The Nansen Legacy
Pioneering research for knowledge-based marine management.
Background
The Barents Sea is rapidly changing as the ice is melting and areas previously covered by sea-ice is exposed. An increasingly warmer climate and pollution is affecting the the living ecosystem in the ocean, but there is still a lot we don’t know. The natural resources of the Barents Sea is under pressure from industries like fisheries, shipping, oil and gas, and tourism. In order to manage the areas in a sustainable way, we have to increase our understanding of natural and human impacts in the Arctic.
Research goal
The Nansen Legacy’s main goal is to bring the Norwegian research community together to create a better and more holistic understanding of the changing ecosystem and climate in the Arctic. This will form the basis for sustainable management of the Arctic environment and it’s newly exposed resources - which makes it an urgent scientific challenge.
The project will ensure
- that Norway takes charge of and responsibility for research and management in the Arctic
- improve the scientific basis for sustainable management of natural resources beyond the present ice edge
- characterize the main human impacts, physical drivers, and intrinsic operation of the changing Barents Sea ecosystems – past, present, and future
- explore and use the prognostic mechanisms governing weather, climate and ecosystem, including predictive capabilities and constraining uncertainties
- optimize the use of emerging technologies, logistics, research recruitment and stakeholder interaction
Knowledge gaps that will be assessed
- Natural impacts: Climate, ocean circulation, and the dynamic between water masses is regulating the ecosystem in the sea. To understand and predict the changes related to human impact, we have to understand and know the natural state from which the changes are happening.
- Human impact: CO₂ causes sea acidification. Eco toxins and the effects of pollution influences the ecosystem in the ocean. The extent of human impact will be studied through experiments running over shorter and longer periods of time.
- The living Barents Sea: We do not have adequate knowledge of the relationship between physical and biological processes through the seasonal cycle. Better knowledge of population structure, dynamics, and nutrient ecology of organisms at high trophic levels is necessary to predict how changes in climate will affect the interaction between species and the ecosystem.
- In support of management: Changes in the Barents Sea has been linked to the global climate system. Especially the effect of sea-ice coverage on the North European winter climate, and the mechanisms influencing this.
National collaboration
The ten involved institutions in the project have different mandates and tasks. The four universities, UiO, UiB, NTNU and UiT, cover a wide spectrum of disciplines, and have research and education as their mission. UNIS is the Uuniversities extension in Svalbard. The Norwegian Polar Institute, the Institute of Marine Research and the Norwegian Meteorological Institute are public institutions with national responsibility for the environmental management of the Arctic, management and advice for sustainable harvesting of marine resources and the safeguarding of life and property from hazardous weather and climate.
NERSC is a non-profit research foundation affiliated with the University of Bergen that conducts basic and environmental research in support of sustainable development. Akvaplan-niva is a private research institution that integrates research, decision support and technical innovation to secure economic value and safe environmental operations for industries.