Documents

SCAR EXCOM 2007 IP01: Implementation Plan for Pan Antarctic Observing System (PAntOS)

Implementation Plan

for the Multidisciplinary Action Group of SCAR’s SSG/PS

Pan-Antarctic Observations System (PAntOS)

Antarctica is a region with a very limited record of conventional observations – with low spatial coverage and only about half a century of regular observations. Although climate changes across the Antarctic continent and Southern Ocean are not yet as pronounced as are currently seen in the Arctic, expected environmental changes in the Antarctic might be abrupt and pose specific concerns such as a high risk of rapid sea level rise due to melting and destruction of the West Antarctic ice sheet. Connecting solar- terrestrial (geospace) physical processes to the Antarctic atmosphere dynamics and the latter’s interaction with the Southern Ocean may help in identifying triggering mechanisms for environmental change in the snow and sea ice cover and ice sheets dynamics.

These make compelling arguments for an evaluation of the existing Antarctic observation infrastructure and recommending improvements that will help deliver a coherent set of pan-Antarctic, long-term, and multidisciplinary observations focused on the entire chain of effects from geospace to the Earth’s surface. An important focus will be on integrating conventional observations with the vast amounts of satellite remote sensing data that are (and will be) available for high latitudes of the Southern Hemisphere. It is impossible to describe current environmental conditions in the Antarctic without these synthesized observations, let alone understanding of some of the climatic changes that are underway around the Antarctic Peninsula and their connections to the rest of the Earth climate system.

SCAR EXCOM 2007 IP02: The Scope of Science in the International Polar Year

SCAR EXCOM 2007 IP03: Minutes of the Meeting of the IPY Joint Committee, March 2007 

Draft Minutes (v2) for IPY Joint Committee 5 Meeting, 28th February to 2nd March, 2007, Paris, France
(Circulated 26th April, 2007)

SCAR EXCOM 2007 IP04a: Letter on Earth System Science Partnership (ESSP)

SCAR EXCOM 2007 IP04b: SCAR Response to Letter on Earth System Science Partnership (ESSP)

SCAR EXCOM 2007 IP05: Programme for SCAR/SCOR Southern Ocean Meeting, Bremen, October 2007

Workshop to plan a Southern Ocean Observing System (SOOS): An activity of the SCAR/SCOR Oceanography Group
1-3 October 2007, Haus der Wissenschaften, Bremen, Germany

SCAR EXCOM 2007 IP06: Paper: Scientific Reticence and Sea Level Rise, by J. Hansen

Scientific reticence and sea level rise

J E Hansen – NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, 2880 Broadway, New York, NY 10025, USA

Abstract

I suggest that a ‘scientific reticence’ is inhibiting communication of a threat of potentially large sea level rise. Delay is dangerous because of system inertias that could create a situation with future sea level changes out of our control. I argue for calling together a panel of scientific leaders to hear evidence and issue a prompt plain-written report on current understanding of the sea level change issue.

Keywords: Sea level, global warming, glaciology, ice sheets

Submitted to Environmental Research Letters, March 23, 2007

SCAR EXCOM 2007 IP07: IGOS Cryosphere Theme

SCAR EXCOM 2007 IP08: Statement of SCAR Achievements

Executive Summary

SCAR’s significant achievements in recent years include the following:

1. Determining the functional ecosystem processes of the Southern Ocean ecosystem, including the key role of krill, and documenting the distribution, abundance and long- term trends in Antarctic and Subantarctic seabirds.
2. Understanding the diversity, ecology and population dynamics of the organisms beneath the Antarctic sea ice, and their sensitivity to change.
3. Establishing how Antarctic land, lake and pond life respond to climate change, and identifying the processes determining community response to stress.
4. Discovering a major warming of the Antarctic winter troposphere, 5 km above sea level, that is larger than any other tropospheric warming on Earth.
5. Confirming that, while the Antarctic Peninsula has warmed significantly in recent years, air temperatures in East Antarctica have remained steady or cooled.
6. Determining that the Larsen-B Ice Shelf collapsed because prevailing westerly winds brought more warm air across the Antarctic Peninsula as the planet warmed.
7. Providing the basis for determining the mass balance of the Antarctic Ice Sheet, and confirming that the East Antarctic Ice Sheet is currently in balance.
8. Developing a climatology of Antarctic sea-ice for understanding sea-ice formation, validating satellite data, and feeding coupled ocean–ice–atmosphere models.
9. Creating an unprecedented spatio-temporal array of information about the ice sheet as the basis for exploring the variability and recent evolution of Antarctic climate, and using new geological data and numerical modelling to explain the history of the ice sheets and climate since extensive glaciation began 36 million years ago.
10. Generating plans and guiding principles for the exploration and environmental stewardship of unique, pristine, sub-glacial lakes.
11. Providing a wide range of geographic and scientific maps, databases and related products for a wide variety of users, and funnelling the work of the National Antarctic Data Centres into the Antarctic Master Directory.
12. Providing scientific advice on conservation and environmental management issues to the Antarctic Treaty System.

