Research Highlights

A new report, Lessons and Legacies of International Polar Year 2007-2008, has been published under the guidance of the Polar Research Board (PRB), with IARC Director Larry Hinzman as a contributing author. International Polar Year 2007-2008 (IPY) was an intense, coordinated field campaign of observations, research, and analysis. Read More

Dr. Igor Semiletov joined the International Arctic Research Center ten years ago, in 2001, and has since established himself as a leading researcher on the subject of Chemical Oceanography in the Arctic Siberian Seas. He has published extensively on the phenomena of Arctic offshore waters and greenhouse gases, much of this study resulting from his ongoing series of research expeditions throughout the Pacific-Siberian sector of the Arctic Ocean. Read More

Follow IARC graduate student Alice Orlich's journey aboard the CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent on the 2011 Beaufort Sea cruise, including photos, satellite images, and ice observations. Read More

The intent of the ISAC Science Plan is to outline an open-ended international research program and a framework for comprehensive study of Arctic environmental change in all its dimensions. ISAC builds upon existing efforts to further our understanding of past, present, and expected Arctic change to carry over new insights into the public and the decision-making arenas. Read More

Wildfire is a major disturbance in boreal forests. It attracts research attention not only because it instantaneously releases a large amount of carbon into the atmosphere, but also because it significantly alters hydrology and carbon exchange at the land surface over a decadal timescale during the vegetation succession after wildfire. Read More

The useful lifespan of hydroelectric power infrastructure is 50 years or more; this is long enough that long-term climate change and shorter-term climate variability should be considered when planning new facilities and maintaining existing ones. This study examines observed historical climate variability in Southeast, Alaska, where several new and expanded hydropower facilities are proposed. Read More

Follow IARC graduate students Alice Orlich and Heidi Isernhagen as they report on their Beaufort Sea ice observations aboard the CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent, joined by several other international research groups. Read More

In a recent report produced by the WWF International Arctic Programme, IARC scientists Natalia Shakhova and Igor Semiletov published key findings of their research on the powerful greenhouse effects of methane released into the atmosphere from destabilized ocean sediments and permafrost. Read More

In late June, 2004, a wildfire swept across the Poker Flat Research Range north of Fairbanks. The Boundary Fire, as it became known, burned so intensely that it destroyed the ground surface organic layer, a 30-centimeter-thick mixture of roots, leaves, lichens, and moss which normally acts as an important insulator protecting the frozen ground below.  Read More

IARC-led study of multidecadal variability in the Arctic and North Atlantic climate system is summarized on a new web page. Read More

The Russian Icebreaker Kapitan Dranitsyn will start her cruise in Kirkenes, Norway on October 1st at 8:00am. In Kirkenes, she will upload scientific team and equipment and will sail into the Arctic Ocean for her 30 day voyage, covering vast areas of the polar basin. Read More

Check out dispatches from the East Siberian and Laptev Sea researchers as they study methane emissions in the Russian Arctic Ocean.  Read More

The Northern Alaska Coastal System and North Slope regions have extensive wetlands, despite near desert precipitation levels. This is an energy-limited system, where evapotranspiration is highly dependent on incoming solar radiation and relatively impermeable permafrost reduces sub-surface water storage capacity in the flat landscape. Read More

The Bering Sea off the west coast of Alaska controls the heat and freshwater exchange between the North Pacific Ocean and the Arctic Ocean. This exchange is important to the balance of the world’s ocean circulation... Read More