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Cities located in the Arctic often have extreme geographic and environmental contexts and unique sociopolitical and economic trajectories that, when combined with amplified effects of climate change in the region, impact future sustainable development. Well-recognized and standardized sustainable development indicator (SDI) frameworks such as ISO 37120 or UN-Habitat City Prosperity Index are often used to compare data across cities globally using comprehensive sets of indicators. While such indexes help characterize progress toward development and guide short- and long-term decision-making, they often lack relevance to specific contexts or characterize future visions of urban growth. To evaluate the extent of these deficiencies and to provide a comparative analysis of approaches to sustainable urban growth in the Arctic, this paper analyzes city planning documents for five northern cities - Anchorage (USA), Utqiagvik (USA), Reyjavik (ISL), Iqaluit, (CAN), Whitehorse, (CAN) - for goals, targets, and indicators and compare these to thematic areas and indicators defined by ISO 37120:2018 Sustainable Cities and Communities. The results confirm that although international SDI frameworks may be useful for comparative analysis of cities across diverse regions, they exclude important local factors that influence goal-oriented urban sustainability planning strategies employed in the Arctic region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent decades, the atmospheric moisture capacity has increased globally in concert with global warming, with a particularly notable warming trend in Arctic regions. However, due to limited observational data, the variation and causes of polar precipitation, especially large-scale precipitation events associated with Arctic cyclones, remain unclear. In this paper, GPM satellite data are compared with ERA5 reanalysis data to explore the characteristics of summer precipitation at the northern margin of the Eurasian region (NMER) and the influence of cyclone activity on precipitation. It is revealed that high precipitation values in the Arctic region, as indicated by the GPM and ERA5 data, are mainly concentrated at the NMER. However, the GPM data show an overall larger precipitation amount, while the station observations more closely agree with the ERA5 precipitation changes at the NMER. The cyclone identification results indicate that summer cyclones at the NMER are mainly distributed in the Barents, Kara and Laptev Seas, and the precipitation contribution rate of ERA5-derived cyclones is 37.35%, which is significantly higher than that of GPM-derived cyclones (29.47%). Furthermore, high cyclone activity results in more intense precipitation, with the top 5% of the strongest cyclones contributing 60% (GPM) and 40% (ERA5) to the total cyclonic precipitation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Arctic is undergoing rapid changes due to global warming, including the expansion of the marginal ice zone (MIZ), a zone of mixed ice and open water surfaces. To predict the atmospheric interaction with these surfaces, a critical process in climate models, this paper examines a simplified theoretical framework to non-dimensionalize the dynamics of the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) over a mixed ice-water surface (MIZ–ABL). A heterogeneity Richardson number, Ri h , is proposed to account for the difference in temperature between the ice and water surface in relation to the synoptic pressure gradient forcing. With the wind angle relative to the ice-water interface, α , this framework hypothesizes that these two dimensionless numbers, regardless of individual dimensional variables (surface temperature and geostrophic wind speed) are sufficient to predict the MIZ–ABL dynamics. To test this framework, large-eddy simulations were employed over half-ice and half-water surfaces, with varying surface temperatures and geostrophic wind velocities. While the surface heat fluxes over ice, water, and the aggregate surface seem to be captured reasonably well by α and Ri h , the mean wind and turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) profiles were not, suggesting that not only the difference in stability between the two surface, but also the individual stabilities over each surface influence the dynamics. The wind angle had a significant impact on the results, both in terms of heat fluxes at the surface, turbulent and dispersive fluxes in the MIZ–ABL, and the structure of the secondary circulations. When wind blows perpendicular to the water-ice interface, internal boundary layers are favoured except at the highest Ri h simulated. For cases with wind parallel to the interface, large rolls parallel to the shore emerge. The paper raises at least as many questions as it answers, highlighting the need for further studies of the MIZ–ABL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ongoing climate changes have the greatest impact on the natural ecosystems in high-latitude areas because climate warming and ever increasing anthropogenic load associated with the development of Arctic regions contribute to degradation of frozen peatlands and an increase in the seasonal thaw depth. The research into oligotrophic peat soils (Cryic Histosols) of the northern territories in Western Siberia is relevant because their degradation enriches natural waters with organomineral substances containing a large set of chemical elements, including heavy metals, thereby enhancing the changes in the hydrogeochemical properties of natural waters of the North. The paper describes the main properties of peat sampled from different horizons of soil profiles in the key areas covering the territory of the Yamalo-Nenets autonomous