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December 2022

Special Issue on The New Arctic Ocean

Oceanography | December 2022

Oceanography

THE OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF THE OCEANOGRAPHY SOCIETY

VOL.35, NO.3–4, DECEMBER 2022

THE NEW ARCTIC OCEAN

SPECIAL ISSUE ON

Oceanography | Vol.35, No.3–4

contents

VOL. 35, NO. 3–4, DECEMBER 2022

POWERING

SCIENCE-BASED

DECISIONS

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ENABLING THE SCIENCE THAT MATTERS

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Oceanography | December 2022

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contents

VOL. 35, NO. 3–4, DECEMBER 2022

SPECIAL ISSUE ON

THE NEW ARCTIC OCEAN

FROM THE GUEST EDITORS. Introduction to the Special Issue

By T. Weingartner, C. Ashjian, L. Brigham, T. Haine, L. Mack, D. Perovich, and B. Rabe

An Updated Assessment of the Changing Arctic Sea Ice Cover

By W.N. Meier and J. Stroeve

A Review of Arctic Sea Ice Climate Predictability in Large-Scale Earth

System Models

By M.M. Holland and E.C. Hunke

Observing Arctic Sea Ice

By M.A. Webster, I. Rigor, and N.C. Wright

SIDEBAR. The ICESat-2 Mission and Polar Sea Ice

By R. Kwok

SIDEBAR. Ice Mass Balance Buoys

By D. Perovich

Eddies and the Distribution of Eddy Kinetic Energy in the Arctic Ocean

By W.-J. von Appen, T.M. Baumann, M. Janout, N. Koldunov, Y.-D. Lenn, R.S. Pickart,

R.B. Scott, and Q. Wang

Arctic Ocean Water Mass Structure and Circulation

By B. Rudels and E. Carmack

Turbulent Mixing in a Changing Arctic Ocean

By T.P. Rippeth and E.C. Fine

Air-Ice-Ocean Interactions and the Delay of Autumn Freeze-Up in the

Western Arctic Ocean

By J. Thomson, M. Smith, K. Drushka, and C. Lee

SIDEBAR. The Arctic Radium Isotope Observing Network (ARION):

Tracking Climate- Driven Changes in Arctic Ocean Chemistry

By L. Kipp and M. Charette

SIDEBAR. Nansen and Amundsen Basins Observational System (NABOS):

Contributing to Understanding Changes in the Arctic

By A.V. Pnyushkov and I.V. Polyakov

Arctic Ocean Boundary Exchanges: A Review

By S. Bacon, A.C. Naveira Garabato, Y. Aksenov, N.J. Brown, and T. Tsubouchi

Oceanography | December 2022

Oceanography | Vol.35, No.3–4

Iridium

Satellite

WARM Buoy

Earth

Observing

Satellites

DATA

Meteorological

Sensors

Ice-Tethered

Profler

Moored

Profler

Ice-

Profling

Sonar

AUV

Glider

NAVIGATIONAL SIGNAL

C02 Sensors

Bio-Optical

Sensors

Argo

Float

Mooring

with

Profler

C02 Sensors

(Not to Scale)

Scandinavia

Barents

Sea

Laptev

Sea

Lena

Delta

103 SIDEBAR. Increasing Freshwater Fluxes from the Greenland Ice Sheet

Observed from Space

By B. Wouters and I. Sasgen

106 An Interdisciplinary Perspective on Greenland’s Changing Coastal Margins

By F. Straneo, D.A. Slater, C. Bouchard, M.R. Cape, M. Carey, L. Ciannelli, J. Holte,

P. Matrai, K. Laidre, C. Little, L. Meire, H. Seroussi, and M. Vernet

118 Interactions between the Arctic Mediterranean and the Atlantic Meridional

Overturning Circulation: A Review

By W. Weĳer, T.W.N. Haine, A.H. Siddiqui, W. Cheng, M. Veneziani, and P. Kurtakoti

128 SIDEBAR. Greenland Ice Loss Rate: How this Century Compares to

the Holocene

By J. Briner

130 Harmful Algal Blooms in the Alaskan Arctic: An Emerging Threat as

the Ocean Warms

By D.M. Anderson, E. Fachon, K. Hubbard, K.A. Lefebvre, P. Lin, R. Pickart, M. Richlen,

