Published marine sediment core records and new information from terrestrial aeolian deposits from the surroundings of Igaliku Fjord, south Greenland, have been used for a tentative reconstruction of multi-decadal to centennial scale changes in the intensity of regional atmospheric circulation since the Medieval Warm Period. The marine data show that aeolian activity over southern Greenland was generally enhanced in the Medieval Warm Period between c. AD 900 and c. AD 1300. The preliminary data from the onshore aeolian deposits suggest that wind activity was strongest after AD 1000, reaching a peak close to AD 1300, after which atmospheric circulation intensity decreased. A comparison with the marine data shows that this decrease coincides with increased advection of Polar Water by the East Greenland Current at the beginning of the Little Ice Age. The aeolian sediment record suggests foehn wind activity displaying multi-decadal oscillations in the range of known north Atlantic climate oscillations. The intensity of erosional processes in south Greenland has previously often been attributed to farming activities initiated after AD 1000 by the Norse who disappeared a few hundred years later. Our findings suggest, however, that erosion in this area is mainly related to marked variations in wind strength.

Matthias Alexander Castrén (1813–1852), a great Finnish researcher and fieldworker, the first professor of the Finnish language, undertook a vast range of studies, geographically from Norwegian Lapland to Siberia and in subjects from linguistics to ethnology. His extensive work in the Russian north made him one of the principal figures of Siberian and Finno-Ugrian studies. Castrén's pioneering contributions in Turkology, Mongolian studies and archaeology are also noteworthy. He spent almost ten years on expeditions outside Finland and during his short life, he died at the age of 39, he managed to collect a vast amount of material, which is set out in 32 volumes of his manuscripts. However, his name is less known than are the names of some of his prominent friends. In English there are only few comments on his travels and work and these are in the context of the history of Finnish science in the 19th century. Published materials of Castrén's work include two volumes in Finnish translated from Swedish, six volumes in Swedish, and twelve volumes in German. Castrén was born in a period which is often regarded as a turning point in Finnish history and as a key period in the formation of the Finnish nation. Presenting an overview of different fields of Castrén's research, this article analyses his scientific contribution along two lines: in the context of the rising national awareness in Finland in the 19th century and of the mainstream developments in the scientific scene of this time. Based on Castrén's travel diaries, correspondence and lectures, the article seeks to contribute to understanding the historical aspects that shaped this great researcher situated as he was between three national traditions of his time: his writing was mostly in Swedish, his research activities were mainly carried out on behalf of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and yet he is most prized as a pioneer of Finnish linguistics, ethnography, archaeology and other disciplines.

It is widely believed among historians that in 1920, the Danish explorer Knud Rasmussen and the Danish government challenged Canada's sovereignty over Ellesmere Island. This paper draws on a wide range of Canadian and British government files and private papers to contest this view. It demonstrates that Prime Minister Arthur Meighen and others in Ottawa were initially convinced by Vilhjalmur Stefansson that Denmark harboured territorial ambitions in the north, but most realised in the spring of 1921 that they had been mistaken. However, one civil servant, J. B. Harkin, stubbornly maintained his belief in the Danish threat. After Mackenzie King's Liberals came to power, Harkin was able to obtain a hearing for his views. It was largely due to Harkin's persistence that the first Eastern Arctic Patrol went north in 1922.

This article explores how climate change has recently influenced the Iñupiaq cultural identity as the people of the whales. Their traditional whaling cycle reveals strong indivisibility of music, emotions, and place based human identity. To illustrate such integrity of the Iñupiat and their culturally critical bowhead whale (Balaena mysticetus), a search was made for specific ways in which climate change influences Iñupiaq spiritual and physical ties with the whale in relation to traditional music making. Traditionally, the Iñupiat say that it is the whale who brings them music, thus no whale harvest means no music production. However, when the environment is less predictable, the homeland eroded, place based songs gone, and human-whale integrity threatened, how specifically are these changes manifested in the Iñupiat-whale relationship? Providing detailed descriptions of 2005–2006 nalukataq (midsummer whale feasts), this article examines how contemporary Iñupiat respond to environmental changes in the emotional and cultural dimensions through their music making.

The earliest winter scientific station established in the Antarctic was in 1883 as part of the first International Polar Year (IPY) programme. Subsequently, to the IPY of 2007–2009, scientific stations have been deployed on 139 sites (103 on the Antarctic continent, 36 on the peri-Antarctic islands), by 24 countries for a cumulative total of 2666 winters to that of 2008. This paper summarises the winter dates, locations, and national status of all stations in the region. It thus includes all winter stations of the three IPYs and those of the International Geophysical Year (1957–1958). The positions of 120 of these winter stations are south of 60°S, the boundary of the Antarctic Treaty of 1959 (although many of them predate the Treaty).

It is sometimes argued that the Arctic is so fragile that oil and gas development is never acceptable. Occasionally the argument rests on a fundamental objection to any development of fossil fuel resources. This paper will argue that under some conditions development can be carried out in a way that safeguards the natural environment, and that when the resources are exhausted all traces can be removed. This conclusion applies both offshore and onshore. It will require great sensitivity and care, and the application of the best technology developed by the petroleum industry for developments elsewhere. Some locations will have to be left inviolate until better technology is discovered, and perhaps for ever. The argument will be illustrated by case studies, some of them taken from completed projects.

