Policymakers, researchers to discuss climate change

Submitted by Carla Browning
Phone: (907) 474-7778
02/08/07

University of Alaska Fairbanks scientists will be among a group of policymakers and researchers meeting next week to discuss the impact of climate change on Alaska. The Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Policy partnering and networking workshop will take place in Anchorage Thursday, Feb. 15, 2007 from 1-5 p.m. at the Egan Center. The workshop is being held in conjunction with the Alaska Forum on the Environment.

The ACCAP has several active projects in the transportation sector, but the upcoming workshop is intended to develop new collaborative partnerships. Current projects include the construction of ice roads for travel across the tundra; land use and subsistence; sea ice conditions affecting coastal communities, marine ecosystems and offshore transportation; and the value of Alaska’s at-risk infrastructure.

The Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Policy is a joint endeavor between UAF and the University of Alaska Anchorage. The center was launched in September 2006 to improve the public’s ability to adapt to climate change by providing information to decisionmakers about climate-related processes such as seasonal freeze and thaw dates, sea and shore-fast ice, permafrost, water resources, and wildfire assessment. The center is part of a network of Regional Integrated Sciences and Assessments programs supported by the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration.

For more information on the workshop, ACCAP projects, researchers and partners visit www.uaf.edu/accap/.

CONTACT: Sarah Trainor, ACCAP research scientist and coordinator, at (907) 474-7878, via e-mail at fnsft@uaf.edu, or Carla Browning, UAF public information officer, at (907) 474-7778, via e-mail at carla.browning@uaf.edu for more information.