Date

Multiple Meeting Announcements

  1. Deadline Extended: Call for Abstracts
    C40 - The Changing Cryosphere and its Role in the Climate System
    WCRP Open Science Conference
    24-28 October 2011
    Denver, Colorado

  2. REMINDER: Registration Available
    ICASS VII: Circumpolar Perspectives in Global Dialogue: Social
    Sciences Beyond the IPY
    22-26 June 2011
    Akureyri, Iceland

  3. Session Announcement and Call for Abstracts
    Winter Climate Change and Ecosystem Functioning
    41st Annual Meeting of the Ecological Society of Germany,
    Switzerland, and Austria
    5-9 September 2011
    Oldenburg, Germany

  4. Deadline Extended: Call for Abstracts
    Arctic Coasts: Physical, Ecological, and Socio-economic Perspectives
    2011 LOICZ Open Science Conference
    12-15 September 2011
    Yantai, China

  1. Deadline Extended: Call for Abstracts
    C40 - The Changing Cryosphere and its Role in the Climate System
    WCRP Open Science Conference
    24-28 October 2011
    Denver, Colorado

Organizers of session C40, entitled "The Changing Cryosphere and its
Role in the Climate System," announce that the deadline for abstract
submission has been extended to Sunday, 15 May 2011. This poster session
will be convened at the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP) Open
Science Conference, scheduled for 24-28 October 2011 in Denver,
Colorado.

Numerous aspects of the cryosphere have undergone significant change
over the historical record. These include retreating mountain glaciers,
dramatic reductions in arctic sea ice, declining terrestrial snow cover,
widespread thawing of permafrost, and changes in the mass budget of
large ice sheets. Climate models project that these changes will
continue and likely accelerate in the near future. The climate effects
of this cryospheric change are considerable. For example, the
amplification of arctic temperature change is associated with
large-scale surface albedo change resulting from declines in snow and
sea ice cover. Additionally, changes in extreme events will likely
result from further cryospheric change. An important gap in our current
understanding of cryospheric climate dynamics is the role of feedbacks
in amplifying or attenuating change.

The aim of this session is to discuss ongoing and projected changes in
the cryosphere and their influence on the climate system. Papers
discussing teleconnections of polar climate changes to mid- and
low-latitudes are also welcome.

Extended abstract submission deadline: Sunday, 15 May 2011.

To submit an abstract, please go to:
http://conference2011.wcrp-climate.org/abstracts.html.

For further information on the WCRP Conference, please go to:
http://www.wcrp-climate.org/conference2011/index.html.

For further information on session C40, please contact:
Marika Holland
Email: mholland [at] ucar.edu

  1. REMINDER: Registration Available
    ICASS VII: Circumpolar Perspectives in Global Dialogue: Social
    Sciences Beyond the IPY
    22-26 June 2011
    Akureyri, Iceland

Organizers announce open registration for the Seventh International
Congress of Arctic Social Sciences (ICASS VII) titled "Circumpolar
Perspectives in Global Dialogue: Social Sciences Beyond the
International Polar Year." The Congress, hosted by the University of
Akureyri, and the Stefansson Arctic Institute, will convene 22-26 June
2011 in Akureyri, Iceland.

Beginning in mid-May, rooms reserved for ICASS VII participants will be
released to the general public. To secure a room of your choice, please
make arrangements for lodging quickly. Further information about
registration, fees, membership requirements, and special travel offers
is available at: http://www.iassa.org/registration.

Further information about ICASS VII is available at:
http://www.iassa.org/icass-vii.

For questions, please contact:
Lara Olafsdottir, IASSA Secretary
Email: larao [at] svs.is

Jon Haukur Ingimundarson, ICASS VII Congress Convener
Email: jhi [at] unak.is

Joan Nymand Larsen, IASSA President and ICASS VII Co-convener
Email: jnl [at] unak.is

  1. Session Announcement and Call for Abstracts
    Winter Climate Change and Ecosystem Functioning
    41st Annual Meeting of the Ecological Society of Germany,
    Switzerland, and Austria
    5-9 September 2011
    Oldenburg, Germany

Organizers of a session entitled "Winter Climate Change and Ecosystem
Functioning" announce a call for abstracts. The session will be convened
at the 41st Annual Meeting of the Ecological Society of Germany,
Switzerland, and Austria, scheduled for 5-9 September 2011 in Oldenburg,
Germany.

