About the 2012 Report Card
December 4, 20112
Issued annually since 2006, the Arctic Report Card (hereafter the Report Card) is a timely and peer-reviewed source for clear, reliable and concise environmental information on the current state of the Arctic relative to historical records. The Report Card is intended for a wide audience, including scientists, teachers, students, decision-makers and the general public interested in the Arctic environment and science.
Comprising 20 essays on different topics in the physical and biological sciences, the Report Card is organized into five sections: Atmosphere; Sea Ice & Ocean; Marine Ecosystem; Terrestrial Ecosystem; and Terrestrial Cryosphere. A number of essays are on new topics: Seabirds; Barrow Canyon Ecosystem and the Distributed Biological Observatory; Fish and Fisheries in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas; Marine Mammals; Lemmings; Arctic Fox; Waders (Shorebirds).
A number of topics provide updates to essays in Report Card 2011: Air Temperature, Atmospheric Circulation and Clouds; Ozone and UV Radiation; Carbon Dioxide and Methane; Sea Ice; Ocean; Primary Productivity; Benthos; Vegetation; Caribou and Reindeer; Snow; Glaciers and Ice Caps; Greenland Ice Sheet; Permafrost. Most of these essays are updates to articles in the Arctic chapter of the State of the Climate in 2011 report published in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society.
The material presented in Report Card 2012 was prepared by an international team of 141 scientists from 15 different countries, assisted by section coordinators and the editorial team. The Circumpolar Biodiversity Monitoring Program (CBMP) of the Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna (CAFF) Working Group of the Arctic Council solicited essays for the Marine Ecosystem and Terrestrial Ecosystem sections. Independent peer-review of Report Card 2012 was organized by the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme of the Arctic Council.
The section coordinators are:
Mike Gill, Canadian Wildlife Service, Environment Canada & CAFF/CBMP
Marine Ecosystem
Sue Moore, NOAA/Fisheries Office of Science and Technology
Marine Ecosystem
James Overland, NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory
Atmosphere
Michael Svoboda, Canadian Wildlife Service, Environment Canada & CAFF/CBMP
Terrestrial Ecosystem
Marco Tedesco, City College New York
Terrestrial Cryosphere
Mary-Louise Timmermans, Yale University
Sea Ice & Ocean
The editorial team is:
Martin Jeffries, Office of Naval Research & University of Alaska Fairbanks
James Overland, NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory
Jackie Richter-Menge, US Army Corps of Engineers, Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory
See essay Authors and Affiliations and a full list of References.
How to Cite the 2012 Arctic Report Card
Citing the complete report:
Jeffries, M. O., J. A. Richter-Menge and J. E. Overland, Eds., 2012: Arctic Report Card 2012, http://www.arctic.noaa.gov/reportcard.
Citing an essay (example):
Derksen, C. and R. Brown, 2012: Snow [in Arctic Report Card 2012], http://www.arctic.noaa.gov/reportcard.
Media Contact Information
Jana Goldman, NOAA Communications & NOAA Research, phone: 301-734-1123
Acknowledgments
Support for the Arctic Report Card is provided by the NOAA Climate Program Office through the Arctic Research Program. The Web site has been coordinated and developed by Nancy N. Soreide, Tracey Nakamura and James E. Overland of the NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory. The Greenland photograph in the banner of the website was provided by Jakob Sievers.
