Addressing Global Science Questions Through International Collaboration

Summary

Antarctica has a highly significant role in global climate change, and the great ice sheets are the largest uncertainty in forecasting sea level rise. International research under the Antarctic Treaty is providing critically needed insight into climate - and how the ice sheets respond to changes in climate and in atmospheric greenhouse gases. Antarctic research expertise has grown with the increase in Treaty nations. But international Antarctic research has grown faster. Just 15 of the 165 papers published in 1980 were collaborative among two or more nations (9 %). In 2004, 190 of the 552 papers were collaborative (34 %).International polar science enables research that otherwise would be expensive or infeasible. And polar papers with authors from more than one country have a greater impact on science: historically, they have been cited more than national papers. The rise in polar climate papers has been particularly steep, partly in response to worldwide need for this research and partly because of the increased effectiveness of research in the discipline. The presentation will sample a few of the many recent multinational collaborations that have probed the scientific forefront in Antarctica.Collaboration in operations and logistics also has increased the effectiveness of science in Antarctica by enabling access to areas that otherwise would be inaccessible and - often through international or multinational arrangements involving airlift - by lengthening the research season. One would be hard pressed to find an Antarctic Treaty nation that has not participated in, and benefited from, international scientific cooperation under the Antarctic Treaty.

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