ARCTIC MONITORING AND ASSESSMENT PROGRAMME (AMAP): Work Plan 2015–2017.

• Main Author: Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP)
• Format: Report
• Language: English
• Published: Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP) 2015
• Subjects: AMAP; Arctic; Arctic Ocean; Arctic Ocean Acidification; Baffin Bay; Baffin; Chukchi; Climate change; Davis Strait; Ice; Ocean acidification; permafrost
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/11374/1443

The AMAP work plan 2015-2017 continues the work to monitor and assess the status of the Arctic region with respect to pollution and climate change by documenting the levels and trends, pathways and processes, and effects on ecosystems and humans, and to propose actions to reduce associated threats for consideration by governments. Regional assessments will be produced under the Adaptation Actions for a Changing Arctic (AACA) process for the Barents, Baffin Bay/Davis Strait, and Bering/Chukchi/Beaufort regions that will contain information to assist local decision-makers and stakeholders to develop adaptation tools and strategies to deal with climate change and other environmental stressors. An overall, integrated AACA report will also be prepared. Assessments of the freshwater budget and the carbon cycle of the Arctic are under preparation as well as updated assessments of Arctic land ice, permafrost, glaciers and ice caps, and feedbacks and trends in the cryosphere. Further work on Arctic Ocean acidification will continue, with more focus on case studies in specific areas. An assessment of contaminants of emerging concern in the Arctic ecosystem will be prepared. Guidelines regarding the use of unmanned aircraft systems for scientific monitoring and research in the Arctic will be finalized. Work will continue under the Sustaining Arctic Observing Systems (SAON) program, and AMAP will continue to provide input to the work of other international organizations.