The Northern Eurasia Earth Science Partnership: An example of science applied to societal needs

Pavel Ya Groisman, Elizabeth A. Clark, Vladimir M. Kattsov, Dennis P. Lettenmaierb, Irina N. Sokolik, Vladimir B. Aizen, Oliver Cartus, Jiquan Chen, Susan Conard, John Katzenberger, Olga Krankina, Jaakko Kukkonen, Toshinobu Machida, Shamil Maksutov, Dennis Ojima, Jianguo Qi, Vladimir E. Romanovsky, Maurizio Sanotoro, Christiane C. Schmullius, Alexander I. ShiklomanovKou Shimoyama, Herman H. Shugart, Jacquelyn K. Shuman, Mikhail A. Sofiev, Anatoly I. Sukhinin, Charles Vörösmarty, Donald Walker, Eric F. Wood

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

38 Scopus citations

Abstract

Northern Eurasia, the largest land-mass in the northern extratropics, accounts for ∼20% of the global land area. However, little is known about how the biogeochemical cycles, energy and water cycles, and human activities specific to this carbon-rich, cold region interact with global climate. A major concern is that changes in the distribution of land-based life, as well as its interactions with the environment, may lead to a self-reinforcing cycle of accelerated regional and global warming. With this as its motivation, the Northern Eurasian Earth Science Partnership Initiative (NEESPI) was formed in 2004 to better understand and quantify feedbacks between northern Eurasian and global climates. The first group of NEESPI projects has mostly focused on assembling regional databases, organizing improved environmental monitoring of the region, and studying individual environmental processes. That was a starting point to addressing emerging challenges in the region related to rapidly and simultaneously changing climate, environmental, and societal systems. More recently, the NEESPI research focus has been moving toward integrative studies, including the development of modeling capabilities to project the future state of climate, environment, and societies in the NEESPI domain. This effort will require a high level of integration of observation programs, process studies, and modeling across disciplines.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)671-688
Number of pages18
JournalBulletin of the American Meteorological Society
Volume90
Issue number5
DOIs
StatePublished - 2009

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Atmospheric Science

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