image: Polar Science special issue entitled "The Sixth International Symposium on Arctic Research (ISAR-6)". view more
Credit: NIPR
The National Institute of Polar Research (NIPR) publishes Polar Science, a peer-reviewed quarterly journal dealing with polar science in collaboration with the Elsevier B. V..The recent special issue (Vol. 29 published on 1 December 2021) was entitled "The Sixth International Symposium on Arctic Research (ISAR-6)." The special issue collected papers that span many disciplines to identify changes in the Arctic environment and society and to discuss possible future sustainable development.
Among the various regions on the Earth, the Arctic region is most affected by the phenomena caused by global warming, such as sea ice melting and permafrost thaw. Rapid changes due to global warming have had negative influences on local residents. On the other hand, the decrease in sea ice has led to the start of the use of the Northern Sea Route and the development of seabed resources worldwide, positively impacting on economic activities. Moreover, such new economic activities may further accelerate global warming. Therefore, it is necessary to study Arctic changes from the natural sciences, as well as from the humanities and social sciences, to clarify the impact on human society that affects the changes in the Arctic environment.
Japan Consortium for Arctic Environmental Research (JCAR) organized the 6th International Symposium on Arctic Research (ISAR-6) online from March to April 2020, focused on the importance of interdisciplinary approaches with a particular emphasis on research in the social sciences and humanities. From the achievements reported in ISAR-6, the special issue was edited by selecting reports of many disciplines to identify changes in the Arctic environment and society.
" ISAR-6 was held as the latest of the biennial conference, where the past and next decades of the Arctic environment were equally appreciated," said Dr. Motoyoshi Ikeda, Professor Emeritus of Hokkaido University, the Managing Guest Editor of this special issue. “Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, ISAR-6 was held as the online meeting. As many as 170 presentations made online underscore the high level of interest in the future of the Arctic environment and society. Following the success of ISAR-6, we aimed to convey the impressive achievements reported there to a wider range of research fields and societies.”
In this special issue, 15 papers have been published to discuss the possibilities of sustainable development in the future. These papers report on the latest results from decades of atmospheric warming, shrinking sea ice extent, ice sheet deterioration, and permafrost thawing. The full text of this issue will be freely accessible worldwide until 13 June 2022.
"Through the upcoming ISAR series, JCAR hopes to answer the question of how Arctic research conributes to sustainable development by leading international interdisciplinary research", said Dr. Motoyoshi Ikeda.
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About Polar Science
Polar Science is a peer-reviewed comprehensive academic journal relating to the polar regions of the Earth and other planets, which the NIPR began to publish in collaboration with Elsevier B.V. in 2007. The primary purpose of this journal is to inform people about polar science. Currently, more than 150 articles are submitted per year. As a result, this journal is recognized globally as one of the few comprehensive academic journals in the field of polar science. In addition to normal issues, Polar Science publishes a special issue annually on a given topic from various fields.
The main characteristics of Polar Science are summarized as follows.
■Polar Science is an international academic journal with an impact factor of 1.927 as of 2020
■Polar Science covers 15 disciplines related to the Antarctic and the Arctic, such as:
- Space and upper atmosphere physics
- Atmospheric science/Climatology
- Glaciology
- Oceanography/Sea ice studies
- Geology/Petrology
- Solid earth geophysics/Seismology
- Marine earth science
- Geomorphology/Cenozoic-Quaternary geology
- Meteoritics
- Terrestrial biology
- Marine biology
- Animal ecology
- Environment
- Polar engineering
- Humanities and social sciences
■Polar Science has an Open Archive whereby published articles are made freely available from ScienceDirect after an embargo period of 24 months from the date of publication.
■Printed products are also published.
■After Polar Science became an open archive in 2016, the number of article downloads has increased rapidly since then. Currently, more than 140,000 papers are used (PDF download and HTML Views) annually.
About National Institute of Polar Research (NIPR)
The NIPR engages in comprehensive research via observation stations in Arctic and Antarctica. As a member of the Research Organization of Information and Systems (ROIS), the NIPR provides researchers throughout Japan with infrastructure support for Arctic and Antarctic observations, plans and implements Japan's Antarctic observation projects, and conducts Arctic researches of various scientific fields such as the atmosphere, ice sheets, the ecosystem, the upper atmosphere, the aurora and the Earth's magnetic field. In addition to the research projects, the NIPR also organizes the Japanese Antarctic Research Expedition and manages samples and data obtained during such expeditions and projects. As a core institution in researches of the polar regions, the NIPR also offers graduate students with a global perspective on originality through its doctoral program. For more information about the NIPR, please visit: https://www.nipr.ac.jp/english/
About the Research Organization of Information and Systems (ROIS)
ROIS is a parent organization of four national institutes (National Institute of Polar Research, National Institute of Informatics, the Institute of Statistical Mathematics and National Institute of Genetics) and the Joint Support-Center for Data Science Research. It is ROIS's mission to promote integrated, cutting-edge research that goes beyond the barriers of these institutions, in addition to facilitating their research activities, as members of inter-university research institutes.