IASC 25 years | Page 119

Appendix 6.4 Scope of the IASC Working Groups The core elements of IASC are its Working and its interactions with other components of the Groups (WGs). IASC WGs identify and formulate arctic system. science plans, research priorities, encourage sciof Arctic scientists and act as scientific advisory Marine Working Group (former Arctic Ocean Sciences Board) boards to the Council. The geographic scope of the Marine Working Group ence-led programs, promote future generations shall be the Arctic Ocean and the Subarctic Seas. The scientific scope shall include but not be limit- Atmosphere Working Group ed to any marine natural science or engineering re- The geographic scope of the Atmosphere Working search. Group shall be the Arctic but will also include the Arctic´s responses to global change processes (arc- Terrestrial Working Group tic amplification) and impacts of arctic changes on The scientific scope of the Terrestrial Working Group the northern hemisphere atmospheric circulation. shall include any scientific research on arctic terres- The scientific scope of the Atmosphere Working trial and freshwater environments, landscapes and Group includes scientific research toward under- biota, and their responses to, and interactions with, standing and prediction of arctic change, and con- other components of the Earth system. The remit sidering the fate of perennial sea ice and the global encompasses the dynamics of the arctic system; atmospheric consequences of its disappearance. past, present and future. Geographically, the main This includes past climate states, investigation of area of interest encompasses lands and freshwater arctic processes across datasets and approaches, within the area north of the latitudinal treeline with and climate model projections. The scope includes arctic climate and arctic vegetation. Several adja- local and regional impacts of arctic change. cent areas are included where highly relevant for certain disciplines and projects (a) boreal oceanic Cryosphere Working Group tundra (e.g., the Aleutian Islands, North Atlantic is- The geographic scope of the Cryosphere Working lands), (b) alpine tundra that is continuous with the Group shall be those areas of the Arctic and con- arctic tundra (e.g., the central highlands of Iceland, tiguous areas of the sub-Arctic where one or more the Scandes Mountains, the Polar Urals), (c) the for- element of the cryosphere (including the Greenland est tundra, and (d) drainage basins to the south that ice sheet, mountain glaciers, ice caps, icebergs, sea connect with freshwater and marine areas of the ice, snow cover and snowfall, permafrost and sea- Arctic. sonally frozen ground, and lake or river ice) plays an or the fresh water budget. It will normally include Social and Human Sciences Working Group the Arctic Ocean and surrounding seas (including The geographic scope of the Social und Human Sci- the Baltic), Alaska, Canada’s northern Territories, ences Working Group shall be the Arctic as defined Greenland, Iceland, Svalbard and the Russian Arcti