Tomsk State University and the British Antarctic Survay (BAS) are organizing a webinar dedicated to the study of global climate transformation and the environmental changes taking place in the Arctic and subarctic. The webinar will be a virtual platform for the formation of new ideas, that will be the basis for joint projects to study anomalies in the coldest parts of the planet.
- The initiative for the webinar belongs to the British Antarctic Survay, which has a large office on the Arctic, - says Olga Shaduyko, director of the TSU Center for International Collaboration. - Colleagues from the UK are interested in conducting Arctic research, and they offered to exchange information on developments to find points of intersection of scientific interests and develop these areas together. Their interest in the Arctic is quite understandable, because now the most noticeable changes over the entire period of scientific observations are taking place there.
Scientists from the laboratory Bio-Geo-Clim, who every year conduct research in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug at the TSU station Khanymei, found that due to the warm winter of 2019-2020, the permafrost melted 30% faster. If the trend continues, this will have to be taken into account in the construction of roads and buildings, as the soil becomes more mobile.
Along with this, TSU scientists note a phenomenon of waterlogging of lakes in the Arctic. This is typical for areas with a rather warm climate, for example, it is often found in Belarus and in the taiga zone of the Russian plain. According to the researchers, one of the possible reasons for the changing ecosystem of Arctic lakes may be global warming, causing the emptying of their basins.
- TSU has a good research infrastructure called the megatransect. This is a line of scientific stations, including in the Arctic and subarctic zones, explains Olga Shaduyko. -We carry out sampling at the megatransect throughout the year, while many scientists only have access to it during the field season. The megatransect is already familiar to many of our colleagues. For those who do not yet have a complete understanding of it, we will present the infrastructure during the webinar. In addition, we will tell our colleagues about the opportunities offered by SecNet (Siberian Environmental Change Network) , created under the auspices of TSU to study transformations in Siberia and the Arctic.
The SecNet brings together leading scientists from Russia and abroad who are engaged in the study of the northern regions. SecNet members also provide their stations for research in joint projects.
