28 March 2025 | 08:30 - 10:00 (MDT)
Open Session - HYBRID
Room: UMC Second Floor - 235
Organisers: Øyvind Paasche (NORCE, Norway); Tore Furevik (NERSC, Norway); Nalan Koc (Norwegian Polar Institute, Norway)
Session Description:
Arctic climate change fundamentally transforms ecosystems and the services they provide, upon which human societies depend. In the Arctic Ocean, the sea ice is rapidly diminishing, and it is projected that in just a few decades the Arctic Ocean will be ice-free in summer, revealing a new open blue ocean. Changes are not confined to the surface. Underneath, changes in the ocean currents, biogeochemistry, and ecosystem structure and function are also occurring. This is coupled with increased human activities such as new transportation routes, tourism, and fisheries. Norway, as well as the rest of the Arctic nations, are faced with great challenges related to managing our valuable ocean resources in this ´new´ Arctic Ocean. A broad Norwegian community of 18 universities and research institutions is now aiming to establish an ambitious and interdisciplinary 10-year research program aiming to generate the knowledge needed to face these challenges: Arctic Ocean 2050. The programme will constitute a major part of the Norwegian efforts in the upcoming International Polar Year (IPY). While having a geographical focus on the European sector of the Arctic Ocean, it will be designed to foster international collaboration and a more holistic perspective on the Arctic.