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CBC: Scientists gathering in Winnipeg to focus on ‘complex’ changing Arctic climate

December 5, 2016 — 

As CBC reports:

ArcticNet 2016 will see 800 scientists from across the country gather at the RBC Convention Centre to present research on a wide array of subjects impacting the health of the biology and the physical systems of the Arctic. “That covers all the biology from the very smallest organisms — viruses, bacteria right up to algae and plankton — right up the food chain to whales and polar bears,” said David Barber, the Canada Research Chair in Arctic system science at the University of Manitoba.

“And then in the physical system we look at everything from the bottom of the ocean to the top of the atmosphere and how those things are interconnected.”

Barber said the Arctic is changing incredibly quickly, largely driven by the changes in the ice cover.

“We have about a third more open-water season now than we used to have. That’s also affecting the ice in the winter time,” Barber said, adding it impacts all parts of the food chain.

“The ice is much thinner and much more mobile than it used to be.”

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