Scientific and Geopolitical Interests in Arctic and Antarctic
Contents: I. Theme A: 1. Antarctic as global knowledge commons : geopolitics science and trusteeship/Sanjay Chaturvedi. 2. How outside actors hold sway within the arctic Council: benefits of cooperation and the problems when improving them/Timo Koivurova and Piotr Graczyk. II. Theme B: 3. Atmospheric aerosols studies over arctic: initiatives for long term data and preliminary results/Jai Prakash Chaubey, S. Suresh Babu, K. Krishna Moorthy, Mukunda M. Gogoi, Manoj M.R. , Anoop Tiwari and K. Satheesan. 4. Contrasting climate change in the two polar regions/John Turner. 5. Stable isotopic study of Southern Ocean surface waters: an update/R. Srivastava, R. Ramesh and S.M. Pednekar. 6. Inter-seasonal variabilities in an arctic fjord: the Kongsfjorden system as a natural laboratory for climate change/K.P. Krishnan, Rupesh Kumar Sinha and Kuldeep Attri. 7. Investigations of the recent polar ice variations observed from the space-borne optical and microwave sensors/Sandip R. Oza, R.K. Kamalijit Singh and Megha Maheshwari. 8. Temperature variations at Schirmacher Oasis and Larsemann Hills/R.P. Lal and Koteswaram Ajit Tyagi.
III. Theme C: 9. Cold loving bacteria from Antarctic and arctic: occurrence, survival and usefulness/S. Shivaji. 10. Harnessing the biosphere to mitigate global climate change and sea level rise/victor Smetacek. 11. Importance of contextual information for harnessing microbial resources from polar regions/P.A. Loka Bharti. 12. Post harvest technological aspects of Antarctic Krill, Euphausia superb Dana/C.N. Ravishankar, T.K. Srinivasa Gopal and B. Meenakumari. 13. Psychrotrophic metal tolerant bacteria for mobilisation of metals in Antarctic waters/Maria Judith Gonsalves. 14. Squid jigging operations in the Southern Ocean/P. Pravin, K.V. Aneesh Kumar and B. Meenakumari. 15. The effect of a temperature rise on the sulfate reducing rates in cold marine sediments of Kongsfjorden/Savita Kerkar. 16. True psychrophiles and part time psychrophiles in the Antarctic/John P. Bowman. Theme D: 17. Evolution of rocky oases in east Antarctica: study by Indian scientists/Rasik Ravindra. 18. Glacier mass balance studies in broggerbreen, syalbard region/Parmanand Sharma and A.L. Ramanathan. 19. Ground penetrating radar surveys for detailed glaciological investigations in the polar and Himalayan regions/John M. Reynolds.
The 1959 Antarctic Treaty ushered in a new era of scientific learning where boundaries held no meaning-no small achievement, considering that the world was poised at the zenith of the Cold War. Occupancy of the icy continent was thus surreal, based on science rather than geopolitics. Today the Treaty has provided a thriving and long-lasting platform that holds promise of further science-based interactions, reinterpreting geopolitics as we understand it. The Arctic too, holds out a similar assurance, making science the currency of the modern world. Apart from academia, the book holds interest for all those who are keen to learn about the Polar Regions, a study of science and politics entwined in a rare and unique book. A product by numerous eminent scientists and academicians the book should be able to transcend its physical form to help formalise the scientific influence in the area along with a political understanding resulting in policy crystallisation. (jacket)
