This background paper is the first of a series of yearly updates to the SCAR Antarctic Climate Change and the Environment (ACCE) Report. It considers two key questions that climate and other environmental scientists are concerned with: The separation of natural climate variability from anthropogenic signals and the Antarctic ice sheet and sea level.
SCAR has formed an ACCE Expert Group that will provide future updates, a summary of which will be provided to CCAMLR.
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This Background Paper reports on progress with the Southern Ocean Observing System (SOOS), noting in particular the importance of the SOOS to the work of CCAMLR and the key role of CCAMLR in implementation of the SOOS, for example through the CCAMLR Ecosystem Monitoring Programme (CEMP).
The SOOS plan has been made available for community comment (www.scar.org/soos) for a period of two months, with a deadline of 1 October. A final version of the plan will be circulated before the end of the year.
A SOOS Secretariat will be hosted by Australia to aid implementation. Details of the Secretariat are currently being finalized.
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This Background Paper reports on the various activities conducted by SCAR that are of potential interest to CCAMLR, with a focus on new activities.
The book on Antarctic Climate Change and the Environment (ACCE) was published in October 2009 and the Southern Ocean Observing System (SOOS) planning document has been finalized, the implementation of which will be supported by a Secretariat hosted in Australia.
Two new potential Scientific Research Programmes of relevance to CCAMLR activities are under development: Antarctic Ecosystems: Adaptations, Thresholds and Resilience (AntETR) and State of the Antarctic Ecosystem (AntEco). SCAR now has an Action Group on Ocean Acidification and an Expert Group on Antarctic Climate Change and the Environment that will produce annual climate updates to both the ATCM and CCAMLR.
The SCAR-MarBIN data portal continues to gather information on marine biodiversity in the Antarctic, and the CPR Survey continues to grow with more countries contributing, particularly Brazil.
A joint CCAMLR/SCAR Action Group is proposed in order to improve the strategic partnership between the two organizations.
