MEDIA TIPSHEET: LEADING SCIENTISTS MEET TO DISCUSS LATEST GLOBAL CHANGE RESEARCH AND IMPACT ON THE ARCTIC
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 22, 1998
Fairbanks, Alaska - Following is a list of presenters and titles of events and posters that may be of interest to reporters attending the 49th annual meeting of the Arctic Division of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Listed events are free to media who obtain a press pass and media packet at the registration desk in the Regents’ Great Hall. Unless otherwise indicated, events listed take place on the campus of the University of Alaska Fairbanks:
Monday, October 26, 1998
9:00 - 11:30 AM - PLENARY SESSION I:
Japanese Global Change Research, Keiji Higuchi (Nagoya City Science Museum, Nagoya, Japan). Considering that the Japanese government paid for half of the new International Arctic Research Center at UAF, this may be an opportunity to learn why climate change is so important to the people of Japan. Page 28 of abstract volume.
11:30 AM - 2:30 PM - POSTERS:
The Effectiveness of a Simple Bioremediation Treatment Strategy to Clean Diesel-Fuel Contaminated Soil in the Arctic, D.M.M. Adams, J.E. Lindstom and J.F. Braddock (Institute of Arctic Biology, University of Alaska Fairbanks). Can tiny bugs in the soil clean up oil spills? These researchers gave it a shot. Page 35 of abstract volume.
Lichens of Beringia, numerous authors. Ask authors how climate warming may affect this most important of food resources to caribou, musk oxen, and to a lesser extent, moose. Page 41 of abstract volume.
Modeling Futures and Learning with Locals: The Sustainability of Arctic Communities, Gary Kofinas (Institute of Arctic Biology, University of Alaska Fairbanks). This project seeks to understand how a variety of changes, from climate warming to tourism and oil development, will affect life in small subsistence-based communities in Alaska and Canada. The purpose of the project is, in part, to provide communities with information about how their communities may change, so that they can plan for and cope with such changes in ways that preserve the values and lifestyles they wish to maintain. Page 49 of abstract volume.
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Diversity of Beringian Fungi, numerous authors. Fungi play potentially significant roles as indicators of environmental and global changes resulting from land and air pollution and radionuclides. Fungi play important ecological roles as decomposers and are used as a food source by animals and people. How the lowly fungi may serve as indicators of climate change could be an interesting story. Page 53 of abstract volume.
Chemical Characterization of the Antimicrobial Pollinator Reward System in a Tropical Tree, J.C. Loquvam and J.F. Braddock (Institute of Arctic Biology, University of Alaska Fairbanks). This study inspired a blurb in New Scientist. Loquvam seems to have found that some tropical tree resins are rewarding bees that help the trees pollinate by providing the bees with an antibiotic. Page 56 of abstract volume.
Permafrost Environmental Engineering Applications for Long Term Management of Petroleum Facilities in Alaska, D.M. Nyman (Restoration Science and Engineering, Anchorage, Alaska), M.R. Lilly (GW Scientific, Fairbanks, Alaska). Permafrost can be a good barrier to prevent oil spills in the Arctic from reaching sensitive areas. However, climate warming may alter the usefulness of natural and engineered permafrost as oil spill containment devices. Story may focus first on how permafrost is being used now and how its uses may change. Page 60 of abstract volume.
Recent Changes in Permafrost and Active Layer Conditions in Alaska, T. Osterkamp and V. Romanovsky (Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska Fairbanks). Permafrost monitoring since 1977 reveals that permafrost in Alaska is warming rapidly, and the consequences of continued warming will not be welcome. Page 61 of abstract volume.
Effects of Chitin and Nutrient Amendment on Microbial Mineralization and Emulsification Potential of Bunker Fuel Oil Spilled Near Dutch Harbor, Alaska, S.A. Richmond (University of Alaska Fairbanks), J.E. Lindstrom (Institute of Arctic Biology, University of Alaska Fairbanks), D. Adams (University of Alaska Fairbanks), J.F. Braddock (Institute of Arctic Biology, University of Alaska Fairbanks). Researchers found that using chitin reduced significantly the toxicity of Bunker-C oil spilled by the Japanese freighter Kuroshima in November 1997. Page 65 of abstract volume.
Measurements and Modeling of the active Layer and Permafrost, Yakutsk, Sakha Republic, Russia, V.E. Romanovsky and T.E. Osterkamp (Both at Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska Fairbanks), V.T. Balobaev and V.G. Rusakov (Both at Melnikov Permafrost Institute, Yakutsk, Russia), M. Fukuda (Institute of Low Temperature Science, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan). Temperature regime in Fairbanks, Alaska, USA, and long-term measurements show that during the last three decades permafrost temperatures are increasing up to two degrees and that permafrost is presently melting across the Arctic. Few other indicators of climate change are as tangible or as readily understandable by the public than is the melting of permafrost. Numerous major problems associated with melting permafrost are predicted for Alaska and other parts of the Arctic. Page 66 of abstract volume.
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Late Formation of the Chukchi Sea Ice Cover in Fall, 1997; A Response to El Niño? L.H. Shapiro, K.R. Engle and J. Curtis (All at Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska Fairbanks). Scientists say the later than average formation of the extensive sea ice cover in the Chukchi Sea and Bering Strait in fall 1997 was likely due to El Niño influences on the region's climate. This research examines how climate change may affect the use of permafrost as a natural barrier to oil spills in the Arctic. Page 68 of abstract volume.
