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WP1 - Arctic Linkages: Climate, Environmental Change, and Human Eco-Dynamics

Leader Astrid Ogilvie (SAI); Co-Leader Noel Keenlyside (UiB).

Participants: DMI; SAI; UoI; IC: NSIDC.

Satellite observations show the dramatic sea-ice loss accompanying recent warming, but less is known concerning changes during earlier periods. However, historical reconstructions suggest that Arctic sea ice co-varied with Atlantic multidecadal variations (AMV) in the past. These climatic fluctuations have been linked to marine ecosystem shifts in the Atlantic and Arctic sectors. These, in turn, have impacts on Arctic societies19. ARCPATH aims to use historical data to build a comprehensive picture regarding how climatic fluctuations have influenced marine ecosystems, fisheries, and society in the past. These data sources include previously untapped climate data, fish stock and marine-mammal data coupled with records of social change. Such extensive high-resolution data available for Iceland have already been acquired, but have not been fully analysed. Data for Greenland and northern Norway have been located, and will be acquired and then analysed for ARCPATH.