SCAR EXCOM 2007 IP09: Polar Funding Frameworks (ESF)

DRAFT: The Financing of International Polar Research

Towards enhanced funding agency coordination frameworks in the Post-IPY Environment

Dr Paul Egerton
Executive Director
European Polar Board-European Polar Consortium European Science Foundation

Executive Summary:

International Polar Research requires a scale of funding and critical mass that necessarily has to be addressed through intergovernmental cooperation beyond the level of individual countries. The creation of the International Polar Year has in general generated strategic investments and injection of funding additional to normal national activities. The step change in the intensity and visibility of the Polar Regions to National Governments is primarily due to the political drivers to addressing Climate Change and the socio-economic impacts. In the Post-IPY Environment it is critical to sustain and maintain the new-horizon of funding and to avoid a post-IPY depression. The maintenance of this new Horizon is justifiable providing continuity to new research questions identified by this concentrated observational period. Estimates of the total global IPY investment have been placed in excess of 1billion$* in direct or indirect activity, although accurate attributions are difficult to the variable sources of funding and the complexity/diversity of national funding systems. In a operating environment European nations invest annually approximately 500 Million Euros each year in Polar Research (cf. European Polar Consortium Surveys of 19 Countries RTD Programmes and infrastructures). The United States has comparable annual funding for Arctic and Arctic activities across the agencies involved. Estimates of normal annual Global spend on Polar research exceeds 1.5 Billion$ per annum.

The provenance of IPY funding and the allocation in terms of direct financial support or support to infrastructures needs to be assessed to enable conclusions regarding the global investment in this event. It is clear that insufficient mechanisms exist in the current landscape to facilitate exchange of funding information and connected planning/priority setting by Funding agencies investing in the polar Domain. One consideration could be the establishment of an ‘International Polar Funding Framework’ for considering and discussing future International strategic investments in Polar Research by the national and supranational actors involved. This platform would allow funding agencies and the investors in Polar research to identify mutual priorities and build strategic financial partnerships to support large-scale research efforts at the International Scale. The future challenges of financing comprehensive assessment of climate in the Polar Regions and the impact upon, the concrete implementation of research programmes arising from science planning processes such as ICARP II, ACIA, and sustained Arctic/Antarctic observational systems (SAON)

The subject of international polar funding coordination is especially relevant where a critical threshold is exceeded Eg; the magnitude of the programme and the infrastructure required to implement the programme is so large that it requires international agreement on funding or a large scale Consortium Eg; Deep Ice Coring Science.

The Earth Observation community through the GEO process (Group on Earth Observations) has established a well functioning and political relevant structure. This is a model that we could consider for facilitating the governmental funding stakeholders to interact on setting longer term connected planning and prioritisation of research and infrastructural investments. It is apparent that a framework for handling international Polar Funding would enhance the efficiency, introduce realism into the system and require a prioritisation of large-scale research efforts in the Polar Regions for the next few decades.

SCAR EXCOM 2007 IP10a: Code of Conduct Workshop Report

Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research Standing Scientific Group on Life Sciences Standing Committee on the Antarctic Treaty System

Workshop
Unified Code of Conduct for field work in Antarctica
1-2 June, 2007, Conference Hotel ‘t Klooster van Rilland, Rilland, the Netherlands

SCAR EXCOM 2007 IP10b: Environmental Code of Conduct for Fieldwork

Environmental Code of Conduct for Land-based Scientific Field Research in Antarctica

Introduction

Antarctica contains many unique geological, glaciological, and biological features. This landscape and its biological communities have limited natural ability to recover from disturbance. Many features could be easily and irreversibly damaged. This Code of Conduct provides suggestions for how individuals can help to protect the Antarctic environment for future generations and to ensure that human presence will have as little impact as possible.

The Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty (Madrid Protocol) provides the basis for all environmental management in the Antarctic. Climate change and increasing pressure from human activities suggest that more detailed advice is needed to protect the unique features of Antarctica. This Code of Conduct is intended to complement the relevant sections of the Madrid Protocol and provide guidance for all researchers conducting scientific research on land, lakes, and ice.

This Code of Conduct applies to terrestrial, limnological, glaciological, and geological field research conducted in the area of land and permanent ice south of 60 degrees South. A ‘field’ activity is defined here as any scientific activity, and its supporting logistics, which is conducted in the natural environment, irrespective of its duration.

SCAR EXCOM 2007 IP11: SCAR 50th Anniversary Commemorative Book

Overview

At the XXIX SCAR meeting Delegates adopted a proposal by Michael Stoddart to produce a book to celebrate the work of SCAR during the 50 years since it was established in February 1958. Since the meeting, Michael Stoddart has had to withdraw from organizing this celebration and instead, David Walton and Peter Clarkson have been developing the planned structure and content of the book. A draft outline has been circulated and approved. Several potential contributors have been approached and have agreed to provide text that will be edited by David and Peter as the editors / compilers of the book. Two chapters are currently in very preliminary draft form and will be sent to various contributors for comment and for additional material to be provided. Time is short for meeting the intention to have the book completed and ready for distribution and sale at XXX SCAR in St Petersburg next year but a good start has been made.

SCAR EXCOM 2007 WP01a: Agenda

SCAR EXCOM 2007 WP01b: Annotated Agenda

SCAR EXCOM 2007 WP02: Timetable

SCAR EXCOM 2007 WP03: List of Documents

SCAR EXCOM 2007 WP04: The SCAR Implementation Plan

The SCAR Implementation Plan July 2006-July 2008

Introduction

SCAR’s overall goals are set out in broad detail in the SCAR Strategic Plan 2004-2010, published on the SCAR web site at: https://www.scar.org/horizon/strategic-plans/ (updated link)

SCAR works to a biennial cycle that culminates in the biennial SCAR meetings. At these meetings and at meetings of the Executive Committee in intervening years, the tasks and milestones are identified that must be met during the next biennial cycle, to meet SCAR’s overall objectives. These action items form the basis for an Implementation Plan, which extends from one biennial SCAR meeting to the next. Both the Strategic Plan and the Implementation Plan guide the achievement of SCAR’s mission, which is:

“to be the leading independent organisation for facilitating and coordinating Antarctic research, and for identifying issues emerging from greater scientific understanding of the region that should be brought to the attention of policy makers”. 

To achieve that mission, SCAR aims to achieve the following objectives:

1. to initiate, develop, and co-ordinate high quality international scientific research in the Antarctic region, and on the role of the Antarctic region in the Earth system;
2. to provide objective and independent scientific advice to the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meetings and other organizations on issues of science and conservation affecting the management of Antarctica and the Southern Ocean.
3. to facilitate free and unrestricted access to Antarctic scientific data and information;
4. to develop scientific capacity in all SCAR Members, especially with respect to younger scientists, and to promote the incorporation of Antarctic science in education at all levels;
5. to communicate scientific information about the Antarctic region to the public.
6. to improve the effectiveness, efficiency and flexibility of the structure, working mechanisms and practices of SCAR.
7. to increase funding to match requirements, and to maintain a healthy funding stream.

The Implementation Plan is organised into the same 7 sections as the Strategic Plan. Each section addresses one of the 7 objectives listed above, and includes tasks and milestones identified during the meetings of the Executive Committee and Delegates in Hobart. The tasks are to be accomplished by specific parties including the Secretariat and the Executive Committee. Another set of tasks and milestones identified in Hobart during the business meetings of the SSGs, is not addressed here, but will be considered for action by the officers of the SSGs during the inter-sessional period.

SCAR EXCOM 2007 WP05: Report of Cross-Linkages Workshop, Rome, November 2006

SCAR EXCOM 2007 WP06:  Agenda for Chief Officers’ Meeting, Washington, July 2007

SCAR Chief Officers’ Meeting

Washington, USA, 7-8 July 2007

Provisional Agenda