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Climate change in the Arctic is leading to the fast recession of sea ice in the summer. This evolution leads several observers, scientists, media and government officials, to consider the possibility of developing new shipping routes along Arctic routes, as these routes are much shorter between Europe and Asia. The literature displays a strong discourse about interest from Asian countries for these potential shipping routes. This paper tackles with this idea and examines to what extent Asian shipping companies, the ultimate economic agents, are really interested in Arctic shipping routes. The image the research portrayed is that only a minority of Asian shipping companies are indeed interested, and those that are interested stress the destinational dimension of Arctic shipping, not transit shipping. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding and responding to the rapidly occurring environmental changes in the Arctic over the past few decades require new approaches in science. This includes improved collaborations within the scientific community but also enhanced dialogue between scientists and societal stakeholders, especially with Arctic communities. As a contribution to the Third International Conference on Arctic Research Planning (ICARPIII), the Arctic in Rapid Transition (ART) network held an international workshop in France, in October 2014, in order to discuss high-priority requirements for future Arctic marine and coastal research from an early-career scientists (ECS) perspective. The discussion encompassed a variety of research fields, including topics of oceanographic conditions, sea-ice monitoring, marine biodiversity, land-ocean interactions, and geological reconstructions, as well as law and governance issues. Participants of the workshop strongly agreed on the need to enhance interdisciplinarity in order to collect comprehensive knowledge about the modern and past Arctic Ocean's geo-ecological dynamics. Such knowledge enables improved predictions of Arctic developments and provides the basis for elaborate decision-making on future actions under plausible environmental and climate scenarios in the high northern latitudes. Priority research sheets resulting from the workshop's discussions were distributed during the ICARPIII meetings in April 2015 in Japan, and are publicly available online. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 4th International Symposium for Arctic Research (ISAR-4) with the theme of “Rapid change of the Arctic climate system and its global influence” was held as the science symposium of the Arctic Science Summit Week 2015, together with the 3rd International Conference for Arctic Research Planning (ICARPIII) with the theme of “Integrating Arctic Research: a Roadmap for the Future,” in Toyama, Japan, from April 27 to April 30, 2015. There were 340 oral and 177 poster presentations, totalling 511 presentations. Among them, 38 papers were submitted to this special issue and 30 were accepted. 16 sessions in which those accepted papers were presented are described. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Supporting and training the next generation of researchers is crucial to continuous knowledge and leadership in Arctic research. An increasing number of Arctic organizations have developed initiatives to provide travel support for Early Career Researchers (ECRs) to participate in workshops, conferences and meetings and to network with internationally renowned scientific leaders. However, there has been little evaluation of the effectiveness of these initiatives. As a contribution to the 3rd International Conference on Arctic Research Planning, a study was conducted to analyze the career paths of ECRs who received travel funding from the International Arctic Science Committee between the start of the International Polar Year (2007–2008) and 2013. Two surveys were used: one sent to ECRs who received IASC travel support and one as a specific event study to those unsuccessfully applied for IASC travel support to the IPY 2010 Conference. The results of the surveys indicate that travel support was beneficial to both the research and careers of the respondents, especially if the ECR was engaged with a task or responsibility at the event. Survey responses also included suggestions on how funds could be better used to support the next generation of Arctic researchers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Asian Forum for Polar Sciences (AFoPS), an international forum of Asian polar research institutes, was established for the advancement of polar sciences among its members in 2004. The Forum has served as an important medium of Asian collective endeavors for polar affairs in human and information exchange, research collaboration, and logistics cooperation for the last decade. The historical development of the AFoPS in retrospect can be divided into four phases: inception and establishment (2003–2004), growth and expansion (2005–2007), review and restructuring (2008–2011), and achievements and further measures (2012–2014). The progress of the AFoPS has not been linear and this trend will continue into the next decades. The Forum, however, clearly made achievements in this period of time, realizing multilateral research and logistics cooperation that would have been previously unimaginable; by doing so, it has laid the foundation for the future. Responsible for a great portion of the world's polar activities, the AFoPS will rise to meet the expectations of the world by producing notable research output, initiating international cooperative programs, and supporting non-polar Asian countries with education and research collaboration. These are the tasks of the AFoPS for the next decade and they require strategy that promotes and facilitates collaboration in a practical way and draws attention of non-polar Asian countries to the polar sciences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Korea implemented its Antarctic research program in 1987 and diversified to the Arctic in 2002. Since the development of the Joint Committee on Antarctic Data Management, Korea has acknowledged the importance of data management. The launch of the Korea Polar Research Institute in 2004 also saw establishment of the Korea Polar Data Center (KPDC), which outlines and executes a Polar Data Management Policy. KPDC has set up an Information Technology infrastructure and has developed a metadata management system. However, there is still a long way to go, especially in terms of raising researcher recognition for improving data registration and sharing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Polar Data Catalogue (PDC) is a growing Canadian archive and public access portal for Arctic and Antarctic research and monitoring data. In partnership with a variety of Canadian and international multi-sector research programs, the PDC encompasses the natural, social, and health sciences. From its inception, the PDC has adopted international standards and best practices to provide a robust infrastructure for reliable security, storage, discoverability, and access to Canada's polar data and metadata. Current efforts focus on developing new partnerships and incentives for data archiving and sharing and on expanding connections to other data centres through metadata interoperability protocols. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the arctic research and development (R&D) in Newfoundland and Labrador as of October 2014. Topics covered include the creation of the Harsh Environment Technology Center (HETC) in St. John's, Newfoundland by the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) in partnership with Memorial University of Newfoundland (MUN), and the involvement of INTECSEA, a company under consulting firm WorleyParsons Group, in R&D projects managed by Petroleum Research Newfoundland and Labrador (PRNL).

