Programme

The biological diversity in Polar Regions has long been thought as generally simple, species poor and isolated.
A very different picture is now emerging, demonstrating that some marine or terrestrial polar ecosystems are highly diverse and that regional and global connectivity is greater than supposed. Nonetheless, polar areas remain extremely stressful to organisms: the polar species, most of them exhibiting a high degree of endemism, are often close to their threshold of growth and have developed highly sophisticated adaptations which make them more vulnerable to rapid environmental changes.
The direct effect of climate change on organisms is combined with those of human impacts, including, local pollution, invasion of non-native species or infectious diseases. These drivers directly affect the survival of populations already weakened by climate change and initiate new trophic links which fundamentally modify the structure and functioning of these ecosystems.
However, the complex interactions among these drivers are rarely addressed. For instance, we don't really know how alien invasive species combined with temperature changes will affect marine and terrestrial biodiversity and ecosystems. 

Long-range transported pollutants and bioaccumulation of contaminants in polar food chains represent major challenges for both ecosystems and human health.
Due to the increase in maritime operations and transport in the Arctic, a larger risk of oil spills and environmental pollution is expected in ice-covered seas. Arctic and indigenous communities are experiencing large impacts of climate change and pollution on food and water security and the availability of traditional food due to bioaccumulation of environmental contaminants, changed migration patterns of animals and difficult hunting conditions as the climate changes and sea ice retreats.
Pollutants and atmospheric aerosols are transported by ocean and air currents and deposited in polar terrestrial and aquatic environments. Aerosols of natural origin (erupting volcanoes) and from human industrial and agricultural activities (black carbon) scatter light and directly modify the atmospheric radiation balance and temperature. Indirectly, the Earth's climate is influenced by aerosols modifying cloud properties, i.e. the way clouds reflect and absorb light, thus changing the Earth’s energy budget. 

Stratospheric ozone depletion, with a large springtime decrease in ozone around both Polar Regions, has been a major challenge to polar ecosystems and people. The resulting increased levels of harmful ultraviolet radiation passing through the Earth’s atmosphere have created worldwide concern for a variety of biological consequences such as increases in sunburn, skin cancer, cataracts, damage to plants, and changes in plankton populations in the ocean's euphotic zone. Although on the path to recovery as a result of the Montreal Protocol, continuous monitoring of stratospheric ozone and its atmospheric chemistry are still needed as new substances with ozone-depleting potential maybe used by industry. 
Further, there is a potential for political struggle due to the large economic, environmental, political and social consequences, and the intense media attention that may occur in climate-change degraded areas on Earth.

There is already significant strategic and commercial interest in the marine and terrestrial geological and geothermal resources in the Arctic. An improved understanding of the distribution of these resources, would benefit both residents and stakeholders alike. In Antarctica, it is intended that the Antarctic Treaty and its Protocol on environmental protection will continue to prevent exploitation of mineral resources in future decades. 
Additionally, the Arctic basins are a result of a long history that involves continental blocks and ocean basins whose physiographic interpretation will support the definition of the exclusive economic zone of the Arctic countries.

The great ice sheets of Antarctica and Greenland, together with the smaller glacier systems across the Arctic and on the Antarctic and Sub-Antarctic Islands, hold sufficient water to significantly raise global sea-level over coming centuries. The uncertain stability of these glacier systems, many of which are in areas of recent, rapid climate change make them uniquely vulnerable to both atmospheric warming and changes in ocean temperature and circulation. This is also reflected through the uncertain projections of future global sea-level rise. Improving our understanding of these systems poses particular challenges to science, but is essential to manage the risks to coastal communities, precious coastal ecosystems and major capital assets across the globe. Governments, businesses and individuals who own, or are charged with protecting these assets, need to work more with science to inform their decisions on investment in and management of coastal regions. 

Understanding the Antarctic terrestrial and sub-sea permafrost and the consequences of its degradation is also a crucial issue. Terrestrial and sub-sea permafrost is susceptible to climate change, directly impacting the infrastructure and landscape, in the Canadian and Alaskan Arctic in particular, where vulnerability to coastal erosion is increasing. In Russia, major infrastructure is at risk of damage from thawing permafrost. The indirect impacts on climate through the potential release of greenhouse gases will add to those resulting from anthropogenic sources. Patterns and rates of permafrost change are poorly measured in all areas of the Arctic, and improved understanding of such changes is urgently needed.
Sea ice and icebergs present hazards to shipping and marines structures, depending on the location within the Polar Regions. Improvements in monitoring of these would reduce risks for shipping and other ocean operations and activities.

The Polar Regions provide an ideal platform from which to study the Earth’s upper atmosphere, the solar system and outer space, to improve understanding of sun-earth connections and space-weather, and answer fundamental questions such as the origin of the universe. The unique features of the polar environment mean that these areas provide astronomers and other scientists with a unique window on our universe, and environmental analogues that allow the prototyping and testing of equipment destined for space use. Similarly, space agencies have long understood the similarity of the isolation, lack of day-night cycles, and extreme environmental conditions to which polar communities are subject, and those that humans engaged in space flight must endure. These agencies can benefit significantly from the use of polar platforms and the medical and technical advances which can be made in these areas.
At another scale, severe space weather event arise from occasional massive ejections of material and energy from the Sun. These events pose risks to satellites and key infrastructure on the ground (e.g., power systems). Better understanding of the likelihood of damaging events and the ability to forecast their occurrence would provide satellite operators, and those who manage terrestrial infrastructure, better tools with which to build resilience into their systems and an opportunity to take protective measures against specific events. The location of the Polar Regions with respect to the Earth’s geomagnetic field means that these are the favoured sites for many instruments used to observe and understand the interactions of the solar particle radiation and solar wind with the magnetosphere-ionosphere system.

Many of the natural physical processes occurring in the polar atmosphere and oceans are of profound significance in controlling conditions across the globe and affecting lives and livelihoods across the world.
The great ocean current “conveyor belt” originates in  the Arctic and Antarctic, it ventilates the deepest portions of the world’s oceans, and feeds the atmospheric and ocean current systems that shape the climate in Europe. Future changes in climate mean that many of these processes may be modified in intensity or effect, and the impacts will induce changes across the planet. These effects are not confined to the distant future, as it is clear that the inclusion of Polar Regions in forecast models has greatly improved regional weather prediction. The residents and operators in the Polar Regions are the most directly affected by climate change, but such changes have global importance. Understanding the polar processes in a global context will benefit the people, policy, ecosystem management, and businesses well beyond the Polar Regions.
Future climate scenarios strongly benefit from paleo-reconstructions conducted in both Polar Regions as they allow a better understanding of how the climate system worked both regionally and globally during abrupt climatic transitions and under warmer or colder than present-day conditions. Paleo-records from ice and sediment cores provide key insights into changes in both physical and biochemical parameters within the ocean, atmosphere, terrestrial and cryosphere components under natural and anthropogenic forcing, which is increasingly impacting local Arctic communities and ecosystems in the context of global warming