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NSF PR 02-11 - February 7, 2002
NSF to Support Study of Environmental Warming in the
Arctic
Freshwater changes are initial
research focus
The National Science Foundation (NSF) announced today
it will back a study of environmental changes in the
Arctic that indicate a marked warming of the atmosphere.
In fiscal 2002, NSF designated $30 million to be allocated
over five years for the Study of Environmental Arctic
Change (SEARCH) project. In addition, the agency has
requested $1 million per year to start in fiscal 2003.
Scientists have found that in recent decades permafrost
zones have melted, the extent and thickness of sea
ice have decreased, glaciers are melting more rapidly
and air temperatures are warmer. Other changes include
different varieties of plant communities, warmer subsurface
ocean currents and different precipitation patterns.
All of these affect animal habitats and migration
routes.
Native populations have also been affected. The environmental
changes have been named Unaami, the Yu'pik word for
tomorrow, because the rapidly changing environment
makes it difficult for native residents of the Arctic
to predict their future living conditions.
The SEARCH project is intended as an interdisciplinary
study of the interrelated atmospheric, oceanic and
terrestrial changes in the Arctic and their potential
impacts on the environment, regional societies and
economies. In funding the study, NSF is acting on
the Arctic Research Commission's recommendation for
a long-term study of the causes and consequences of
the changes.
Initially, NSF will support a five-year study of the
freshwater cycle in the Arctic. Ten percent of the
global freshwater runoff runs into the Arctic Ocean,
where it affects the supply of nutrients and the overturn
of ocean surface water that recycle nutrients. The
volume of freshwater also helps to determine the volume
of new sea ice created each year on the broad continental
shelves of Russia. The biological productivity of
the region, in turn, supports fisheries and marine
mammals, while changes in the sea ice influence climate
due to the ice's significant effect on the earth's
heat budget.
This effort represents the first coordinated study
of both the terrestrial and marine aspects of the
freshwater cycle. NSF will begin considering proposals
on the freshwater cycle in mid 2002.
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