Canada's Arctic researchers call for polar policy

Canada needs a national polar policy and better research co-ordination to effectively monitor the changing northern climate, says a Canadian Arctic researcher.

John England of the University of Alberta, writing in the journal Nature this week, said Canadian scientists are finding it more difficult to get to remote Arctic regions to conduct their research.

"The capacity to support researchers in remote field sites has plummeted, making it difficult for Canadian researchers to continue crucial monitoring of the fast-changing Arctic environment, from receding glaciers to disappearing polar bear habitat," wrote England.

Compounding the problem, said England, is the fact that funding for travel and support from the Polar Continental Shelf Program (PCSP) isn't tied to research funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC).

"The PCSP allocates its logistical resources separately from, and often in contradiction to, the resource needs of peer-reviewed NSERC grants. This lack of co-ordination threatens long-established monitoring programmes," said England.

The Polar Continental Shelf Programalso oversees safety for researchers in remote camps.

"If a severe storm destroys tents, or a camp is threatened by a polar bear, the PCSP comes to the rescue," said England.

Lack of co-ordination a problem

Steven Bigras, executive director of the Canadian Polar Commission, agrees that the lack of co-ordination is a problem.

"[England] says there's a bit of a disconnect there between NSERC funding the research and then you have to follow up with Continental Shelf to ensure you have the logistical support to get to the field stations. If one says 'yes' and the other one says 'no,' it really doesn't help the overall effort," said Bigras.

As well, England said budget cuts and increasing fuels costs "have rapidly eroded the PCSP's ability to fulfil its mission."

England praises Canada for funding Arctic research in the amount of $156 million during the International Polar Year from 2007 to 2009, but said that the future of research after that funding runs out "does not look as bright."

"We've had two wonderful years of well-funded research in the Arctic," said Bigras. "This sudden splurge of research going on, and all these young people getting interested in the research."

England wrote that the increasing costs have put Arctic research out of the reach of many Canadian researchers, "many of whom now talk openly about shifting their research attentions to something that can be studied farther south."

England said that part of the solution lies in creating a national polar policy, " which would commit Canada to clear objectives and better co-ordinate research activities."

"If you have a policy, you have priorities and you fund those priorities," said Bigras. "[Currently], we have a set of projects out there and they're all priorities during the International Polar Year, but what happens to them after that?"