G. Sheffield, and C. Van Hemert

140 SIDEBAR. Observations of Declining Primary Productivity in the Western

Bering Strait

By K.E. Frey, J. Clement Kinney, L.V. Stock, and R. Osinski

144 Changing Biogeochemistry of the Arctic Ocean: Surface Nutrient and CO2

Cycling in a Warming, Melting North

By L.W. Juranek

156 SIDEBAR. Alaskan Seabird Die-Offs

By R. Kaler and K. Kuletz

158 Northward Range Expansion of Subarctic Upper Trophic Level Animals into

the Pacific Arctic Region

By K.M. Stafford, E.V. Farley, M. Ferguson, K.J. Kuletz, and R. Levine

167 Strategy for Protecting the Future Arctic Ocean

By L.W. Brigham and J.T. Gamble

178 PERSPECTIVE. Future Arctic Marine Navigation: Complexity

and Uncertainties

By L.W. Brigham

180 Increased Prevalence of Open Water During Winter in the Bering Sea:

Cultural Consequences in Unalakleet, Alaska, 2022

By K.R.S. Erickson and T. Mustonen

189 SIDEBAR. Co-Production of Knowledge in Arctic Research: Reconsidering

and Reorienting Amidst the Navigating the New Arctic Initiative

By M.L. Druckenmiller

192 SIDEBAR. The Yup’ik Atlas: Making History in Southwest Alaska

By A. Fienup-Riordan

194 SIDEBAR. Research Networking Activities Support Sustained Coordinated

Observations of Arctic Change

By C. Chythlook, M. Rudolf, M. Biermann, H. Eicken, and S. Starkweather

196 SIDEBAR. Co-Production of Sea Ice Knowledge in Uummannaq Bay,

Greenland

By J. Ryan, P.E. Dahl, and B. Dale

198 Monitoring Alaskan Arctic Shelf Ecosystems Through Collaborative

Observation Networks

By S.L. Danielson, J.M. Grebmeier, K. Iken, C. Berchok, L. Britt, K.H. Dunton, L. Eisner,

E.V. Farley, A. Fujiwara, D.D.W. Hauser, M. Itoh, T. Kikuchi, S. Kotwicki, K.J. Kuletz,

C.W. Mordy, S. Nishino, C. Peralta-Ferriz, R.S. Pickart, P.S. Stabeno, K.M. Stafford,

A.V. Whiting, and R. Woodgate

130

210

144

192

Oceanography | Vol.35, No.3–4

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210 Emerging Technologies and Approaches for In Situ, Autonomous Observing

in the Arctic

By C.M. Lee, M. DeGrandpre, J. Guthrie, V. Hill, R. Kwok, J. Morison, C.J. Cox, H. Singh,

T.P. Stanton, and J. Wilkinson

222 SIDEBAR. Changes in Arctic Ocean Circulation from In Situ and Remotely

Sensed Observations: Synergies and Sampling Challenges

By J. Morison, R. Kwok, and I. Rigor

224 SIDEBAR. A Year in the Changing Arctic Sea Ice

By M.D. Shupe and M. Rex

226 SIDEBAR. Arctic Data Management and Sharing

By P.L. Pulsifer and C.M. Lee

228 SIDEBAR. Float Your Boat: Launching Students into the Arctic Ocean

By D. Forcucci, I. Rigor, W. Ermold, and H. Stern

DEPARTMENTS

QUARTERDECK. The Arctic Ocean: Round Two

By E.S. Kappel

230 FROM THE TOS JEDI COMMITTEE. Limited Opportunities and Numerous

Barriers to Ocean Science Careers in Under-Resourced Nations

By T. Osborne, C. Pattiaratchi, and E. Meyer-Gutbrod

232 THE OCEANOGRAPHY CLASSROOM. Teaching Oceanography by

Engaging Students in Civic Activism

By B.C. Monger

234 BOOK REVIEW. Lethal Tides: Mary Sears and the Marine Scientists Who

Helped Win World War II, by C. Musemeche

Reviewed by D.J. Baker

236 CAREER PROFILES. Regina Easley-Vidal, Research Chemist, National

Institute of Standards and Technology, and Adjunct Professor, Georgetown

University • Sarah Close, Officer, Lenfest Ocean Program, The Pew

Charitable Trusts

ON THE COVER

A sunset view of Arctic sea ice freeze-up from

R/V Polarstern at 11.8°E, 81.5°N on September 29,

2020. The photo was taken during the transit

home after the year-long Multidisciplinary drifting

Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate (MOSAiC)

expedition. Photo credit: Melinda Webster, University

of Alaska Fairbanks

SPECIAL ISSUE SPONSORS

Support for production of this special issue was

provided by the US Arctic Research Commission;

National Science Foundation, Office of Polar Programs,

Arctic Sciences Section; and Office of Naval Research.

