Tools and Strategies

Integration

Several European countries, Russia, Canada and the United States adjoin to the Arctic Ocean and therefore are directly concerned by Arctic environmental changes. In particular the Arctic rim countries as well as the 12 nations active in the Antarctic are interested in the number of living and non-living resources in high latitude oceans. For a sustainable use of these resources further investigation of the polar environment is essential.
The polar oceans are highly sensitive to changes in forcing of the ocean - climate system. That is clearly shown by global climate models (GCM). Both polar oceans are centres of cold deep water generation and therefore they mainly drive the ocean thermohaline circulation and deep water ventilation. This represents a direct influence on global heat distribution and climate. The snow and ice fields in the polar areas have a tremendous influence on Earth's albedo and related cooling of the Earth. These facts point out that polar regions are sensitive indicators for Global Change. Particularly the Arctic Ocean and the West Antarctic ice sheet are considered to respond rapidly to climatic change.
In contrast to its importance for the global climate system only little information is available about the pre-Pleistocene palaeoenvironment of the Arctic Ocean and only few percent of the Cenozoic history is investigated. Great technical difficulties of drilling operations are caused by the drifting sea ice of the Arctic Ocean. Consequently the Arctic climate and geological evolution represent the largest current gaps in Earth sciences. However the Arctic and Antarctic climate evolution and processes are essential to investigate as data basis for general climate models and for future climate predictions.