okrug from north to south and from west to east. The chemical composition of soils has been analyzed at the Institute of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry (Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences) using standard methods. The concentrations of gross and mobile forms of metals (Fe, Ca, K, Na, Mg, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb, and Zn) have been determined using optical atomic emission spectrometry and flame atomic absorption spectrometry, respectively. A characteristic feature in the distribution of concentrations of the target chemical elements in oligotrophic peat soils in the northern part of Western Siberia is two maxima in soil profiles. The first maximum is confined to the upper horizons showing signs of degradation, while the second one is observed in the upper part of permafrost. Statistical analysis using principal component method shows that the low ash content, pH, and C/N ratio are associated with a high mobility of K, Cu, Zn, and Mg. The mobility of Fe, Mn, Pb, Cd, and Cr increases in the upper part of permafrost organogenic rock with an increase in the ash content, pH, and Ntot. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Arctic is rapidly warming posing a significant threat to underlying permafrost. Permafrost degradation has already resulted in extensive damage to the Arctic's built infrastructure, putting communities and industries at risk. Projected climate warming will further reduce the capacity of permafrost to support infrastructure, thereby requiring a rethinking of construction and development of permafrost regions in the future. This paper focuses on three Arctic regions with a substantial presence of population and infrastructure on permafrost: USA (Alaska), Canada, and Russia. The three regions' permafrost construction practices are examined in order to identify best practices and major gaps. We identify a lack of standardized, codified construction guidelines; an absence of permafrost-geotechnical monitoring in communities; barriers to integrating climate scenarios into future planning; limited data sharing; and low numbers of permafrost professionals as major constraints limiting the region's resilience in the face of climate change. Refining building practices and standards, implementing operational permafrost monitoring systems, developing downscaled climate projections, and integrating local knowledge will minimize the impacts of permafrost degradation under rapidly warming climatic conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mercury (Hg) is a chemical of health concern worldwide that is now being acted upon through the Minamata Convention. Operationalizing the Convention and tracking its effectiveness requires empathy of the diversity and variation of mercury exposure and risk in populations worldwide. As part of the health plenary for the 15th International Conference on Mercury as a Global Pollutant (ICMGP), this review paper details how scientific understandings have evolved over time, from tragic poisoning events in the mid-twentieth century to important epidemiological studies in the late-twentieth century in the Seychelles and Faroe Islands, the Arctic and Amazon. Entering the twenty-first century, studies on diverse source-exposure scenarios (e.g., ASGM, amalgams, contaminated sites, cosmetics, electronic waste) from across global regions have expanded understandings and exemplified the need to consider socio-environmental variables and local contexts when conducting health studies. We conclude with perspectives on next steps for mercury health research in the post-Minamata Convention era. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the long-term studies of mesoscale cyclones in the Arctic region that started in 1960, this atmospheric phenomenon has not been fully understood yet and is extremely difficult to predict. This is mainly due to the lack of satellite monitoring of the atmosphere in the northern polar latitudes with a high temporal resolution and an extremely sparse network of ground-based observations in the Arctic. On February 28, 2021, the Russian Arktika-MNo. 1 satellite was launched, which is the world's first hydrometeorological satellite operating in a highly elliptical Molniya-type orbit. The launch of this unique satellite with a multichannel scanning unit (MSU-GS) as the main onboard mission equipment opened a possibility of obtaining data on the state of the atmosphere over the entire Arctic region with a frequency of 15/30 min during the working section of the satellite orbit. In particular, obtaining these data makes an invaluable contribution to solving the problems of monitoring and studying mesoscale cyclones in the northern polar latitudes, which is clearly shown in the present paper. The first summary results of monitoring mesoscale cyclones are presented as a map of their occurrence frequency. The potential of using the Arktika-M No. 1 MSU-GS data coupled with data of the regional hydrodynamic forecast model to perform synoptic analysis by the example of the manifestation of mesoscale cyclogenesis in the Barents Sea on May 31, 2021, is demonstrated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, original photographs were sent to publishers so that they could be reproduced in print. The photographs often needed to be reworked with overpainting and masking, and such modifications were especially necessary for low-contrast photographs to be reproduced as a letterpress halftone. As altered objects, many of these marked-up photographs were simply discarded after use. An album at The New York Public Library, however, contains 157 such photographs, all relating to the Jackson–Harmsworth expedition to Franz Josef Land, from 1894 to 1897. Received as gifts from