SPECIAL ISSUE GUEST EDITORS

Tom Weingartner, University of Alaska Fairbanks

Carin Ashjian, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Lawson Brigham, Wilson Center’s Polar Institute

Thomas Haine, The Johns Hopkins University

Liza Mack, Aleut International Association

Don Perovich, Dartmouth College

Benjamin Rabe, Alfred Wegener Institute

Oceanography | December 2022

Oceanography | Vol.35, No.3–4

The Oceanography Society was founded in 1988 to advance

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to disseminate knowledge of oceanography and its appli-

cation through research and education. TOS promotes

the broad understanding of oceanography, facilitates con-

sensus building across all the disciplines of the field, and

informs the public about ocean research, innovative tech-

nology, and educational opportunities throughout the spec-

trum of oceanographic inquiry.

OFFICERS

PRESIDENT: Andone Lavery

PRESIDENT-ELECT: Deborah Bronk

PAST-PRESIDENT: Martin Visbeck

SECRETARY: Allison Miller

TREASURER: Susan Banahan

COUNCILORS

AT-LARGE: Mona Behl

APPLIED TECHNOLOGY: Larry Mayer

BIOLOGICAL OCEANOGRAPHY: Kim S. Bernard

CHEMICAL OCEANOGRAPHY: Galen McKinley

EARLY CAREER: Erin Satterthwaite

EDUCATION: Sara Harris

GEOLOGICAL OCEANOGRAPHY: Laura Guertin

OCEAN DATA SCIENCE: Vicki Ferrini

OCEAN SCIENCE AND POLICY: Leopoldo C. Gerhardinger

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Jennifer Ramarui

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EDITOR

Ellen S. Kappel, Geosciences Professional Services Inc.

ASSISTANT EDITOR

Vicky Cullen

DESIGN/PRODUCTION

Johanna Adams

ASSOCIATE EDITORS

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Kjersti Daae, University of Bergen

Philip N. Froelich, Duke University

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Charles H. Greene, University of Washington

Amelia Shevenell, University of South Florida

William Smyth, Oregon State University

Peter Wadhams, University of Cambridge

Oceanography contains peer-reviewed articles that chronicle

all aspects of ocean science and its applications. The journal

presents significant research, noteworthy achievements, excit-

ing new technology, and articles that address public policy and

education and how they are affected by science and technol-

ogy. The overall goal of Oceanography is cross- disciplinary

communication in the ocean sciences.

Oceanography (Print ISSN 1042-8275; Online ISSN 2377-617X)

is published by The Oceanography Society, 1 Research Court,

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Oceanography

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Oceanography | Vol.35, No.3–4

Oceanography | December 2022

EVERY DECADE OR SO, it is worth revisiting a topic that we

previously covered in Oceanography to provide the community

with updates on progress. This special issue on The New Arctic

Ocean is the latest example. In 2011, we published a special issue

on The Changing Arctic Ocean (https://tos.org/ oceanography/

issue/ volume-24-issue-03) featuring some of the advances made

in polar science resulting from the International Polar Year of

2007–2008. Articles in this current special issue further explore

the continuing, profound, and increasingly rapid changes

occurring in the Arctic Ocean, illuminated by another decade

of advances in data collection, analysis, and computation, and

enriched by infusions of Indigenous knowledge. Continued

warming of the “new” Arctic Ocean, which is already exhibiting

further sea ice decline and “Atlantification,” more coastal ero-

sion, the potential for more frequent and larger harmful algal

blooms, and alterations to ecosystem functioning, among other

significant changes, is of great consequence to local coastal com-

munities’ food security and infrastructure, and some changes,

such as sea ice decline, likely have global implications.

Tom Weingartner led the guest editor team that included

Carin Ashjian, Lawson Brigham, Thomas Haine, Liza Mack,

Don Perovich, and Benjamin Rabe. All are credited with giv-

ing careful consideration to the seven topics covered in this spe-

cial issue, soliciting article contributions from a wide range of

experts who work on Arctic Ocean problems, and shepherding

the articles through peer review—much of which was accom-

plished when the COVID pandemic was still strongly affecting

research and teaching. It is perhaps an understatement to say it

was a challenging time to publish. In addition to giving the guest

editors a shout out for their time, effort, and thoughtful input

that led to an outstanding, well-rounded set of papers, I would

like to thank the US Arctic Research Commission; the National

Science Foundation, Office of Polar Programs, Arctic Sciences

Section; and the Office of Naval Research for supporting pro-

duction of this special issue.

