Change in the Arctic is rapid and accelerating. Understanding how to build resilience to help buffer, cope with and adapt to change has been boosted by the recently launched Arctic Resilience Report.
Written by an international team of researchers under the auspices of the Arctic Council, led by the Stockholm Environment Institute and the Stockholm Resilience Centre, the report's international team of authors identified 19 tipping points in Arctic marine, freshwater, and terrestrial ecosystems, including for example, the loss of Arctic sea ice, ocean hypoxia, collapse of fisheries, and transforming landscapes. Not surprisingly the biggest driver of change impacting Arctic communities and social-ecological systems is climate change.
Detailed case studies from across the circumpolar Arctic describe how 25 communities across the Arctic are responding to these unprecedented changes. The analysis reveals factors that help communities to be more resilient including: a capacity for self-organization, having a diversity of responses to change, learning and integrating different types of knowledge and being able to navigate and make decisions amidst uncertainty and surprise.
Achieving resilience in the Arctic will depend on individuals, communities, governments and institutions working across local to global scales to empower, support, and create integrated strategies.
Download the full report from the Arctic Council:
https://oaarchive.arctic-council.org/handle/11374/1838
Digital snapshot of the Arctic Resilience Report:
https://stockholmenvironmentinstitute.exposure.co/into-the-blue
In the media:
Arctic ice melt could trigger uncontrollable climate change at global level (The Guardian)
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/nov/25/arctic-ice-melt-trigger-uncontrollable-climate-change-global-level
Rapidly Changing Arctic Braces for Destabilization (Scientific American)
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/rapidly-changing-arctic-braces-for-destabilization/
Keywords: Arctic, Arctic resilience assessment, The Arctic Council
