A Strategic Vision for NSF Investments in Antarctic and Southern Ocean Research

A Strategic Vision for NSF Investments in Antarctic and Southern Ocean Research
Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 161
Release: 2015-10-28
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0309373700

Antarctic and Southern Ocean scientific research has produced a wide array of important and exciting scientific advances. Spanning oceanography to tectonics, microbiology to astrophysics, the extreme Antarctic environment provides unique opportunities to expand our knowledge about how our planet works and even the very origins of the universe. Research on the Southern Ocean and the Antarctic ice sheets is becoming increasingly urgent not only for understanding the future of the region but also its interconnections with and impacts on many other parts of the globe. The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) provides U.S. researchers with broad access to the continent and its surrounding ocean. A Strategic Vision for NSF Investments in Antarctic and Southern Ocean Research identifies priorities and strategic steps forward for Antarctic research and observations for the next decade. This survey presents a decadal vision for strategic investments in compelling research and the infrastructure most critical for supporting this research. This report makes recommendations for high-priority, larger-scale, community-driven research initiatives that address questions poised for significant advance with the next decades. This report also outlines a roadmap through which the vision and these priorities can be met.

Antarctica

Antarctica
Author: Doaa Abdel-Motaal
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Total Pages: 232
Release: 2016-09-28
Genre: History
ISBN:

The thawing Antarctic continent offers living space and marine and mineral resources that were previously inaccessible. This book discusses how revisiting the Antarctic Treaty System and dividing up the continent preemptively could spare the world serious conflict. The Antarctic Treaty and related agreements—collectively known as the Antarctic Treaty System (ATS)—regulate the seventh continent, which is the only continent without a native human population. The main treaty within the ATS came into force in 1961 and suspended all territorial claims in Antarctica. The Antarctic Environmental Protocol followed in 1998 and prohibited any minerals exploitation in the continent. With this prohibition up for review in 2048, this book asks whether the Antarctic Treaty can continue to protect Antarctica. Doaa Abdel-Motaal—an expert on environmental issues who has traveled through the Arctic and Antarctic—explains that the international community must urgently turn its attention to examining how to divide up the thawing continent in a peaceful manner. She discusses why the Antarctic Treaty is unlikely to be an adequate measure in the face of international competition for invaluable resources in the 21st century. She argues that factors such as global warming, the growth in climate refugees that the world is about to witness, and the increasingly critical quest for energy resources will make the Antarctic continent a highly sought-after objective. Readers will come to appreciate that what has likely protected Antarctica so far was not the Antarctic Treaty but the continent's harsh climate and isolation. With Antarctica potentially becoming habitable only a few decades from now, revisiting the Antarctic Treaty in favor of an orderly division of the continent is likely to be the best plan for avoiding costly conflict.

US-China Global Maritime Relations

US-China Global Maritime Relations
Author: Nong Hong
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 210
Release: 2023-12-01
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 100381672X

This book explores the U.S.-China maritime relationship, examining the development and implementation of the maritime strategies of both the United States and China. Delving into the U.S.-China maritime relationship within the global context, the book investigates six key maritime regions: the South China Sea, the Northeast Asia waters (the East China Sea, the Yellow Sea), the Indian Ocean, the South Pacific Ocean, as well as the Arctic and Antarctic regions. Its observations form a comprehensive exploration of these regions and their significance in shaping the dynamics between the two nations, and this analysis reveals that an expanded view is necessary to discover and clearly display the role that these maritime regions currently—and could potentially—play in overarching U.S.-China relations. Examining both the ongoing conflicts and opportunities for cooperation in the global maritime domain between the United States and China, this book will be a valuable resource to students and scholars of international relations, Chinese and U.S. politics, strategic studies, and maritime studies.