Arctic as One Giant
Research Lab

Kingston-Whig Standard
Posted May 8, 2003

How the Arctic became scientists' giant lab

By Sean McIntyre

To many Canadians, the Arctic is a forbidding land of snow and ice.

For two Queen’s University researchers seeking to uncover the effects of global warming on Canada’s North, however, the Arctic is one of nature’s greatest laboratories.

“By collecting samples of lake sediment, we can obtain a history of the lake and surrounding area,” said paleoecologist John Smol. “At the bottom of a lake, there is a big library of information.

“It’s like a giant history textbook. Sometimes we can go back up to 12,000 years.”

Smol and Scott Lamoureux will have the opportunity to explore Canada’s Arctic thanks to a $41-million program announced recently by Minister of Industry Allan Rock and George Farrah, parliamentary secretary to the minister of fisheries and oceans.

“I was very glad,” Smol said. “This is a very good step.

“We’ve been delighted that the Canadian government has taken steps to research Canada’s Arctic heritage.”

Smol’s work as a paleoecologist will allow him to track long-term environmental changes by analysing fossil records found at the bottom of lakes and oceans.

He collects samples by submerging a cylindrical pipe into the sediment. After lifting the sediment-filled pipe back to the surface, he takes note of the types of fossils that have accumulated in layers of sediment over the centuries.

Much like the way rings of a tree stump indicate the age of a tree, sediment that accumulates on lake bottoms forms distinct layers each year.

The fossils of organic life are usually algae no larger than a grain of sand. Using a microscope to analyse the species and concentration of fossils in a particular sample, Smol can determine how the ecology of a specific area has changed.

Samples from the bottom of Lake Ontario have revealed that significant changes occurred during some centuries. Lower fossil counts corresponded with the early years of the industrial revolution and an increased level of pollutants being released in the lake.

Using this same technique, Smol will collect samples from more than 40 lakes and ponds on Ellesmere Island.

“This is an incredible opportunity to further study the Arctic,” said biologist Lamoureux. “Because the area is so isolated and because the logistics of conducting research in the North are so difficult, very little is known.”

The opportunity will allow scientists from various fields to work together and exchange information to determine the environmental, social and economic impacts of global warming on Canada’s Arctic.

“Long-term environmental data are lacking for almost all areas of the Arctic,” said Lamoureux. “This is a particularly important reference region, as the high Arctic is especially sensitive to climate warming and other environmental effects.”

According to scientists taking part in the 10-year study, the continued melting of Arctic sea ice will have global

environmental consequences. Scientists estimate that by 2050 there will no longer be any ice cover in the Arctic basin during summer months.

“Our preliminary data suggest that the effects of global warming are acting upon the Arctic region quite rapidly,” Smol said.

Not only will the research provide information about Canada’s North but, according Lamoureux, results will provide data concerning southern regions of the country.

“The Arctic environment is, in some ways, like the canary in the mine shaft,” he said. “Because the Arctic is a more sensitive area, it gives an amplified sign of what happens in other regions. Although, it doesn’t allow us to see into the future, the Arctic provides a picture of what may happen in other areas.”

Lamoureux’s research concentrates on examining lake and river flows to discover how floods vary with changes in climate. This, he said, is just one of the ways scientists will examine global change.

Although he uses the same technique as Smol, Lamoureux pays attention to the type and quantity of sediment found in the core samples.

A layer containing a thicker sediment deposit will provide evidence of greater runoff from surrounding rivers and slopes. The thicker the layers, the more likely flooding occurred during the given period.

The research provides useful information not only with respect to changes in precipitation and temperature levels, but also allows people to conduct what Lamoureux calls hydrological risk assessments.

These assessments are used by developers of hydroelectric projects to forecast the behaviour of a given river.

Smol, Lamoureux and researchers from 15 Canadian universities will have 10 years to learn more about the Arctic aboard a retrofitted icebreaker. The Canadian Coast Guard Ship Sir John Franklin will be reactivated and retrofitted to suit the special needs of the scientists.

The $31-million facelift represents the bulk of the funding and will give scientists access to state-of-the-art equipment, making the research vessel one of the most advanced of its kind.

In addition to the 45 academic researchers from Canadian universities, the research network will include 30 scientists from Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States.

“This approach is a very useful dynamic for advancing science as a whole,” Lamoureux said.

The researchers are taking part in a program called the Canadian Arctic Shelf Exchange Study, or CASES. It’s hoped their research will help policymakers protect the ecological integrity and socioeconomic welfare of northern communities.

Funding for the project came from three different federal government programs. The Canada Foundation for Innovation contributed $27.7 million, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada provided $10 million and the Ministry of Fisheries and Oceans supplied $3 million.

According to Smol, the current program represents a milestone in the Canadian government’s commitment to Arctic research.

“The international community has, for a long time, provided ships to study the Arctic but I think this kind of support is pretty unprecedented in Canada,” he said.

The refitted Coast Guard ship will sail from Quebec City for the Arctic in August and spend a full year in the North. Beginning in the summer of 2004, the ship will be used for research for six months of the year, allowing it to assume regular duties with the Canadian Coast Guard during the winter.

Smol said he and Lamoureux won’t be on the ship this August. Because of the sheer number of scientists involved, they aren’t sure when they’ll get a chance to use the Franklin.

“The icebreaker is a whole new platform for people to work with,” Lamoureux said. “We often work separately in different areas. Now we can complement each other’s research.”

Kingston-Whig Standard

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