Arctic : the major scientific issues

These opening words from Alain Fuchs, President of the CNRS, in his speech inaugurating the foresight symposium "Arctic: the major scientific challenges", couldn't be a better introduction to the situation in the Arctic in the current context of global warming, and the ensuing consequences on a local and global scale.

The symposium, scheduled over four days (June 3 to 6, 2013) including three at the Collège de France, is the fruit of collaboration between Professor Édouard Bard, holder of the Climate and Ocean Evolution chair at the Collège de France, and the Chantier Arctique français led by the CNRS and supervised by Marcel Babin, director of the Takuvik International Joint Unit (Laval University and CNRS).

The objectives of the symposium were to take stock of the major scientific issues and recent advances in the field of the Arctic, to mobilize the scientific community, across all disciplines, around these issues, and to highlight the most promising avenues of research to improve our understanding of this complex system. The first day of the symposium was devoted to presentations by invited scientists: climatologists, oceanographers, glaciologists, biologists, geologists, anthropologists, physicians, etc. On the second and third days, other guest speakers presented their work in relation to the proposed thematic sessions, thus providing an update on the state of multidisciplinary knowledge in the Arctic zone.

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Article published in La Lettre du Collège de France n° 38, June 2015