publishers, the photographs are heavily retouched with overpainting and masking, as well as drawn and collaged elements. The intense level of overpainting on many of the photographs, but not on others, raised questions about their production and alteration. Jackson's accounts attested to his practice of developing and printing photographs on site, testing different materials and techniques—including platino-bromide and silver-gelatin papers—to overcome the harsh environmental conditions. In this context, sixteen photographs from the album were analyzed through a combination of non-invasive and micro-invasive techniques, including X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectroscopy, fiber optics reflectance spectroscopy (FORS), Raman and Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopies, and scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM/EDS). This analytical campaign aimed to evaluate the possible residual presence of silver halides in any of the preliminary and improved photographs. The detection of these compounds would be one of several factors supporting a hypothesis that some of the photographs in the album were indeed printed on site, in the Arctic, and, as a result, may have been impacted by the extreme environment. Additional goals of the study included the evaluation of the extent of retouching, providing a full characterization of the pigments and dyes used in overpainted prints, and comparing the results with contemporaneous photographic publications that indicate which coloring materials were available at the time. Further analyses shed light on the organic components present in the binders and photographic emulsions. This research has increased our knowledge of photographic processes undertaken in a hostile environment such as the Arctic, and shed light on the technical aspects of photographically illustrating books during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In early studies, northern vegetation response to global warming recognised both increases in biomass/cover and shrinking of species' distributional ranges. Subsequent field measurements focussed on vegetation cover and biomass increases ("greening"), and more recently decreases ("browning"). However, satellite observations show that more than 50% of arctic vegetation has not changed significantly despite rapid warming. While absence of change in remote sensing data does not necessarily mean no ecological change on the ground, the significant proportion of the Arctic that appears to be stable in the face of considerable climate change points to a greater need to understand Arctic ecosystem stability. In this paper, we performed an extensive review of the available literature to seek balances or imbalances between research focussing on "greening", "browning" and "stability/no change". We find that greening studies dominate the literature though two relatively small areas of the Arctic are disproportionately represented for this main change process. Critically, there are too few studies anywhere investigating stability. We highlight the need to understand the mechanisms driving Arctic ecosystem stability, and the potential longer-term consequences of remaining stable in a rapidly changing climate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sea ice continues to decline across many regions of the Arctic, with remaining ice becoming increasingly younger and more dynamic. These changes alter the habitats of microbial life that live within the sea ice, which support healthy functioning of the marine ecosystem and provision of resources for human-consumption, in addition to influencing biogeochemical cycles (e.g. air–sea CO2 exchange). With the susceptibility of sea ice ecosystems to climate change, there is a pressing need to fill knowledge gaps surrounding sea ice habitats and their microbial communities. Of fundamental importance to this goal is the development of new methodologies that permit effective study of them. Based on outcomes from the DiatomARCTIC project, this paper integrates existing knowledge with case studies to provide insight on how to best document sea ice microbial communities, which contributes to the sustainable use and protection of Arctic marine and coastal ecosystems in a time of environmental change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Changes in climate, land-use and pollution are having disproportionate impacts on ecosystems and biodiversity of arctic and mountain ecosystems. While these impacts are well-documented for many areas of the Arctic and alpine regions, some isolated and inaccessible mountain areas are poorly studied. Furthermore, even in well-studied regions, assessments of biodiversity and species responses to environmental change are biased towards vascular plants and cryptogams, particularly bryophytes are far less represented. This paper aims to document the environments of the remote and inaccessible Altai-Sayan mountain mires and particularly their bryofloras where threatened species exist and species new to the regional flora are still being found. As these mountain mires are relatively inaccessible, changes in drivers of change and their ecosystem and biodiversity impacts have not been monitored. However, the remoteness of the mires has so far protected them and their species. In this study, we describe the mires, their bryophyte species and the expected impacts of environmental stressors to bring attention to the urgency of documenting change and conserving these pristine ecosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports on the possibility that Arctic ice formed at the transition between the Eocene and Oligocene epochs based on oxygen isotope calculations from Pacific Ocean sites. Dropstones or fragments of rock carried out to the sea by ice at different depths were found in cores collected from the Norwegian-Greenland Sea. The origins of the dropstones and the sediment grains were provided by their characteristics.

