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Climate change in the 'Planet's Kitchen'—in the Arctic—will lead to mixed consequences in different regions of the world. Simultaneously with the development of the Northern Sea Route, agriculture and tourism in the north, there will be a shortage of resources in the southern regions. The participants of the Global Climate Change in the Asia-Pacific Region conference, which is being held at Far Eastern Federal University (FEFU) on October 24–26, discuss how to ensure economic growth and at the same time save the planet for future generations.

Antonio Navarra, Director of the Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Change (Italy), noted that for the last 40 years the Arctic had lost about 40% of the ice. The key indicator of climate change is the rise in the average temperature throughout the planet, especially at the poles.

“All our forecasts show that very soon, in the coming decades, the Arctic will be free of ice,” said Professor Navarra. “The rate of growth of temperature directly depends on the amount of greenhouse gases. If we stop and do not emit carbon dioxide into the atmosphere today, the temperature on the Earth would rise by another 0.8 degrees due to the previous years. But it is impossible to stop emissions, and soon we will exceed this figure twice, and eventually reach 2 degrees in the future. As a result, the southern Arctic borders will soon melt and the Northern Sea Route will be free.”

The expert points out that, from the economic point of view, the rescue of the Arctic from ice will significantly reduce the time of cargo transportation between Asia and Europe—up to two weeks. At the same time, with the positive changes for the north—development of agricultural, tourism, logistics and others—the southern regions of the world expect great risks.

“The consequences are, indeed, unpredictable. They can create a deficit of water, forest and other resources in the south. In addition, with the opening of the Northern Sea Route, countries will have a great desire to actively use the Arctic, so it is important that the development of this region does not destroy the unique resources for future generations. And the FEFU conference allows us to discuss by a wide range of experts what steps are necessary to that end,” Antonio Navarra emphasized.

The scientific forum gathered 140 leading researchers from Russia, Italy, China, the Republic of Korea, Finland, the Netherlands in Far Eastern Federal University. The main expert is the outstanding ecologist Riccardo Valentini. The professor leads the Far Eastern Climate Smart Lab at FEFU, which develops environmental policy in the Asia-Pacific region based on an analysis of global models of climate change and environmental monitoring.

The conference was organized by the FEFU School of Natural Sciences and the FEFU School of Economics and Management in cooperation with the Botanical Garden–Institute FEB RAS.