Abstract: Rapid and dramatic climate changes in the Arctic and the projection of their impacts on lower-latitude regions require careful evaluation, understanding, and use of multidisciplinary, internationally coordinated efforts. The Third International Symposium on Arctic Research (ISAR-3), devoted to these objectives, was held on January 14–17, 2013 in Tokyo, and was an essential step in this direction. The pool of papers that make up this Special Issue provides an insight into the discussions conducted during the ISAR-3 meeting. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The Arctic and the surrounding region of the sub-Arctic represent a key area for the study of global change because the anthropogenic impact, particularly the rate of warming, is projected to be the greatest in any part of the world due to the complicated feedback processes which occur. This Arctic region has undergone very large changes in recent years due to global warming, and accelerated change is predicted. The rapid changes that are occurring in the Arctic, and that have been the topic of the ISAR-1 and ISAR-2 conferences, manifest themselves at a number of scales. The large scales are Arctic-wide changes in key environmental parameters, which are described in a series of papers in this issue. On a more subtle scale we see changes to species and to biological processes in the Arctic. We hope that readers will enjoy the range of papers published in this issue, and will appreciate that phenomena ranging in scale from global radiation balance to clutch size of birds'' eggs are actually all related via the central fact of the present-day Arctic, its high rate of warming. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The Arctic Climate Modeling Program (ACMP) offered year-long science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) professional development to teachers in rural Alaska. Teacher training focused on introducing youth to workforce technologies used in Arctic research. Due to challenges in making professional development accessible to rural teachers, ACMP modified the traditional ITEST format, instead offering unique "curriculum resource-based professional development" that provided a year-round mix of training options for 165 teachers. Sustainable program resources were created in collaboration with scientists from five research centers to mimic the processes and instruments used to study Arctic climate. Teachers were involved in the iterative design process because research indicates that teacher input into curriculum development builds teacher enthusiasm, pedagogical content knowledge, and a sense of ownership of the end product. This study explores the question: Did the ACMP professional development framework provide teachers in rural Alaska schools with the tools and knowledge they needed to improve STEM instruction? A grounded theory approach was used to analyze teacher qualitative feedback. Teacher comments were coded and patterns analyzed in three databases. This analysis, along with student field-test data, provides evidence that the ACMP model is a feasible alternative to the ITEST model for offering teacher STEM professional development in rural areas. Teacher feedback indicates that ACMP was particularly successful in increasing student engagement in the scientific process and enhancing student technology skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on a report about the reduction in the acidification of arctic region released by the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme in Oslo, Norway in late 2006. According to the report, various regulations has led to reduction in the level of sulphur dioxide and improvement in acidified lakes. The report mainly records the trends in haze and sulphur and nitrogen oxide pollution in various regions. There is a growing concern over increasing emission of nitrogen oxides as it has the potential to increase arctic haze and change the climate of the region.

Provides information on a meeting of several scientists in Seattle, Washington in November 2003 to chart a groundbreaking research plan for the Arctic and promote the future research aims of the Study of Environmental Arctic Change (SEARCH) program. Importance of the further investigation of polar feedbacks to greater global climate resolution; Types of terrestrial laboratories recommended by researchers in addition to marine surveys; Current contributions for freshwater survey and SEARCH planning efforts.