Publications

Publications about the Cryosphere

We have compiled selected newsletters, reports, journals, and books related to the cryosphere and northern Canada. Please let us know if you have other publications that should be included in the lists below!

Newsletters and Reports

• ArcticNet is a multi-disiplinary program, bridging the gap between scientists, northern communities and government organizations. The goal is to research climate change effects on coastal Canadian Arctic regions with research teams located across the circumpolar Arctic. This research is utilized to plan adaption strategies on both the government and local levels. The ArcticNet report is published annually, availably online in PDF format.
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• NSIDC Notes is intended to keep the polar research community informed about current research and available data and services provided by the NSIDC. It is published quarterly in electronic format and can be accessed as a PDF file.
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• Witness the Arctic provides information on current Arctic research efforts and findings, significant research initiatives, national policy affecting Arctic research, international activities, and profiles of institutions with major Arctic research efforts. Witness serves an audience of Arctic scientists, educators, agency personnel, and policy makers. Witness was published biannually in hardcopy from 1995-2008 and is currently published online 3-4 times annually, depending on newsworthy events.
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• APECS is an international and interdisciplinary organization for undergraduate and graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, early faculty members, educators, and others with interests in Polar Regions and the wider cryosphere. Newsletters are published on a monthly basis highlighting APECS news, polar events, webinars, career opportunities, research news and more.
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• The OSPAR Convention is the current legal instrument guiding international cooperation on the protection of the marine environment of the North-East Atlantic. Work under the Convention is managed by the OSPAR Commission, made up of representatives of the Governments of 15 Contracting Parties and the European Commission, representing the European Union. The OSPAR focuses on researching human induced changes in the Arctic and climate change with the following divisions: the Biodiversity and Ecosystem Strategy, the Eutrophication Strategy, the Hazardous Substances Strategy, the Offshore Industry Strategy and the Radioactive Substances Strategy.
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• Northern Notes is the newsletter of the International Arctic Social Sciences Association (IASSA). It is published twice a year by the IASSA Secretariat.
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• SCAR, the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research, is a committee of ICSU , the International Council for Science, and it is charged with the initiation, promotion and co-ordination of scientific research in Antarctica. SCAR also provides international, independent scientific advice to the Antarctic Treaty system and other bodies. Multiple newsletter issues are published annually, available online in PDF format. Each newsletter highlights Antarctic research stories, events, career opportunities and APECS news.
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• The U.S. Ice Drilling Program Office (IDPO) is the principal supplier of ice drilling and ice coring support and expertise for NSF funded research and coordinates long-term and short-term planning in collaboration with the greater US ice science community. The IDPO publishes seasonal newsletters (Ice Bits Newsletter) highlighting Ice Drilling events, research, outreach and equipment development.
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• The Northern Slope Borough, Department of Wildlife Management promotes sustainable harvesting of Northern wildlife resources and monitors population changes of Arctic species. This organization publishes seasonal newsletters, available in PDF format.
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• AMAP coordinates multiple Snow, Water, Ice and Permafrost in the Arctic (SWIPA) published works, focused on current and future climate change. AMAP was established in 1991, originally to employ the Arctic Environmental Protection Strategy (international agreement to protect the Arctic environment). Currently, AMAP aims to provide current research to assist in environmental policy making and protection strategies. The publications can be accessed online as PDF files or summary videos.
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• The Arctic Council Arctic Resilience Report, completed in 2013, is a scientific report analyzing current and future drivers of change and their influence on ecosystems and northern society. It can be accessed as a PDF file.Read the newsletter
• The Arctic Biodiversity Assessment is available for policy makers and conservationists. The reports summarize current Arctic biodiversity, vulnerable species, ecosystem dynamics and research priorities.
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• The Nunavut General Monitoring Plan analyzes environmental, social, economic and social factors in Nunavut. This analysis is used to plan future monitoring strategies and implement Nunavut development. Newsletters are available multiple times annually, available for download below:
  English Choose an issueOctober 2012January 2013March 2013April 2013June 2013December 2013  
  French Choose an issueJanuary 2013March 2013April 2013June 2013December 2013  
  Inuinnaqtun Choose an issueJanuary 2013March 2013April 2013June 2013December 2013  

  Inuktitut (ᐃᓄᒃᑎᑐᑦ) Choose an issueOctober 2012January 2013March 2013April 2013June 2013December 2013

• In partnership with Dartmouth College, University of Alaska Fairbanks and the University of the Arctic, IACP regularly holds joint assemblies to discuss issues relating to policy and human dimensions of climate change in the circumpolar region.
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• Information on global glacier mass balances are reported in two year intervals in the Glacier Mass Balance Bulletin since 1988. These bulletins are provided by the World Glacier Monitoring Service.
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• The Ice Bits newsletter is offered quarterly by the U.S. Ice Drilling Program Office (IDPO) and Ice Drilling Design and Operations (IDDO) group, updating their activities.
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• The Sustaining Arctic Observing Networks (SAON) encourages sustained and coordinated pan-Arctic observing and data sharing to serve societal needs, particularly those related to environmental, social, economic and cultural issues. Canada has established a SAON National Coordinating Committee, SAON Canada, which provides the Canada Results Bulletin, a newsletter highlighting findings and policy implications from the monitoring initiatives occurring across Northern Canada.
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• The Circumpolar Biodiversity Monitoring Program (CBMP) is an international network of scientists, government agencies, Indigenous organizations and conservation groups working together to harmonize and integrate efforts to monitor the Arctic's living resources. A biannual newsletter is distributed which includes CBMP news and status updates, events and initiatives, and news from CBMP partners.
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Journals

