Climate Impacts Research Centre (CIRC) is a

research institute A research institute, research centre, research center or research organization, is an establishment founded for doing research. Research institutes may specialize in basic research or may be oriented to applied research. Although the term often i ...

based at the ''Department of ecology and environmental science'' (EMG) at

Umeå University Umeå University ( sv, Umeå universitet; Ume Sami: ) is a public research university located in Umeå, in the mid-northern region of Sweden. The university was founded in 1965 and is the fifth oldest within Sweden's present borders. As of 2015 ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

, but primarily operative at Abisko Scientific Research Station which is run by the

Swedish Polar Research Secretariat The Swedish Polar Research Secretariat (Swedish: ''Polarforskningssekretariatet'') is a government agency in charge of coordinating and promoting Swedish polar research activities. It is located in Stockholm, has more than 30 employees, and ser ...

Research

The CIRC research is focused on increasing the knowledge about

Arctic The Arctic ( or ) is a polar regions of Earth, polar region located at the northernmost part of Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean, adjacent seas, and parts of Canada (Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut), Danish Realm (Greenla ...

and

alpine climate Alpine climate is the typical weather (climate) for elevations above the tree line, where trees fail to grow due to cold. This climate is also referred to as a mountain climate or highland climate. Definition There are multiple definitions of ...

ecosystem An ecosystem (or ecological system) consists of all the organisms and the physical environment with which they interact. These biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. Energy enters the syste ...

s, for better understanding of

climate Climate is the long-term weather pattern in an area, typically averaged over 30 years. More rigorously, it is the mean and variability of meteorological variables over a time spanning from months to millions of years. Some of the meteorologic ...

related impacts on

subarctic The subarctic zone is a region in the Northern Hemisphere immediately south of the true Arctic, north of humid continental regions and covering much of Alaska, Canada, Iceland, the north of Scandinavia, Siberia, and the Cairngorms. Generally, ...

and arctic environments, both in

terrestrial Terrestrial refers to things related to land or the planet Earth. Terrestrial may also refer to: * Terrestrial animal, an animal that lives on land opposed to living in water, or sometimes an animal that lives on or near the ground, as opposed to ...

(land based) and

aquatic ecosystems An aquatic ecosystem is an ecosystem formed by surrounding a body of water, in contrast to land-based terrestrial ecosystems. Aquatic ecosystems contain communities of organisms that are dependent on each other and on their environment. The tw ...

. Within the field of

arctic ecology Arctic ecology is the scientific study of the relationships between biotic and abiotic factors in the arctic, the region north of the Arctic Circle (66 33’). This region is characterized by stressful conditions as a result of extreme cold, low ...

CIRC researchers conduct projects about how the

tree line The tree line is the edge of the habitat at which trees are capable of growing. It is found at high elevations and high latitudes. Beyond the tree line, trees cannot tolerate the environmental conditions (usually cold temperatures, extreme snowp ...

is affected by

climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...

; how

reindeer Reindeer (in North American English, known as caribou if wild and ''reindeer'' if domesticated) are deer in the genus ''Rangifer''. For the last few decades, reindeer were assigned to one species, ''Rangifer tarandus'', with about 10 subspe ...

s influence

Fell A fell (from Old Norse ''fell'', ''fjall'', "mountain"Falk and Torp (2006:161).) is a high and barren landscape feature, such as a mountain or Moorland, moor-covered hill. The term is most often employed in Fennoscandia, Iceland, the Isle o ...

vegetation, and the spread of fish species in lakes and watercourses – historically as well as in the light of recent climate change. In

biogeochemistry Biogeochemistry is the scientific discipline that involves the study of the chemical, physical, geological, and biological processes and reactions that govern the composition of the natural environment (including the biosphere, the cryosphere, t ...

researchers study

watercourse A stream is a continuous body of surface water flowing within the bed and banks of a channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a stream may be referred to by a variety of local or regional names. Long large streams are ...

s in northern areas, as well as effects of thawing

permafrost Permafrost is ground that continuously remains below 0 °C (32 °F) for two or more years, located on land or under the ocean. Most common in the Northern Hemisphere, around 15% of the Northern Hemisphere or 11% of the global surface ...

in the

tundra In physical geography, tundra () is a type of biome where tree growth is hindered by frigid temperatures and short growing seasons. The term ''tundra'' comes through Russian (') from the Kildin Sámi word (') meaning "uplands", "treeless moun ...

and other alpine environments, with regard to emissions of greenhouse gases to the

atmosphere An atmosphere () is a layer of gas or layers of gases that envelop a planet, and is held in place by the gravity of the planetary body. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A s ...

and

export An export in international trade is a good produced in one country that is sold into another country or a service provided in one country for a national or resident of another country. The seller of such goods or the service provider is an ...

carbon Carbon () is a chemical element with the symbol C and atomic number 6. It is nonmetallic and tetravalent In chemistry, the valence (US spelling) or valency (British spelling) of an element is the measure of its combining capacity with o ...

to coastal areas.

