Gunter Weller

Offshore Oil in the Alaskan Arctic

Oil and gas deposits in the Alaskan Arctic are estimated to contain up to 40 percent of the remaining undiscovered crude oil and oil-equivalent nature gas within U.S. jurisdiction. Most (65 to 70 percent) of these estimated reserves are believed to occur offshore beneath the shallow, ice-covered seas, of the Alaskan continental shelf. Offshore recovery operations for such areas are far from routine, with the primary problems associated with the presence of ice. Some problems that must be resolved if efficient, cost-effective, environmentally safe, year-round offshore production is to be achieved include the accurate estimation of ice forces on offshore structures, the proper placement of pipelines beneath ice-produced gouges in the sea floor, and the cleanup of oil spills in pack ice areas.

Laboratory Antarctica: Research Contributions to Global Problems

Research in Antarctica is becoming increasingly important in the large interdisciplinary studies of connections within the earths geosphere-biosphere system. Four examples of broad research areas are discussed. Upper atmosphere research explores the sun-earth interactions, which are most intense in the polar regions. The mass balance and dynamics of the large Antarctic ice sheet, and its paleoclimatic records recovered from deep ice cores, are important indicators of past and present global changes. Antarctica and sediment cores from the Southern Ocean contain the history of inception and growth of the ice masses and their subsequent fluctuations, and the long-term history of paleoclimate. The remarkable adaptations of Antarctic biota to extreme cold and drought may allow, through biotic monitoring, the detection of changes in the ocean and climate of Antarctica.

Arctic research in the national interest.

The Arctic Research and Policy Act of 1984 was designed to advance arctic research in the national interest. Some of the research fields that require attention are weather and climate; national defense; renewable and nonrenewable resources; transportation; communications and spacedisturbance effects; environmental protection; health, culture, and socioeconomics; and international cooperation. A research framework recommended by the Arctic Research Commission includes, in order of priority, integrated investigations to understand: (i) the Arctic Ocean (including the marginal seas, sea ice, and seabed) and how the ocean and atmosphere operate as coupled components of the arctic system; (ii) the coupled atmosphere and land components and how their interaction governs the terrestrial environment; and (iii) the high-latitude upper atmosphere and its extension into the magnetosphere with emphasis on predicting and mitigating effects on communications and defense systems. A separate recommendation is for high priority research to resolve the major health, behavioral, and cultural problems related to the arctic environment. Recommendations are also made concerning support services and management.

A meridional surface wind speed profile in MacRobertson Land, Antarctica

SummaryA surface wind vector profile along the 62° East meridian in Antarctica is constructed from field observations extending from 600 kilometers inland to 16 kilometers offshore. The theory of gravity winds proposed byF. K. Ball is used successfully to explain this profile.

Global pollution and its effect on the climate of the Arctic

Abstract This paper describes the potential effects of global pollution, primarily the greenhouse effect, on the climate of the Arctic. Climate models indicate an amplification of greenhouse warming in the Arctic but there are still many uncertainties about the magnitude and timing of the expected change. This paper focuses on these uncertainties by examining the changes observed in the temperature, sea ice extent, snow cover and permafrost regime of the Arctic. Since pollution is not the only climate-forcing factor, however, other external and internal driving forces are also examined, including solar influences, volcanic eruptions and changes in ocean circulation. Recent analyses of Greenland ice core data are beginning to cast serious doubt on our present understanding of the causes of climate change. Nevertheless, it is likely that global pollution is playing a major role in climate change. All the signals of change in the polar regions are consistent with the global greenhouse scenario. It cannot be stated unambiguously, however, that the greenhouse effect has already been observed in the Arctic, despite the fact that climate models indicate it to be largest there.

Role of polar regions in global change

Definition and summary of the state of knowledge of the role the polar regions play in global change was the aim of the International Conference on the Role of the Polar Regions in Global Change held at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, June 11–15, 1990. Cosponsors included AGU, American Meteorological Society, Arctic Institute of North America, Arctic Research Commission of the U.S., Arctic Research Consortium of the United States, International Glaciological Society, Oceanography Society, and Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research of the International Council of Scientific Unions.

Oil in the Arctic 2. The Outer Continental Shelf Environmental Assessment Program

AbstractPetroleum exploration and development is proceeding rapidly in the ice-covered waters of the arctic continental shelves. A a consequence of this development, environmental catastrophes on an unprecedented scale are possible in this harsh yet sensitive environment, where the cleanup of spilled oil is extremely difficult, if not virtually impossible. What are the likely damages to the arctic marine ecosystem which will result from petroleum-related impacts? What kinds of studies should be conducted in order to assess these impact to mitigate or remove them entirely? And how do we judge the success of these studies? The oiled state Outer Continental Shelf Environmental Assessment Program (OCSEAP) a large, multidisciplinary research project, which attempts to address such question, is described; more than 150 individual projects costing this year

The aim of the symposium

21 million, are in progress around the coast of Alaska. Those conducted in the Arctic – north of Bering trail – are here reviewed. Their chances for success...

Antarctica and global change research

The polar regions play a crucial role in global climate change. They are sensitive indicators of change and their snow and ice features are good integrators of change. They store long-term climatic records in their ice sheets, such as the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets. They also affect the global climate directly through interactions between their atmospheres, ice cover, and oceans, and through feedback processes. Practically all climate models predict an amplification of the global greenhouse effect at high latitudes, but models as well as observations have produced results that are not easily interpreted.

Radiative Heat Transfer Processes in Snow and Ice

The Antarctic, including the continent and Southern Ocean with the subantarctic islands, is a critical area in the global change studies under the International Geosphere-Biosphere Program (IGBP) and the World Climate Research Program (WCRP). Major scientific problems include the impacts of climate warming, the ozone hole, and sea level changes. Large-scale interactions between the atmosphere, ice, ocean, and biota in the Antarctic affect the entire global system through feedbacks, biogeochemical cycles, deep-ocean circulation, atmospheric transport of heat, moisture, and pollutants, and changes in ice mass balances. Antarctica is also a rich repository of paleoenvironmental information in its ice sheet and its ocean and land sediments.