The article presents and briefly analyses the issue of the European Union’s perspective on the problems of the climate change in the Arctic region and its geopolitical consequences. Offering an overview of the main documents in this area, the article concludes that the EU policy towards the Arctic is closely related with perceiving the climate change in polar regions not only in terms of new possibilities, but also as a source of new threats for the international environment.
This paper presents the results of Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) studies which took place in Ny-Ålesund in the spring of 2014 during the iAREA campaign. The measurements were taken using Microtops II hand-held sunphotometers along the Kongsfjorden, on a path leading from the research village to the fjord opening. Local breeze circulation was observed during the measurement campaign which resulted in an evident increase of AOD along the measurement profile towards the open sea. Using the observed AOD, changes over the open sea have been calculated and the location of the breeze front has been determined.
Over recent decades, the Arctic region has been subjected to rapid climate change stemming from global warming. The advance of Atlantic waters to high latitudes is notable. The increased abundance of fish, such as cod (Gadus morhua) and haddock (Melanogrammus aeglefinus), has been reported near the western coast of Spitsbergen and entering fjords together with Atlantic waters. This study used multifrequency acoustics to measure fish distribution and abundance in 2013–2014 in two Arctic fjords, the colder Hornsund, which is typically of Arctic character, and the warmer Kongsfjorden, which is more of Atlantic character. The study revealed a bimodal fish size distribution with larger fish in the deep parts of fjords, and smaller fish distributed in more shallow waters. An evident increase in the abundance of large fish, most probably Atlantic cod, was observed in Hornsund and especially in Kongsfjorden in 2014 in comparison to 2013. The intense inflow of Atlantic water on the shelf in 2014 is suggested as the explanation for this phenomenon.
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