3:30 PM - TOUR NEW INTERNATIONAL ARCTIC RESEARCH CENTER: Media will have an opportunity to interview Geophysical Institute Director Syun-Ichi Akasofu and tour the new International Arctic Research Center. Media members who wish to join this tour should meet in the main lobby of the Geophysical Institute at 3:30 p.m.
7:30 - 9:00 PM - WESTMARK HOTEL GOLD ROOM - PUBLIC LECTURE:
Global Climate and Infectious Disease, Rita Colwell, Director, National Science Foundation. Some scientists predict that outbreaks of cholera will increase with climate warming. A strain of cholera, Vibrio Cholerae, is associated with marine plankton. On a global scale, cholera epidemics can now be related to climate and climatic events such as El Niño. Remote sensing, satellite imagery offer ways to predict environmental conditions conducive to cholera epidemics.
Tuesday, October 27, 1998
11:30 AM - 2:30 PM - POSTERS:
Landscape Interactions with Convective Thunderstorms in Interior Alaska, D. Dissing and D. Verbyla (Both at Department of Forestry, University of Alaska Fairbanks). Where is lightning most likely to strike? By pinpointing lightning strikes since 1976, two researchers have an answer. Page 102 of abstract volume.
Climatic Change in Northeast Asia During 30Ka Years Reconstructed from Fossil Pollen Records, Yaeko Igarashi (Institute of Low Temperature Science, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan). What was Japan like 30,000 years ago? A scientist has found out what plants grew then, and extrapolates what the climate must have been like. Page 107 of abstract volume.
Comparison of Climate and Soil Temperature Dynamics in Yakutia (Russia) and Alaska (USA), N.I. Shender (Melnikov Permafrost Institute, Yakutsk, Russia), V.E. Romanovsky and T.E. Osterkamp (Both at Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska Fairbanks), A.S. Tetelbaum and Yu B. Skachkov (Both at Melnikov Permafrost Institute, Yakutsk, Russia). We know soil temperature is increasing in Alaska. What about the Russian Arctic? Page 124 of abstract volume.
2:30 PM - PLENARY SESSION IV:
Tree-Ring and Glacial Records of North Pacific Climate Change, G.C. Wiles (Department of Geology, The College of Wooster, Wooster, OH). Greg Wiles' studies of tree rings show that this century's temperatures in the North Pacific have been warmer than any in the past four centuries. Page 141 of abstract volume.
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Wednesday, October 28, 1998
10:25 AM - PLENARY SESSION V:
Climate Change and its Impacts on Alaska, G.P. Juday (Associate Professor of Forest Ecology, Forest Sciences Department, University of Alaska Fairbanks). Using tree-ring and other evidence of warming in the north, Juday asserts that climate change is happening now, and it's time to do something about it. Page 153 of abstract volume.
11:30 AM - 2:30 PM - POSTERS:
Recent Climate Change and the Rise and Fall of Black Guillemots in Northern Alaska, G.J. Divoky (Institute of Arctic Biology, University of Alaska Fairbanks). This researcher tracked a population of seabirds for 20 years, finding a possible correlation between numbers of birds and climate change. Page 169 of abstract volume.
Effects of Recent Climate Warming on Caribou Habitat and Calf Survival, B. Griffith (USGS, Alaska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, University of Alaska Fairbanks), D.C. Douglas (USGS, Alaska Biological Science Center, Anchorage, Alaska), D.E. Russell (Environment Canada, Canadian Wildlife Service, Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, Canada), R.G. White (Institute of Arctic Biology, University of Alaska Fairbanks), T.R. McCabe (USGS, Alaska Biological Science Center, Anchorage, Alaska) and K.R. Whitten (Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Fairbanks, Alaska). Temperature seems to have affected caribou. With the recent warmer weather on their summer ranges, caribou have thrived. Page 172 of abstract volume.
Arctic Sea Ice Biological Signal of Global Warming, I.A. Melnikov (P.P. Shirshov Institute of Oceanology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Nakhimovski, Moscow), L.S. Zhitina and E.G. Kolosova (Both at Department of Hydrobiology, Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia). Researchers suggest that dramatic changes within the sea ice environment can be considered a result of global warming in the Arctic. Such changes are:
- Populations of sea ice diatoms are very sparse by species and numbers;
- Freshwater green algae previously developed on the upper sea ice surface are now dominant in numbers and distributed throughout the whole sea ice thickness; and
- Nematodes, copepods, amphipods and turbellarians and other invertebrates previously found in the interior of the sea ice were not found in multi-year or newly formed sea ice. Page 183 of abstract volume.
Widespread and Rapid Permafrost Degradation on the Tanana Flats in Central Alaska, C.H. Racine (U.S. Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory, Hanover, New Hampshire), M.T. Jorgenson (ABR, Inc., Fairbanks, Alaska), J.C. Walters (Department of Earth Science, University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, Iowa). Dramatic changes to the landscape are occurring with the loss of permafrost. Page 186 of abstract volume.
Icehouse Effect: A Hypothesis, P.J. Wetzel (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland). Will warmer temperatures in the lower latitudes make the north colder by strengthening our temperature inversions? Page 197 of abstract volume..
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CONTACT: Geophysical Institute Science Outreach Officer Kathy Berry (907) 474-7798.
KB/DPD/10-22-98/99-024