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The University of the Arctic assembles a large group of northern hemisphere scientific institutions with a huge research capacity due to being the home of a large number of junior scientists with a high potential for the future. The vagueries of the Cenozoic Arctic ice cover history have the potential of contributing to our understanding of future environments on the northern hemisphere. This may have its implications of the socio-economic conditions for the societies inhabiting high northern latitude land areas. Climatic conditions during the young geologic past were sometimes warmer than today; the climate has a „memory“ and such conditions might offer analogues what is in store for the future for all of us.

Polar Urals as one of target regions of Global Observation Research Initiative in Alpine Environments (GLORIA) comprises a suite of four summits, representing an elevation gradient of alpine vegetation patterns. The sampling areas cover the summits from the tops down to the 10 m contour line and are divided into eight sections. For each section, a complete list of vascular plants and herpetobiotic arthropods was collected and resurveyed. In the period from 2001 untill 2015, the species numbers steadily increased and the total surplus of vascular plants was up to 13 species on separate summit. A general decrease in the total cover of vascular plants and changes in percentage cover of the dominant species was recorded on the permanent plots; certain species of herbs decreased and certain shrub species increased. Among the dominant species of invertebrates, ground beetles and millipedes were replaced by click beetles and spiders. After 14 years the altitudinal index calculated for vascular plants gave an average upward movement of 13.6 m, that is more pronounced than in Northern and Southern Urals. The thermophilization of the alpine plant communities of Polar Urals was found equal to 9.3% of one vegetation belt. The temperature sums obtained from data loggers demonstrate the slight tendency of increase, especially for the lower summits.

The features of natural recovery and artificial restoration of quarries in northern regions of Western Siberia is analysed in this article. The effectiveness of restoration is compared with natural revegetation results. It is shown that the development of restoration projects requires a comprehensive consideration of environmental conditions. General recommendations for restoration of quarry areas are formulated.

Main features of biogeographical regionalization were developed in previous notes of authors. In this chapter a review on the new information on large marine ecosystems is given based on strong theoretical and empirical material including own research. The originality of method of a research consists that at the description of the sea basin (ecoregion) the three-rank system of units considering zonal, vertical and azonal distinctions of the environment which influence the distribution of marine inhabitants is used. The principles of the regionalization of hierarchical structure are discussed on the example of the Barents Sea.

Pest insect population dynamics are species specific and complex due to nonlinearities and interactions among different trophic levels. Consequently, the impacts of climate change on pests are also species specific and they are often difficult to predict. However, there are some clear examples of increasing forest pest risks due to a warming climate. The damage caused by the Eurasian spruce bark beetle has recently increased in Finland as a consequence of more frequent storm damage and longer growing seasons. In a warming climate, timely salvage and sanitation cuttings will be needed to guarantee the sustainability of the forestry. Several defoliating pests overwinter in the egg stage. Warmer winters may not kill the eggs and, therefore, the incidence of outbreaks is predicted to increase in the northern and continental areas. The most important societal implications will be due to Geometrids attacking subarctic mountain birch forests. Together with heavy reindeer grazing, Geometrids reduce the resilience of the ecosystem and they are threatening the sustainability of local livelihoods.

Northern countries are committing themselves to large cuts in the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions within the next decades. For example, the EU has agreed to cut down its GHG emissions by 40% by 2030. In a similar manner, Norway has announced commitments to reduce its GHG emissions by 40% by 2030 compared to 1990. Achievement of these emission reduction targets will mean shifting the balance of energy consumption in the region towards renewable sources such as wind, solar and biomass. There are large forest resources in the Nordic countries. Moreover, as a result of warming climate, the boreal forest line is expected to move northwards, displacing 11–50% of the tundra by boreal forests within the next 100 years. Increasing the use of bioenergy can provide emission reductions while also simultaneously help to reduce regional reliance on fossil fuels. On the other hand, increased mobilisation of forest biomass for energy decreases the growth of forest carbon sink and may in some cases even turn it into a carbon source.