QUARTERDECK

Ellen S. Kappel, Editor

Upcoming

Oceanography Special Issues

GEOTRACES

Near-Inertial Shear and Kinetic Energy in

the North Atlantic Experiment (NISKINE)

Pacific Marine Environmental

Laboratory: 50 Years of Innovative

Research in Oceanography

Building Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

in the Ocean Sciences

Sea Grant

tos.org/oceanography

THE ARCTIC OCEAN: ROUND TWO

ARTICLE DOI. https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2022.137

Oceanography | December 2022

Photo credit: K. Jeffries/Ocean Image Bank

Oceanography | Vol.35, No.3–4

INTRODUCTION TO THE SPECIAL ISSUE ON

THE NEW ARCTIC OCEAN

By Thomas Weingartner, Carin Ashjian, Lawson Brigham, Thomas Haine,

Liza Mack, Don Perovich, and Benjamin Rabe

FROM THE GUEST EDITORS

One hundred and thirty years ago,

Fridtjof Nansen, the Norwegian polar

explorer and scientist, set off on a bold

three-year journey to investigate the

unknown Arctic Ocean. The expedition

relied on a critical technological develop-

ment: a small, strong, and maneuverable

vessel, powered by sail and an engine,

with an endurance of five years for twelve

men. His intellectual curiosity and care-

ful observations led to an early glimpse

of the Arctic Ocean’s circulation and its

unique ecosystem. Some of Nansen’s

findings on sea ice and the penetration

of Atlantic Water into the Arctic Ocean

established a benchmark against which

we have measured profound changes

over the past few decades. In contrast, lit-

tle was known about the Arctic Ocean’s

ecosystem processes prior to the onset of

anthropogenic climate change. Nansen’s

successes, which paved the way for subse-

quent research, were gained in part from

Indigenous Greenlanders who taught him

how to survive in this harsh environment.

A little over a century after Nansen’s

expedition, the scientific community

staged the fourth International Polar Year

(IPY) in 2007–20081. That IPY, motivated

by the development and persistence of

profound changes in the Arctic Ocean’s

physical environment and its ecosystems

over the preceding decades, consisted

of extensive international observational

efforts and inspired the development

of new models, technologies, and novel

approaches to entrain the insights of

Arctic residents into Arctic studies. The

changes that catalyzed the impetus for the

IPY included the dramatic shrinking in

thickness and extent of summer sea ice,

warm pulses of Atlantic water circulating

through the Arctic Ocean’s sub-basins, an

increase in the heat flux from the Pacific

to the Arctic, variations in freshwater

storage within the Arctic basin, and alter-

ations in the marine ecosystems and bio-

geochemical cycles of the Arctic Ocean

and its adjacent continental shelves. The

IPY results generated new questions con-

cerning the internal and external mecha-

nisms that control the Arctic Ocean and

its role in global climate, and its evolu-

tion toward a new, but uncertain, climatic

state. These processes span a broad spec-

trum of interconnected spatial and tem-

poral scales and entail complex but inad-

equately known interactions. Increasingly

sophisticated climate models predict

that warming of the Arctic’s atmosphere

and ocean will continue, with the Arctic

eventually becoming seasonally ice-free.

Understanding how the Arctic Ocean will

adjust to these changes and their ramifi-

cations for society poses challenges that

motivate continued national and inter-

national scientific efforts. One goal of

these studies is to try to determine how

the Arctic Ocean will evolve so that accu-

rate predictions can be made to guide

socio-economic decisions. To summa-

rize all these advances, Oceanography

devoted a special issue in 2011 to the

IPY (https://tos.org/oceanography/issue/

volume-24-issue-03).

