in Polar Research as Reflected in the History of the International Polar Years The aim of the project is to study to what degree research in the Arctic and Antarctic during the first three International polar years primarily was driven by scientific criteria. To what extent were compromises made in the light of political barriers, territorial borders of circumpolar countries and logistical limitations? Employing historical perspectives we will review essential background factors during international workshops and conferences.

International Team Collects New Information about Ice Sheet Growth and Collapse With a Long-range Aircraft in East Antarctica Our international team will conduct an airborne survey over the central East Antarctic Ice Sheet (EAIS), which has been nearly inaccessible until now. We will use a long-range aircraft to fly from a US base deep into the interior of the EAIS over a two-year period. The team will use radar and other airborne instruments to image the EAIS’ internal features and the bedrock below the ice. The observations will allow our team to study ice sheet formation and decay, as well as subglacial lakes, subglacial geology, and changes in ice accumulation through time.

The Bering Sea is one of the world’s most productive marine environments. More than $1.5 billion worth of fish is caught there every year. The region is now undergoing alarming environmental changes, including climate change. The local indigenous peoples led by the Aleut International Association, have put together a monitoring project to assess the nature and extent of change. Rather than relying on high-tech remote sensing, the observations will mostly be done by indigenous peoples themselves, their intimate knowledge of their local areas providing them with a finely tuned ability to detect changes, however subtle. Observations will include the shift of southern species north, changes in distribution and abundance of fish and other temperature-sensitive species, changes in ice patterns, and weather observations.

Dense water formation in Polar areas; Impact on global ocean circulation and climate This international team of oceanographers will embark on expeditions to the Polar Oceans with ice going vessels to measure ocean temperature, salinity and currents, ice formation and distribution. They will employ remote sensing as well as bottom anchored instrument moorings to feed global numerical models. The project will try to estimate the impact of dense water formation in the polar regions on the global ocean circulation and climate.

Understanding environmental change in national parks and protected areas of the Beringian Arctic This proposal outlines a suite of integrated activities to be implemented by the US National Park Service, cooperating agencies, institutions, and individuals during International Polar Year 2007-2009. These projects are focused on the Beringian Arctic, including Alaska and adjacent areas of Chukotka and the Yukon Territory. Resources of several existing NPS programs, and possibly other programs to be identified, will be coordinated and focused to accomplish the projects described herein. Implementation planning is underway for several projects described above, including Vital Signs monitoring, science conferences in Alaska and Chukotka, and one focused journal issue. Several additional projects will be selected through competitive review of funding proposals beginning in the fall of 2005 (one to two years prior to project implementation).

Northern Material Culture through International Polar Year Collections, Then and Now: In the Footsteps of Murdoch and Turner This project is a modern version of the ethnological collecting by the 1st International Polar Year (IPY) expeditions to Pt. Barrow, Alaska and Fort Chimo in Quebec. It will involve Northern community residents, including students. Current material culture will be documented with digital photograpy and gathering of information on how the items are made and used. Educators can incorporate this into broader educational activities, which will expose students to the Arctic, Northern peoples and Arctic research history.

The International Arctic Systems for Observing the Atmosphere Program is coordinating intensive measurements of the Arctic Atmosphere in Canada, Russia, Norway, Finland, Sweden and the U.S. The focus of the program is to combine information so that it can be determined WHY and not just HOW the atmosphere is affecting Arctic climate change). The activities and partnerships initiated during the IPY are expected to continue for decades.