Symposium Presentations Available Online
Impact of an Ice-Diminishing Arctic on Naval and Maritime Operations
For further information, please go to:
http://www.orbit.nesdis.noaa.gov/star/IceSymposiumProgram.php
Speaker presentations from the symposium "Impact of an Ice-Diminishing
Arctic on Naval and Maritime Operations" held in July 2007 in
Washington, DC are now available online.
The amount of ice covering the Arctic Ocean has been declining rapidly
in recent decades, changing the character of the northernmost sea and
potentially having ripple effects on maritime commerce, national
security, international relations, and on those who have traditionally
depended on the waters for their livelihoods.
Representatives from several federal agencies charged with various
aspects of coping with these possibly far-reaching changes - and
conducting basic scientific research related to monitoring and
predicting what the effects of these changes may be - discussed the
immediate and potential future effects of this documented warming trend
at the symposium, which also included briefings on scientific research
being conducted as part of the International Polar Year in the Arctic,
including the planned Arctic Observing Network (AON).
The symposium was jointly sponsored by the U.S. Arctic Research
Commission (USARC) and the National Ice Center (NIC), a joint agency
consisting of personnel representing the U.S. Navy (USN), National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the U.S. Coast Guard
(USCG). Other participating government agencies included the U.S. Office
of Naval Research, National Science Foundation (NSF) Office of Polar
Programs, Minerals Management Service (U.S. Department of the Interior),
U.S. Geological Survey, National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Cryospheric Sciences Program, and the White House Office of Science and
Technology Policy (OSTP).
The symposium was a follow up to the 2001 conference, "Naval Operations
in an Ice-Free Arctic," whose goal was to provide initial guidance in
determining potential naval missions and identifying future naval
requirements for operating in an ice-diminished Arctic.
For further information and to download the symposium presentations,
please go to:
http://www.orbit.nesdis.noaa.gov/star/IceSymposiumProgram.php