Ongoing climate change affects winter conditions more than summer
conditions in many regions of the world. The ecological consequences of
winter climate change for ecosystem functioning have received increasing
attention recently. Several findings suggest that changes in snow cover
or the occurrence of soil frost and freeze-thaw cycles can alter plant
phenology, productivity, and vegetation composition as well as soil
physical properties, ecosystem nutrient cycling, and microbial activity.
To understand the overall impact of winter climate change on ecosystem
functioning, however, existing knowledge needs to be linked by
inter-disciplinary efforts. This session aims at bringing together
researchers from different disciplines (e.g., plant ecologists, soil
scientists, microbiologists) in order to develop a coherent picture of
the implications of winter climate change on the functioning of
temperate, alpine, and arctic ecosystems. Furthermore, methodological
challenges will be discussed, such as realistic magnitudes of
manipulations in experimental approaches or the timing of sampling.

Abstract submission deadline: Sunday, 15 May 2011.

For further information, please go to:
http://www.gfoe-2011.de/.

Or contact:
Sonja Wipf
Email: sonja.wipf [at] slf.ch

  1. Deadline Extended: Call for Abstracts
    Arctic Coasts: Physical, Ecological, and Socio-economic Perspectives
    2011 LOICZ Open Science Conference
    12-15 September 2011
    Yantai, China

Organizers of session A2, entitled "Arctic Coasts: Physical, Ecological,
and Socio-economic Perspectives," announce that the deadline for
abstract submission has been extended to Tuesday, 31 May 2011. The
session will be convened at the 2011 LOICZ Open Science Conference,
scheduled for 12-15 September 2011 in Yantai, China.

The coastal zone is the interface through which land-ocean exchanges in
the Arctic are mediated and it is the site of most of the human
settlements and activity that occurs at high latitudes. Arctic coasts
are highly variable and their dynamics are a function of interactions
between environmental forcing, coastal geology, coastal biology, and
human activity. Thus, at the arctic coastal margin, perhaps more than
anywhere else, numerous and varied physical, ecological, and
socio-economic processes and states exist within a web of
interrelationships.

The objective of this session is to discuss these interrelationships in
terms of the viability of coastal communities, their vulnerability, and
policies and strategies for adaptation to local and global change.
Organizers are soliciting contributions both on physical processes,
ecological perspectives, and ecosystem services and on social, economic,
and governance aspects, including the following topics:

- Physical perspectives: High-frequency environmental forcing
(atmospheric and oceanographic), sea-level changes, on/offshore
permafrost dynamics and gas hydrate stability, sea-ice dynamics,
biogeochemical transformations, sediment dynamics, etc.;
- Ecological perspectives: Ecosystem services and biodiversity,
including coastal ecosystems, habitats, species, etc.;
- Socio-economic perspectives: Socio-economic transformations,
including market and non-market sectors; economic wellbeing and
local economic impacts; fisheries, hydrocarbon exploitation, marine
shipping, and related risks and prospects for coastal communities;
community vulnerability and adaptation; governance and institutions,
etc.

Confirmed keynote speakers for the session are Mikhail Grigoriev,
Permafrost Institute RAS, Yakutsk, Russia; and Rasmus Ole Rasmussen,
NordRegion, Stockholm, Sweden. The session will serve as the launch
venue for Arctic Coasts as the new LOICZ research hotspot.
To submit an abstract, please go to:
http://www.loicz-osc2011.org/submission/guide.asp.

Extended abstract submission deadline: Tuesday, 31 May 2011.

For further information, please go to:
http://www.loicz-osc2011.org/index.asp.

Or contact the session conveners:
Joan Nymand Larsen
Email: jnl [at] unak.is

Volker Rachold
Email: volker.rachold [at] iasc.info