Yet, after only one more decade of

change in the Arctic Ocean, another

special issue is due. This one—The New

Arctic Ocean—highlights some of the

scientific advances and illuminates the

considerable international investments

undertaken since the 2007–2008 IPY. The

papers comprising this issue summarize

the status and current trends of the Arctic

Ocean, explore many of the processes

and interactions controlling these trends,

assess gaps in our understanding, sug-

gest directions for future research, dis-

cuss geopolitical topics pertinent to the

potential industrial development of the

Arctic Ocean, and describe some of the

concerns and responses of the Indigenous

communities that depend upon this

unique marine ecosystem. This special

issue is constructed around seven broad,

albeit overlapping, research themes that

focus on sea ice, physical oceanography

(including ocean circulation), pan-Arctic

and global perspectives, marine ecosys-

tems and biogeochemistry, geopolitical

considerations, Indigenous perspectives,

and several recent and ongoing long-term

1 Previous IPYs occurred in 1881–1884, 1932–1933, and 1957–1958, the latter also called the International Geophysical Year (IGY) because it included

research outside the polar areas.

Oceanography | December 2022

observational efforts and techniques.

The presentations include both papers

and sidebars (short reports) that high-

light some of the research findings,

approaches, challenges, and outstanding

questions developed over the past decade.

Within the sea ice theme, Meier and

Stroeve summarize current trends in

sea ice concentration, age, and thick-

ness; snow depth; and melt and freeze-up

dates using satellite-borne passive micro-

wave sensors, and they consider the fac-

tors driving these trends. Holland and

Hunke provide an overview of current

and near-future sea ice models developed

for use in climate studies, discuss recent

advances for improving sea ice predict-

ability, and examine prediction consis-

tencies across many of these models.

Webster et al. illustrate the spatial and

temporal scales of sea ice variability and

discuss how this variability can com-

plicate the synthesis of ice observations

from disparate sampling methods. They

then discuss how combining observa-

tions across spatial and temporal scales

can resolve these complications and yield

a better understanding of Arctic sea ice

system behavior. Two sidebars comple-

ment these papers. Perovich describes

autonomous ice mass balance buoys that

collect time-series observations of snow

and ice accumulation and melt. He then

shows that in collocating these buoys with

other autonomous systems, an observa-

tional network of the atmosphere, ice,

and ocean is achievable. Kwok provides

an overview of the ICESat-2 altimeter’s

abilities to observe sea ice and continen-

tal ice sheets and to detect the topogra-

phy of the sea surface height field, which

reflects the ocean circulation.

Changing sea ice properties interact

with the Arctic Ocean’s physical ocean-

ographic regime consisting of water

masses, circulation, and mixing. Rudels

and Carmack discuss how these pro-

cesses, mediated by winds, the influx of

waters from the North Pacific and North

Atlantic Oceans, and the enormous cir-

cumpolar terrestrial runoff, influence the

basin’s stratification and the subsequent

export of Arctic Ocean waters into the

North Atlantic. Along the same vein, a

sidebar by Pnyushkov and Polyakov

details the recent history of changes in

North Atlantic-derived waters flowing

along the Eurasian continental slope and

their connection to lower latitude pro-

cesses. The extensive continental shelf

area of the Arctic Ocean receives a mas-

sive riverine sediment load that will

increase with climate warming and affect

biogeochemical processes. Kipp and

Charette’s sidebar describes how radium

isotopes are effective tracers of terrestrial-

derived elements and are used to mon-

itor alterations in the Arctic Ocean’s

chemistry. Von Appen et al. review the

geographical heterogeneity and impor-

tance of mesoscale (~10 km diameter)

eddies that influence basin dynamics and

much of the mass and material exchanges

between the continental shelves and

the deep basin. At even smaller scales,

Rippeth and Fine review turbulent mix-

ing in an increasingly ice-free Arctic

Ocean, and then discuss how this mix-

ing varies geographically, and its sensi-

tivity to the changing seasonal ice cycle.

Thomson et al. focus on the complex

air-ice-ocean feedback mechanisms that

drive autumn ice formation and discuss

the spring and summer preconditioning

processes that influence fall freeze-up.

The exchange of waters between

the North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans

influences

the

Atlantic

Meridional

Overturning Circulation (AMOC), which

plays an important role in global climate

and oceanic sequestration of CO2. Weijer

et al. review recent observational and

modeling efforts that advance our under-

standing of the impacts of the changing

Arctic Ocean on the AMOC and the effects

on the Arctic due to feedbacks from the

AMOC. Bacon et al. discuss how inverse

methods, when applied to long- term

measurements collected along the Arctic

Ocean’s maritime boundaries, can be used

to generate estimates of surface fluxes of

heat and freshwater, net biogeochemical

fluxes, and estimates of ocean water mass

transformation rates. The AMOC is also

influenced by fresh water discharged from

the Greenland Ice Sheet. A sidebar by

Wouters and Sasgen examines changes

in Greenland ice sheet mass from 2002 to

the present using data from the Gravity

Recovery

And

Climate

Experiment

(GRACE) and the GRACE-FollowOn

Oceanography | Vol.35, No.3–4

satellite missions, and discusses the impli-

cations of this ice loss for global sea level.

