ISAR-5 / Fifth International Symposium on Arctic Research / 第5回国際北極研究シンポジウム

About ISAR-5

The changing Arctic and its regional to global impact:
From information to knowledge and action

The Arctic is experiencing rapid environmental and amplified climatic changes, creating significant challenges for people living in this region and various impacts around the globe. We have been trying to elucidate the reasons for these changes in the Arctic and their phenomena, but many open questions still remain on the roles of solar activity, ozone depletion, clouds, methane, aerosols, land processes and other factors involved in Arctic change. Arctic change has impacts on the global climate as well as ecosystems and human societies in higher-middle latitudes. A better understanding of these processes is needed, so that improved information can be given to society and stakeholders including decision makers in particular.

The fifth ISAR has been planned at the recommendation of the science steering committee of ISAR-4, which was held in Toyama, Japan in April 2015. The fifth ISAR will be devoted to discussions on environmental changes in the Arctic and their regional and global implications, to seek additional international scientific collaboration in this area by gathering, synthesizing and sharing information related to these changes occurring in the Arctic. Special emphasis will be placed on the fields of the social sciences and humanities, which were not included in the previous ISARs.

We would like to invite you to attend ISAR-5, which will be held at Hitotsubashi Hall in Tokyo from January 15 to 18, 2018. It will be launched under the auspices of the Japan Consortium of Arctic Environmental Research (JCAR) and National Institute of Polar Research (NIPR) with the cooperation of several institutions and agencies in Japan.

ISAR-5 will consist of general sessions and special sessions. The general sessions will address the following topics: atmosphere; ocean and sea ice; rivers, lakes, permafrost, and snow cover; ice sheets, glaciers, and ice cores; terrestrial ecosystems; marine ecosystems; geospace; policies and economy; and social and cultural dimensions. Special sessions will be solicited on cross-cutting themes.