Prof. Dr. Karin Lochte
President, Alfred-Wegener-Institute for Polar and Maritime Research, Bremerhaven (Germany)

The Arctic region plays a key role in the climate of the earth system. Low temperatures, marked seasonality, huge ice sheets, large oceanic areas covered by sea ice and massive and deep reaching permafrost layers characterize the Arctic. The Polar Regions react sensitively to climate change on the one hand but on the other hand they govern global climate evolution on a broad range of time scales and directly influence global sea level change and hence impact on coastal regions. Due to extremely long recovery cycles polar ecosystems are highly susceptible to perturbation. Temperature increase is predicted to be twice as high in the Arctic compared to the global average and this raises urgent questions. How fast will the sea ice and the ice shields of the Arctic shrink? How will the ecosystems change in response to changing ice cover and temperatures? How will the release of greenhouse gases from the thawing permafrost affect climate change? Which new discoveries are hidden in the deep Arctic Ocean? How can we regulate exploitation and protect the Arctic environment?

There is an urgent need to observe, analyze and predict the future development of this rapidly changing environment. This requires a new orientation of research. The international expertise and technological facilities have to be brought together in a coherent concept. We have to enhance the mutual use of national infrastructure. New approaches for long-term observations and for sharing of data, as in the SAON programme (Sustained Arctic Observation Network), have to be developed. We have to stimulate the education of the next generation of scientists through international collaboration and hands-on research. The tasks ahead of polar science are huge and can only be tackled, if national boundaries are overcome and research becomes more integrated between different nations. The European Union would benefit greatly from joint strategic planning of Arctic research. Finally, research efforts of the public and the private sector often have common interests and better coordination may provide as yet unforeseen synergies.