Renewed political and commercial interest in the resources of the Arctic, the reduction in the extent and thickness of sea ice, and the recent failings that led to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, have prompted industry and its regulatory agencies, governments, local communities and NGOs to look at all aspects of Arctic oil spill countermeasures with fresh eyes. This paper provides an overview of present oil spill response capabilities and technologies for ice-covered waters, as well as under potential future conditions driven by a changing climate. Though not an exhaustive review, we provide the key research results for oil spill response from knowledge accumulated over many decades, including significant review papers that have been prepared as well as results from recent laboratory tests, field programmes and modelling work. The three main areas covered by the review are as follows: oil weathering and modelling; oil detection and monitoring; and oil spill response techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sea ice is floating ice which is formed by the freezing of ocean water in the polar regions of the Earth, i.e., the Arctic and the Antarctic. Thus, a closed smooth ice surface can be formed consisting of these ice configurations. In recent years, the simulation of sea ice evolution, especially for the use in climate models, became more important, see, for instance, Danilov et al. (Geosci Model Dev 8:1747–1761, 2015) and the references therein. In the present paper, a coupled macroscopic model based on the Theory of Porous Media is introduced in view of the finite element simulation of the coalescence of ice floes due to freezing in calm sea and weather conditions. Attention is paid to the description of the temperature development, the determination of energy, enthalpy, specific heat and mass exchange between water and ice as well as volume deformations due to ice formation during freezing. The main idea is based on a theoretically motivated evolution equation for the phase transition of ice and water, which guarantees the thermodynamical consistency. Numerical examples show that the simplified model is indeed capable of simulating the temperature development and energetic effects during phase change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents new 40Ar/39Ar age determination of basalts from the Franz Josef Land archipelago. The obtained set of dates confirms the predominance of products only of Early Cretaceous age, which is also confirmed by results of paleomagnetic studies. Analysis of the entire set of geochronological data, taking into account information on their magnetic polarity, indicates that the interval of active magmatism occurred at the latest Barremian–Aptian and corresponds to the beginning of the Cretaceous Normal Superchron (C34n) at about 125 Ma. Significantly older age estimates are not related to the time of formation of the FJL basalts as a part of the High Arctic Large Igneous Province. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ability to forecast sea ice (both extent and thickness) and weather conditions are the major factors when it comes to safe marine transportation in the Arctic Ocean. This paper presents findings focusing on sea ice and weather prediction in the Arctic Ocean for navigation purposes, in particular along the Northeast Passage. Based on comparison with the observed sea ice concentrations for validation, the best performing Earth system models from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) program (CMIP5-Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 5) were selected to provide ranges of potential future sea ice conditions. Our results showed that, despite a general tendency toward less sea ice cover in summer, internal variability will still be large and shipping along the Northeast Passage might still be hampered by sea ice blocking narrow passages. This will make sea ice forecasts on shorter time and space scales and Arctic weather prediction even more important. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Changes in climate and ultraviolet radiation levels in the Arctic will have far-reaching impacts, affecting aquatic species at various trophic levels, the physical and chemical environment that makes up their habitat, and the processes that act on and within freshwater ecosystems. Interactions of climatic variables, such as temperature and precipitation, with freshwater ecosystems are highly complex and can propagate through the ecosystem in ways that are difficult to project. This is partly due to a poor understanding of arctic freshwater systems and their basic interrelationships with climate and other environmental variables, and partly due to a paucity of long-term freshwater monitoring sites and integrated hydro-ecological research programs in the Arctic. The papers in this special issue are an abstraction of the analyses performed by 25 international experts and their associated networks on Arctic freshwater hydrology and related aquatic ecosystems that was initially published by the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment (ACIA) in 2005 as "Chapter 8- Freshwater Ecosystems and Fisheries". The papers provide a broad overview of the general hydrological and ecological features of the various freshwater ecosystems in the Arctic, including descriptions of each ACIA region, followed by a review of historical changes in freshwater systems during the Holocene. This is followed by an assessment of the effects of climate change on broad-scale hydro-ecology; aquatic