Date

Two Calls for Session Abstracts
POLAR2018
15-26 June 2018
Davos, Switzerland

Abstract submission deadline: 1 November 2017

For the complete Call for Abstracts and to submit an abstract, go to:

http://www.polar2018.org/abstracts.html

For more information about the meeting, go to:
http://www.polar2018.org/


The Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) and the International Arctic Science Committee (IASC) are currently accepting abstract submissions for the POLAR2018 Conference, which will convene 15-26 June 2018 in Davos, Switzerland.

The theme of the POLAR2018 conference is Where the Poles Come Together and will include:

  • SCAR and IASC/ Arctic Science Summit Week (ASSW) Business and Satellite Meetings (15-18 June 2018),
  • SCAR/IASC Open Science Conference (19-23 June 2018), and
  • SCAR Delegates Meeting and 2018 Arctic Observing Summit (24-26 June 2018).

Conveners of the following two sessions invite abstract submissions:

SESSION BE-6: Ongoing change in terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems of polar regions
Conveners: Willem Goedkoop, Michael Gooseff, George Kling, Jennifer Lento, Joseph Culp

Terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems of polar regions have been subject to substantial change or disturbance over the past several decades, particularly in the face of climate change. The drivers and responses to these changes are mixed, but may have unexplored similarities in Arctic and Antarctic systems, and may define how these regions respond to and amplify global warming. Polar regions are underlain by permafrost, which is warming and thawing at high rates, and which is critical to ecosystem structure and function as it limits to shallow depths the infiltration of rain and snowmelt. These shallow flowpaths result in magnified physical, chemical, and biological connections among landscapes, streams, and lakes. The session will further address how these climate-induced changes in landscape-level processes affect the biological communities and biogeochemistry of lakes and rivers. The freshwater group of the Circumpolar Biodiversity Monitoring Plan (Arctic Council: Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna) has recently completed circumpolar assessments of the status and trends in freshwater flora and fauna as well as of their biogeochemical habitat of Arctic freshwaters. The evaluations, the most extensive assessment of freshwater monitoring data from the Arctic to date, include examination of data from both historical (paleolimnological data and records from 1800 to 1950) and contemporary time scales (post-1950), as well as traditional ecological knowledge of Arctic peoples.

For more information about this session, go to:
http://www.polar2018.org/uploads/2/4/6/0/24605948/session_program_polar… (PDF 14.39 KB)

SESSION AC-8: Causes and effects of changing polar climate, cryosphere and hydrological cycle
Conveners: James Screen, Olga Zolina, Vladimir Kattsov, Kent Moore, Jennifer Francis, Xiangdong Zhang, Qinghua Ding

The Arctic is warming two to three times faster than the global average. The annual minimum Arctic sea ice extent has declined by 50% and its thickness by 85% since the late 1970s. Decreased sea ice and warming are intensifying the Arctic hydrological cycle. In the Antarctic, sea ice has undergone a small net increase that masks large regional variability, whilst Antarctic Peninsula marine ice shelves continue to disintegrate. Such changes at the poles do not occur in isolation from the rest of the planet. There are vigorous two-way interactions between the polar and lower latitudes, including midlatitude drivers of Arctic temperature amplification and of the intensification of the atmospheric water cycle, and tropical drivers of Antarctic climate. Conversely, much attention has been focused recently on the potential impacts of rapid Arctic warming upon mid-latitude weather. This session will provide a venue to present progress and new ideas on the drivers of Arctic and Antarctic climate, cryospheric and hydrological change, and the global consequences of these changes. Conveners encourage dialogue between meteorologists, oceanographers, hydrologists and cryospheric scientists, working with both observations and models, to address issues such as: the causes of polar amplification; role of the hydrological cycle in polar climate; interactions between polar and mid-latitude climate; cryospheric- and moisture-related climate feedbacks; evaluation of polar processes in climate models.

For more information about this session, go to:
http://www.polar2018.org/uploads/2/4/6/0/24605948/session_program_polar… (PDF 15.54 KB)