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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