biota and ecosystem structure and function; and arctic fish and fisheries. Potential synergistic and cumulative effects are also discussed, as are the roles of ultraviolet radiation and contaminants. The nature and complexity of many of the effects are illustrated using case studies from around the circumpolar north, together with a discussion of important threshold responses (i. E. , those that produce stepwise and/or nonlinear effects). The issue concludes with summary the key findings, a list of gaps in scientific understanding, and policy-related recommendations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This perspective paper argues for an urgent need to monitor a set of 12 concrete, measurable indicators of food and water security in the Arctic over time. Such a quantitative indicator approach may be viewed as representing a reductionist rather than a holistic perspective, but is nevertheless necessary for actually knowing what reality aspects to monitor in order to accurately understand, quantify, and be able to project critical changes to food and water security of both indigenous and non-indigenous people in the Arctic. More relevant indicators may be developed in the future, taking us further toward reconciliation between reductionist and holistic approaches to change assessment and understanding. However, the potential of such further development to improved holistic change assessment is not an argument not to urgently start to monitor and quantify the changes in food and water security indicators that are immediately available and adequate for the Arctic context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Between about 500 a.d. and the late nineteenth century, clay cooking pots associated with the Thule culture were produced in the Arctic region. Ethnographic and archaeological records indicate that these vessels were typically underfired (often even unfired), highly porous, and easily broken. Despite these characteristics, the evidence indicates that they were used to heat water over open fires. In this paper, we examine how Arctic potters were able to produce unsintered vessels capable of holding liquids without disintegrating. We conclude that the application of seal oil and seal blood to the pot’s surface was the key to their success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a warming climate, permafrost is likely to be significantly reduced and eventually disappear from the sub-Arctic region. This will affect people at a range of scales, from locally by slumping of buildings and roads, to globally as melting of permafrost will most likely increase the emissions of the powerful greenhouse gas methane, which will further enhance global warming. In order to predict future changes in permafrost, it is crucial to understand what determines the presence or absence of permafrost under current climate conditions, to assess where permafrost is particularly vulnerable to climate change, and to identify where changes are already occurring. The Torneträsk region of northern sub-Arctic Sweden is one area where changes in permafrost have been recorded and where permafrost could be particularly vulnerable to any future climate changes. This paper therefore reviews the various physical, biological, and anthropogenic parameters that determine the presence or absence of permafrost in the Torneträsk region under current climate conditions, so that we can gain an understanding of its current vulnerability and potential future responses to climate change. A patchy permafrost distribution as found in the Torneträsk region is not random, but a consequence of site-specific factors that control the microclimate and hence the surface and subsurface temperature. It is also a product of past as well as current processes. In sub-Arctic areas such as northern Sweden, it is mainly the physical parameters, e.g., topography, soil type, and climate (in particular snow depth), that determine permafrost distribution. Even though humans have been present in the study area for centuries, their impacts on permafrost distribution can more or less be neglected at the catchment level. Because ongoing climate warming is projected to continue and lead to an increased snow cover, the permafrost in the region will most likely disappear within decades, at least at lower elevations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The arctic tundra and boreal forest were once considered the last frontiers on earth because of their vast expanses remote from agricultural land-use change and industrial development. These regions are now, however, experiencing environmental and social changes that are as rapid as those occurring anywhere on earth. This paper summarizes the role of northern regions in the global system and provides a blueprint for assessing the factors that govern their sensitivity to social and environmental change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents abstracts of papers in this issue dealing with ecosystem impacts of climate changes in the Arctic region. Included are "General Effects of Climate Change on Arctic Fishes and Fish Populations," by James D. Reist, Frederick J. Wrona, Terry D. Prowse, Michael Power, J. Brian Dempson, Richard J. Beamish, Jacquelynne R. King, Theresa J. Carmichael and Chantelle D. Sawatsky, "An Overview of Effects of Climate Change on Selected Arctic Freshwater and Anadromous Fishes," by James D. Reist, Frederick J. Wrona, Terry D. Prowse, Michael Power, J. Brian Dempson, Jacquelynne R. King and Richard J. Beamish and "Effects of Ultraviolet Radiation and Contaminant-related Stressors on Arctic Freshwater Ecosystems'" by Frederick J. Wrona, Terry D. Prowse, James D. Reist, John E. Hobbie, Lucie M. J. Levesque, Robie W. Macdonald and Warwick F. Vincent.