In the present chapter, the use of forest bioenergy to ensure energy security and climate change mitigation is discussed. In addition, conclusions are drawn on how to simultaneously enhance energy security and resource efficiency, and contribute to emission reduction.

The study was conducted to determine the distribution of accumulation of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in the ecosystem components and environment in the Arctic regions of Russia. A GIS software was used to obtain data from regions and locations for which POP concentrations exceeded threshold values or remained within the normal range. The geospatial analysis was carried out for sea water, sea-bed sediments, and marine and terrestrial ecosystem components. The accumulation coefficients of POPs in the ecosystem components and environment were calculated. The obtained data analysis gave an opportunity to demonstrate the accumulation of POPs in the ecosystems. By data modeling it was determined that there is an exponential character of the POP accumulation in the components of Arctic ecosystems and environment.

Climate warming has been and will continue to be faster in the Arctic compared to the other domains of the world, which generates major challenges for human adaptation. Among others, the development of socio-economic infrastructure and strategic planning requires long-term projections of water availability and extreme hydrological events. In this context, it is preferable that the projections of river runoff should be performed statistically, allowing the evaluation of economical risks and costs for hydraulic structures, which are connected to changes in hydrological extremes. In this study, the hydrological model MARCS (MARcov Chan System) is suggested as a tool to simulate the parameters of probability density functions (PDFs) of maximal runoff or peak flow, based on climate projections of the Representative Concentration Pathways. Following that, the PDFs of the maximal runoff were constructed within the Pearson Type III distributions to estimate the runoff values of a small exceedance probability. To evaluate the risks and costs of a long-term investment based on the future projections of river maximal discharge of 1 % probability, simple calculations were performed for the new bridge over the Nadym River as an example.

Polar air outbreaks from the Arctic can be categorically considered as extreme weather events because monthly temperature anomalies both in the Arctic and middle latitudes may exceed 20 degrees. In this study, it was found out that both the North Atlantic Oscillation and the Arctic Oscillation indices are not sensitive to the two completely different types of polar air outbreaks in terms of distinguishing them. The physical origins of polar air outbreaks were highlighted, and their classification was carried out. Based on this classification, a conclusion about the existence of the North Siberian anomaly was made. According to its many features, this anomaly can be treated as one more action center of the atmosphere. This finding has allowed us to introduce a new climate index, which is called as the Atlantic Arctic Oscillation index. This index allows us to identify the two types of polar air outbreaks with a high level of recognition probability.

An interrelation between the new climate index and temperatures in the investigated regions was analyzed. Summer season in the middle latitudes is becoming colder, while winter season in the Arctic is becoming warmer, and the Atlantic Arctic Oscillation index shows it.

One of the most important reasons of Arctic sea ice melting is related to the domination for the past 20 years of the second type of polar air outbreaks that cause high positive air temperature anomalies in the eastern sector of the Arctic. In contrast, during 1960s the first type of arctic air outbreaks prevailed.

The Arctic continental shelf is a promising area for oil and gas exploration and mining. Extremely harsh environmental conditions affect the work of engineering geologists, whose work is essential for building and construction of pipelines and rigs for the petroleum industry. With the massive interest and growth of fossil fuels offshore production, more and more geotechnical issues are to be solved. The necessity of studying marine sediments becomes clear when the specific physical and mechanical properties of bottom soils in the Arctic sea shelf are taken into consideration. Certain geological aspects determine what marine soils comprise and how they behave under loads exerted by a construction. Traditional methods of measuring deformation and strength parameters are reviewed, compared and contrasted by their feasibility of using to study marine sediments from offshore the Arctic. A substantial range of published studies has been analyzed and the findings summarized to provide potential solutions. The article stresses the importance of proper geotechnical survey and collaboration between industries and environmental scientists to achieve best results in studying the Arctic and building long-term human capacity alongside with protection of its vulnerable environment.