In another sidebar, Briner compares the

current rate of Greenland ice loss to ice

losses over the past 12,000 years. Straneo

et al. describe how this glacial discharge,

along with numerous other interacting

factors, impacts local coastal ecosystems

and Greenland’s Indigenous peoples.

The loss of sea ice and changes in its

seasonality have profound influences on

the Arctic Ocean’s ecosystems and bio-

geochemical cycles, with consequences

for the peoples who rely on these eco-

systems for their sustenance, culture,

and livelihood. Juranek discusses how

spatially and temporally varying factors

within sub-regions of the Arctic give rise

to a complex suite of biogeochemical and

ecological responses relevant to nutri-

ent cycling, trophic transfers, pelagic-

benthic coupling, ocean acidification,

and the capacity for biologically medi-

ated air-sea CO2 exchange. As one exam-

ple of a regional change, a sidebar by

Frey et al. shows that primary produc-

tivity is declining in Bering Strait due to

earlier ice retreat and hence earlier nutri-

ent consumption in the northern Bering

Sea, with a consequent reduction in

the nutrient supply to the Chukchi Sea.

Stafford et al. review recent changes in

the temporal and spatial distributions of

the upper trophic level components of

the Pacific Arctic region and the link-

ages of these changes to alterations in

prey fields, the warming atmosphere and

ocean, and the decrease in duration and

extent of sea ice. In their sidebar, Kaler

and Kuletz describe how such changes

are also manifested in the increasing fre-

quency of seabird die-offs in this region.

In another article, Anderson et al.

warn that the increase in ocean warm-

ing and the northward transport of cells

from lower latitudes in the Pacific Arctic

region is increasing the frequency and

size of harmful algal blooms that threaten

the food resources of Arctic residents.

Rapid Arctic environmental change

requires improved collaboration among

scientists

and

Indigenous

popula-

tions in observing activities that sup-

port adaptation, and in the develop-

ment of appropriate responses to such

changes. Druckenmiller’s sidebar dis-

cusses the National Science Foundation’s

Navigating the New Arctic (NNA) ini-

tiative. The NNA is ushering in a new

period of convergent research across a

diverse range of societal challenges tied

to Arctic warming— in which there is

greater emphasis on co-production of

knowledge, equity, and holding research

and researchers accountable for whether

their work is benefiting Arctic Peoples.

Erickson and Mustonen document

some of the concerns, difficulties, and

adjustments that Indigenous communi-

ties face based on interviews and histori-

cal references with residents in Erickson’s

home village of Unalakleet in the north-

ern Bering Sea. Several sidebars describe

efforts to engage Indigenous communities

in research and in documenting their cul-

ture in response to a changing climate.

Fienup-Riordan focuses on efforts to

record the history and oral traditions of

the Yup’ik people of Nelson Island, located

on the southeast Bering Sea coast. Ryan

et al. describe a novel program that pro-

vides value to both scientists and the resi-

dents of Uummannaq Bay, Greenland, by

combining remote sensing, ethnographic

data, and community- based monitor-

ing to study changes in landfast sea ice.

Chythlook et al. discuss networking pro-

cesses in support of Indigenous-led proj-

ects on food security. This is part of the

Sustaining Arctic Observing Networks

(SAON) program, an international col-

laboration among scientists, Arctic res-

idents, and government agencies to

develop a long- term pan- Arctic observ-

ing system that serves societal needs.

The loss of sea ice and the increased

duration of the open water season in sec-

tors of the Arctic Ocean allow for a poten-

tial increase in marine use by a diversity

of users and vessels. Such a development

raises concerns about safety and protect-

ing this ocean’s ecosystems. Brigham and

Gamble review strategies for using pol-

icy measures developed through an array

of organizations to protect the Arctic

Ocean into the future. They also provide

a guide to the International Maritime

Organization Code, a new governance

regime that addresses marine safety and

environmental protection challenges for

ships operating in the Arctic Ocean. A