King Carl XVI Gustaf Professorship in Environmental Science The King Carl XVI Gustaf Professorship in Environmental Science is a prestigious, selective appointment awarded by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, to one or two people annually. it began in 1996. Elected Professors spend one year at a Swedis ...

2017/18 was awarded to

John Anderson John Anderson may refer to: Business *John Anderson (Scottish businessman) (1747–1820), Scottish merchant and founder of Fermoy, Ireland * John Byers Anderson (1817–1897), American educator, military officer and railroad executive, mentor of ...

, professor in

physical geography Physical geography (also known as physiography) is one of the three main branches of geography. Physical geography is the branch of natural science which deals with the processes and patterns in the natural environment such as the atmosphere, h ...

and

paleolimnology Paleolimnology (from Greek: παλαιός, ''palaios'', "ancient", λίμνη, ''limne'', "lake", and λόγος, ''logos'', "study") is a scientific sub-discipline closely related to both limnology and paleoecology. Paleolimnological studies fo ...

Loughborough University Loughborough University (abbreviated as ''Lough'' or ''Lboro'' for post-nominals) is a public research university in the market town of Loughborough, Leicestershire, England. It has been a university since 1966, but it dates back to 1909, when L ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

, who will be

visiting professor In academia, a visiting scholar, visiting researcher, visiting fellow, visiting lecturer, or visiting professor is a scholar from an institution who visits a host university to teach, lecture, or perform research on a topic for which the visitor ...

at CIRC these two years.

Major research projects

In 2016 CIRC was granted 37 million SEK over five years by the

Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation (KAW) ( sv, Knut och Alice Wallenbergs Stiftelse) is a Swedish public and private foundation formed in 1917 by Knut Agathon Wallenberg and his wife Alice Wallenberg. It was created to support research in the n ...

for the project "Climate change induced regime shifts in northern lake ecosystems", with Jan Karlsson as principal investigator.

Wallenberg Academy Fellows

As of 2017 three young researchers at CIRC are also appointed Wallenberg Academy Fellows – a career programme, initiated by the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation in close collaboration with five royal academies and sixteen universities in Sweden, that provides long-term funding for the most promising young researchers of all disciplines to develop their projects. * Ellen Dorrepaal (2012) * Jonatan Klaminder (2013) * David Seekell (2015) Research Sites The Climate Impacts Research Centre and collaborators maintain several long-term research study sites in the Arctic. These range from sites along mountains, in permafrost regions and in mires. The Stordalen research site, established in the 1970s, is a research site based on the Stordalen network of permafrost thaw ponds and mires in the discontinuous permafrost zone. Nuolja is a mountain which overlooks Abisko and Lake Tornetrask, and features an ecological altitudinal transect extending from the summit to the base, first established by Thore C. E. Fries, Swedish botanist (1886-1930).

Education

Since 2002 CIRC also gives education, like courses in ''Arctic ecology, Arctic geoecology'' and ''Fell ecology'', and a postgraduate program. CIRC is also connected to the international cooperative network

University of the Arctic The University of the Arctic (UArctic) is an international cooperative network based in the Circumpolar Arctic region, consisting of universities, colleges, and other organizations with an interest in promoting education and research in the Arcti ...

History

CIRC was founded in 1996 and now (2017) employs some 50 researchers; professors,

assistant professor Assistant Professor is an academic rank just below the rank of an associate professor used in universities or colleges, mainly in the United States and Canada. Overview This position is generally taken after earning a doctoral degree and general ...

post doc A postdoctoral fellow, postdoctoral researcher, or simply postdoc, is a person professionally conducting research after the completion of their doctoral studies (typically a PhD). The ultimate goal of a postdoctoral research position is to p ...

doctoral student A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''li ...

s and visiting professors. Most CIRC researchers are also affiliated to Arcum, Arctic Research Centre at Umeå University. CIRC's first science director was Reiner Giesler, professor in terrestrial ecology, who in 2015 was followed by Jan Karlsson, professor in physical geography with a specialization in aquatic biogeochemistry.

Notes

External links

CIRC web site – www.arcticcirc.net

Swedish Infrastructure for Ecosystem Science – SITES
{{authority control Organizations established in 1996 Arctic research Climatological research institutes Environmental research institutes Research institutes in Sweden Umeå University