"Climate Change - Subpolar Perspectives" - Seminar on Polar Research
© MEEDDAT
- On: 22.10.2008
- In: Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (KVA) in Stockholm, Beijer Room
This seminar will help lay the foundations for cooperation between French and Swedish polar research institutes and prepare the Monaco conference on the observation of climate change in the Arctic.
France and Sweden have worked in this area for over a century, but have never cooperated on concrete projects. In addition to the seminar a series of events open to the general public will take place in Stockholm during "polar week" from 20 to 24 October, which will highlight the setting up of European projects in this region.The seminar will focus on climate change in subpolar regions.
Subpolar regions are the zones around the poles that are not frozen throughout the year. The unique ecosystem that has developed there is particularly sensitive to the effects of climate change. France and Sweden have conducted studies related to these issues on their territories for years. France possesses subarctic territories in the Austral Islands such as the Kerguelen Islands and the Crozet Islands, while northern Sweden is an example of a subarctic territory. This seminary is therefore an opportunity to exchange results obtained in both hemispheres in the run up to the Monaco conference that will consider networking the European countries' Arctic observation stations.
The seminar will centre on two principal themes: the ecosystem in a subpolar environment and the study of glacier melt. French and Swedish researchers as well as subpolar region experts will participate in the meeting. Specialists will lay particular stress on the presentation of the regions under study and observation techniques.
The Franco-Swedish Polar Week will be held from 20 to 24 October in Sweden. It will include:
- An photographic exhibition on the Tara expedition, a French scientific vessel that has crossed the Arctic ocean by drifting with the ice floe. It wil be the first time that this expedition has been publicly presented in Sweden. The preview will take place at the University of Stockholm at 17:00 on 20 October.
- The screening of "Les Hommes" by Ariane Michel, an expeditioner on the Tara. This event will take place in the presence of the director at the Zita cinema in Stockholm at 18:30.
- The seminar will close with a press conference in the presence of the seminar's participants, the French ambassador and a representative of the Swedish minister for research.
The seminar is jointly organised by the Institut Paul-Émile Victor, the Swedish secretariat for polar research and the French embassy in Sweden's scientifc and technology mission.
- Updated: 29.10.2008