• Études Inuit Studies" is a biannual scholarly journal that has been published since 1977. The journal is devoted to the study of Inuit societies, either traditional or contemporary, in the general perspective of social sciences and humanities (ethnology, politics, archaeology, linguistics, history, etc.). In addition to a number of articles, each volume contains book reviews, a list of scientific events, and annual reviews of recent theses and articles published in other journals. Article abstracts are available on-line free of charge (full articles require subscription access).
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• "Arctic" is North America's premier journal of northern research, with contributions from any area of scholarship dealing with the world's polar and subpolar regions. Articles present original research and have withstood intensive peer review. "Arctic" also publishes reviews of new books on the North, profiles of significant people, places and northern events, and topical commentaries. Articles older than 1 year are available on-line free of charge.
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• "Permafrost & Periglacial Processes" is an earth science related journal emphasizing geomorphological processes in polar regions. It is edited by Professor J. B. Murton, and released on a seasonal basis. Articles online are available free of charge.
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• "NASA Cryospheric Sciences Publications" is part of the Cryospheric Sciences Branch of NASA's Earth Science division. This branch researches current polar processes using NASA Goddard Space Flight Center technology. New research and publications are available online.
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• "Nature Geoscience Cryospheric Publications" is a multi-disciplinary journal focused on past and future earth processes, published on a monthly basis. This journal has an archive of Cryospheric publications available focused on fieldwork and modelling.
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• "The Cryosphere (EGU)" is a multi-disciplinary international journal focused on all sciences related to polar terrestrial and marine processes. The research areas include laboratory studies, in-situ investigations, remote sensing and modelling. On behalf of the European Geosciences Union, this open-access journal is published seasonally.
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• "The Climate Data Guide provides concise and reliable information on the strengths and limitations of the key observational data sets, tools and methods used to evaluate Earth system models and to understand the climate system”. Registered users have the ability to comment on data, upload your work and get updates on new climate data. The user-authored database allows the latest datasets, analysis methods and models to be shared.
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Books

• A twelve-volume book set and CD-ROM entitled "Hydrocarbon Contaminants in Freezing Ground and Permafrost Terrain" is now available. It is authored by permafrost scientist Thomas L. White of Permafrost Environmental Consulting, a company devoted to cold regions research.

  Developing Arctic oil and gas reserves increases the risk of hydrocarbon spills, and the wide range of hydrocarbon products (each with its own mobility characteristic and physical and chemical behavior in permafrost-affected soils and sediments) presents a challenge when developing protocols for Arctic hydrocarbon clean up. Governments, First Nations, environmental agencies, and oil and gas companies are developing strategies to contain hydrocarbon spills and minimize damage to the Arctic's permafrost terrain; however, assessment data is not readily available. At the same time, governments and regulatory bodies are charged with filling information gaps, such as the long-term mobility and residency of hydrocarbon contaminants on and in a wide range of Arctic and Antarctic soils.

  This environmental engineering resource helps to fill these gaps. It includes a database of contaminated Arctic soils that provides engineers and geoscientists in universities, research institutions, corporations, governments, and regulatory bodies with the tools necessary to carry out in-depth examination of a wide range of immiscible hydrocarbon contaminants in freezing soils and permafrost. "Hydrocarbon Contaminants in Freezing Ground and Permafrost Terrain" provides users with:
  - The thermodynamic properties of Arctic and Antarctic permafrost-affected soils; - Hydrocarbon transport modeling for a wide range of Arctic soils;
  - The nature of hydrocarbon contaminant hydrology with case studies for assessment;
  - Strategies for contaminated site management; and
  - Hydrocarbon contaminants beneath Arctic spill sites, oil and gas facilities, sump sites, military sites, landfills, and impoundments in permafrost terrain.

  For further information, please contact: Thomas L. White, Email: white@permafrost.ca, Phone: 613-746-4422

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• Living Our Cultures, Sharing Our Heritage: The First Peoples of Alaska features more than 200 objects representing the artistry and design traditions of twenty Alaska Native peoples. Based on a collaborative exhibition created by Alaska Native communities, the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian, and the Anchorage Museum, this illustrated volume celebrates both the return of ancestral treasures to their northern homeland and the diverse cultures in which they were created.

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• Polar Law Textbook: edited by Natalia Loukacheva, is available for free PDF download online. This book is of Nordic co-operation, with Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Faroe Islands, Greenland and Aland being collaborating countries. The content summarizes recent trends and developments in Polar Law, Arctic Security (environmental, energy and human), search and rescue strategies, Arctic climate change, biology, renewable energy, tourism, United States oil and gas regulation and general governance.

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• The North By Degree book, edited by Susan A. Kaplan & Robert McCracken Peck and published by American Philosophical Society. This book comprises of papers of Arctic exploration from the late 19th to early 20th centuries.

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