The workshop was held online (Zoom) on October 19, 09:00-12:00(CEST) / 15:00-18:00(CST). The workshop was part of the Nordic Centre 25th Anniversary Program.

Workshop schedule:

09.00-09.10 / 15.00-15.10: Welcome and introduction (all participants)

09.10-11:05 / 15.10-17.05: Arctic workshop parts 1 and 2 held in parallel

11:10-12:00 / 17.10-18.00: Plenary session (all participants)

The workshop focused on various impacts of climate change in the Arctic region and beyond, and was divided into two consecutive thematic parts and a plenary session. Part one focused on the social impacts of climate change, with two sub-panels, one focusing on resources and economic development, the other on climate justice, equality, diversity, and health. Part two focused on the natural sciences, with two sub-panels, one on recent and future climate change in the Arctic, the other on causes and effects of sea-ice loss. The final plenary session was open for discussions across these topics and their scientific disciplines.

Part 1: Social impacts of climate change in the Arctic and beyond: Sino-Nordic perspectives

The aim of the workshop is to identify priority areas for actions to minimize the social consequences of climate change in the Arctic and beyond. The workshop will consist of two panels, one on resources and economic development and the other one on climate justice, equality and diversity and health and well-being in the Arctic states and regions. Each panel will feature three short presentations followed by panel discussions. After both panels and discussions the participants will be split into groups to discuss and come up with suggestions for action points.

Background: The Arctic is warming faster than the global average, resulting in melting Arctic icecap and inland ice, and the effects are felt all over the globe. Some regions are currently being hit even harder, with changing weather patterns, draughts, floods, wildfires, rise of sea level and so on. The societal impacts of climate change varies between regions, but as some regions become less habitable other regions will face increased pressure to open their societies and welcome people who are forced to leave their home region due to environmental disruption. What are the emerging challenges that societies are faced with and what can be done to counter them for the good of all humanity? And, what does climate change, including melting ice caps, mean for collaboration in the Arctic region, including in a Sino-Nordic context?

Conveners:

Pia Elísabeth Hansson (University of Iceland) — pia(at)hi.is

Guðbjörg Ríkey Th. Hauksdóttir (University of Iceland) — grikey(at)hi.is

Sanna-Kaisa Kopra (University of Lapland) — sanna.kopra(at)ulapland.fi

Part 2: Environmental impacts of climate change in the Arctic and beyond: Sino-Nordic perspectives

The aim of the workshop is to investigate the environmental consequences of climate change in the Arctic and beyond, covering global atmospheric, climatological, and ecological impacts. Facilitating interactions, exchange of ideas, and cooperations to advance scientific understanding of the influences on global weather, climate, and eco-systems is our core objective. The workshop will consist of two panels, one on recent and future climate change in the Arctic and impact regions, and the other one on the causes and global effects of Arctic sea ice loss. Each panel will feature three short presentations followed by panel discussions. After both panels and discussions, the participants will be split into groups to discuss and come up with proposals for new ideas and collaboration across universities and governments.

Background: In the past decades, the warming of the Arctic climate system has moved beyond doubt, and human influence on the climate system is clear. Climate change in the Arctic has contributed to dramatic melting of Arctic sea ice and profound changes in global climate systems. Arctic sea-ice loss has coincided with ostensibly more frequent extreme weather and climate events across the mid-latitudes and tropical regions, such as severe winters, heat waves, droughts, and floods. A causal link between changes in the Arctic and lower latitude climates has spurred a number of observations/reanalyses and modeling activities. However, large uncertainties exist in this causal link, owing to the sparse and short data records, imperfect models, inherent atmospheric variability, and nonlinearity.

Meanwhile, as polar glaciers retreat, sea levels rise, and habitats of arctic species shift poleward due to climate change. Consequently, the distribution of species shifts to higher latitudes and altitudes, a change commonly associated with enrichment of — or decreases in and homogenization of — indigenous biotas. Terrestrial habitats for organisms adapted to cold shrink and can be lost — particularly those of arctic species, as the Arctic is warming more than twice as fast as the global average.

The above has motivated extensive research aimed at addressing the following issues: What characterizes the phenomena of climate change in the Arctic and linked regions, both in recent decades and the future? How does high-latitude climate change influence middle- and lower latitude weather and climate, including in Northern Europe and China? And what are the ecological consequences in polar and near-polar regions?

Conveners:

Zhang Ruonan (Fudan University) — rn_zhang(at)fudan.edu.cn

Deliang Chen (The University of Gothenburg) – deliang(at)gvc.gu.se

Mats Björkman (The University of Gothenburg) mats.bjorkman(at)gu.se

Part 3: Plenary session

Discussions across disciplines.