Arctic Archives - CMOS BULLETIN SCMO

Supporting the Next Generation of Arctic Researchers

Written on March 14, 2019.

– By Chantal Mears, Dalhousie University, Halifax –

I had the pleasure of chatting with Dalhousie undergraduate student Chantal Mears at the 2018 CMOS Congress in Halifax. Chantal went on to win the ASL Environmental Sciences Best Student Poster prize (for her poster titled: Using 226Ra and 228Ra isotopes to distinguish water mass distribution in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago) at the congress, and I was not surprised. She is a great communicator and full of passion for her studies, and for working to support a better understanding of our oceans. Here, Chantal tells us a bit about the important work that she is involved with in understanding ocean dynamics in the Canadian Arctic.

Working Together for the Arctic: The Arctic Regional Climate Centre Network (ArcRCC)

Written on February 19, 2019.

– by Michael Crowe, Katherine Wilson, and John Parker –

The effects of climate change are being felt around the world, but nowhere as intensely and as obviously as in the Arctic. Many sources can be cited that put the rate of temperature increase in the Arctic over the last 30-50 years as at least twice that over the rest of the globe. These temperature increases have led to significant reductions of sea ice, thawing permafrost and coastal erosion that affect all Northerners, including Indigenous communities and industry.

Sea Ice Analysis and Forecasting: Towards an Increased Reliance on Automated Prediction Systems

Written on January 26, 2019.

– Review by André April, Environment and Climate Change Canada –

Edited by Tom Carrieres, Mark Buehner, Jean-François Lemieux and Leif Toudal Pedersen, Cambridge University Press, Hardback, 219 pages, ISBN: 9781108417426, $ 143.95 (CAD)

Sea ice is an important indicator of climate change as recent observations of declining ice amounts in the Arctic show. Automatic predictions available in real time are comparable to numerical environmental prediction models and may be very beneficial for national ice forecasting services, with applications to research and transport sectors, for example.

Ice: Nature and Culture

Written on September 17, 2018.

– Review by Bob Jones, CMOS Archivist –

By Klaus Dodds, Published by Reaktion Books, distributed by University of Chicago Press, Paperback, 229 pages, ISBN-13: 978-1-78023-905-7, $ 24.95 (USD)

Ice is not a science textbook about ice, nor is it a manual of Ice Forecasting (the reviewer will know as he was an Ice Forecaster with the Meteorological Service of Canada in a former life). Rather it is a wide-ranging exploration of the cultural, natural and geopolitical history of ice.

Polar Knowledge Canada 2018-2019 Funding Announced

Written on July 10, 2018.

Polar Knowledge Canada Announces 2018-2019 Funding for its National Northern Scientific Training Program (NSTP): 384 students to gain northern field experience through program

Excerpts from the Journal of Eureka Weather Station, 1947- 48

Written on March 29, 2018.

– By John Gilbert –

The Eureka Weather Station, situated in Canada’s far North, recently celebrated its 70th birthday. Supporting operational meteorology and atmospheric research on topics that are essential for the understanding of weather and climate, including hourly synoptic and aerological weather monitoring and the detection of atmospheric change, this remote weather station is of global significance.

Image from Isachsen by aAron munson shows an old yellow pick up truck covered in snow, in a frozen garage

Isachsen – An Artist’s Exploration of Isolation Through the Eyes of his Father at a Remote Arctic Weather Station

Written on February 27, 2018.

– An Interview with Doug Munson and aAron munson by Sarah Knight, CMOS Bulletin Editor –

In 1974 Doug Munson, just 19 years old and fresh off 8 months of surface weather and upper air courses, was posted to the remote Isachsen weather station in the Canadian Arctic for a full year. Isachsen was operated on Ellef Ringnes Island from 1948-1978, and for those living there contact with the “outside” world was minimal

PEARL researchers open the dome of a sun tracking instrument on the roof of the Ridge Lab to perform maintenance.

Photo Story: “A Day in the Life” at PEARL, The Polar Environment Atmospheric Research Laboratory at Eureka

Written on December 28, 2017.

– Photos by Dan Weaver, University of Toronto –

The Polar Environment Atmospheric Research Laboratory (PEARL) at Eureka, Nunavut is a scientific station fully equipped for specialised atmospheric measurements and situated in Canada’s far North only 1,100 km from the Pole.

Arctic Science Events in Canada and Beyond

Written on December 23, 2017.

– Compiled by Helen Joseph, CMOS Arctic SIG and HCJ Consulting –

The Arctic is experiencing unprecedented change of its ocean and terrestrial ice, permafrost and ecosystems under the triple pressures of climate change, industrialization and modernization. The impacts of these pressures can be seen on