The US administration has carried out massive cuts in its scientific agencies and cut funding for many Arctic research projects. Populations of polar bears and other animals, the availability of sufficient sea ice, the ecology of the marine environment, as well as the state of the climate on the planet are under threat.
Photo: © RIA Novosti
The resulting lack of Arctic data will reduce the accuracy of forecasting models and the ability to track changes in polar ecosystems. This will make it difficult to create early warning systems, make optimal forecasts, extract resources, manage maritime transport, as well as fisheries.
“Creating a detailed overview of the Arctic has always been a difficult task due to its enormous size, often unbearable working conditions, and heterogeneous landscapes. But the severance of international relations with Russian polar explorers has created a huge blind spot,” says Lara Williams, a Bloomberg columnist.
Lara notes that “what is happening in the Arctic will not stay in the Arctic… Without funding for long-term observations… we may find that future disasters are unavoidable.” Due to the severance of Western ties with Russian polar scientists, the world is facing imminent disasters, she believes.