In 2008, the emperor penguin Aptenodytes forsteri colony at Amanda Bay, East Antarctica, was designated an Antarctic Specially Protected Area by the 31st Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting in Kyiv, Ukraine. It is only the third emperor penguin colony in the Australian Antarctic Territory to receive this status. The colony has been known to exist since 1956 and numerous visits have been made to it, especially by personnel from Australia's Davis station. On a number of occasions, attempts were made to estimate the number of birds in the colony in order to obtain an insight into the size of the breeding population. Here we report on the history of visitation to the colony since the 1950s and examine the quality of information collected with regard to the usefulness of this information in terms of population analyses. We also report the results of the first visit to the Amanda Bay colony made in winter with the specific purpose of estimating the number of birds present and of highlighting the need for long term monitoring programmes to assess the viability of emperor penguins in future.

Emperor penguins Aptenodytes forsteri are endemic to Antarctica. Their breeding colonies are located in the coastal areas of the continent. The precise number of breeding locations is uncertain. This paper examines what is known about the colonies in the Australian Antarctic Territory and examines which colonies are without doubt breeding locations and which ones require further examination in order to determine their existence and status. Several colonies have not been seen since they were first reported. This begs the question of whether the reported sightings were indeed of breeding colonies. Given the extent of uncertainty with regard to the number of colonies, it is suggested that the listing of the species by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature be changed from ‘of least concern’ to ‘data deficient’.

The article considers the perceptions of Inuit in one settlement in Nunavik regarding the dynamic relations between market and subsistence economies. The socio-economic role of country foods in Inuit society are described followed by a discussion about the impacts of the Hunter Support Program (HSP) on Inuit society. A hybrid institution, the HSP buys country foods in order to give them away. Based on interviews that included Inuit purveyors to, and administrators of, the programme, the article discusses some socio-economic effects of commoditisation of country foods on subsistence economies and explores the ways in which this food moves in and out of commodity status. It is argued that these shifts are linked to conflicting notions of value. Some Inuit justify the existence of the HSP because they perceive it to be an essentially non-Inuit institution which lies outside the realm of customary socio-economic organization and thereby frees them from the need to observe those rules strictly while providing them with the income to be able to respect the requirement to share food amongst Inuit. Others express reservations about the programme because it elicits behaviours amongst Inuit that they perceive as threatening their socio-economic reproduction. It is argued that the HSP, an institution that both mimics and breaks with tradition, one which is designed to help Inuit to promote the subsistence way of life yet does so in the context of at least some components of the market, is an example of Wenzel's (2001) contention that the analytical distinction between acculturation and adaptation is not a matter of oppositions, but rather, part of a whole.

This article critically examines the assumption that the men of Sir John Franklin's last Arctic expedition died because, influenced by the characteristic British cultural prejudices of their time, they refused to employ Inuit survival skills. Since no detailed records from this expedition have ever been found, there is no direct evidence about the attitudes held or actions taken by its members. The article therefore draws on another source: the very extensive British periodical and newspaper coverage of the Franklin search. The writers who contributed to this literature knew even less than is now known about the events of the last Franklin expedition, but their speculations about the probable fate of the lost explorers reflect the beliefs about the Arctic and its people that prevailed at the time. Especially during the early 1850s, the great majority of periodical writers believed that Franklin and his men had gone native in order to survive. It is therefore evident that there was no cultural stigma attached to adopting the Inuit way of life in times of need.

The four polar years are used as windows for highlighting changes in the character of polar research over the past 125 years. The approach taken may be seen as one of an archaeology of knowledge. As such it fixes on four separate strata in the history of science and seeks to lay bare distinctive features in each of these. To simplify, the focus is selective, mainly presenting three types of aspect for each year. The first is the character of the instruments and research technologies employed in each, and the second is the kinds of problems tackled, while the third is the associated view or ideal of science that stands out. The latter aspect has to do with epistemology. The paper suggests that whereas work during the first International Polar Year (IPY) reflected an empirical inductivist philosophy of science, during the second IPY a mix of problem oriented, and hypothesis driven, approaches existed alongside inductivism. By the time of the International Geophysical Year (IGY) the theoretical foundations of polar research had grown stronger and much of the focus had shifted to larger scale geophysical processes. Finally, today's ambition to develop an integrated Earth system science reflects an ideal that is systemic, constructivist and predictive. Such epistemological features are evident in some of the most advanced forms of computer aided analysis of Arctic and Antarctic processes, as well as in visualisation methodologies used to interpret and present data, concepts, models and theories. This latest approach is evident in some of the planning and agenda setting documents generated under the auspices of the current IPY.

While it is well known that the originator of the plans for the first International Polar Year was Carl Weyprecht, and that Georg Neumayer was important in guiding the project in its early stages and to eventual fruition, the pivotal role of Heinrich Wild, who became chairman of the International Polar Commission, and was a member of the St Petersburg Academy of Sciences and of the Russian Geographical Society, has been largely overlooked in this context. Furthermore the important work undertaken by the Russian scientific establishment with regard to the project is also little known. This paper seeks to throw light on these matters. Because of the difference in 12 days in the Russian and European calendars in the 19th century, for the sake of clarity, only the new (European) calendar is employed in the text.

Amchitka Island, Alaska, is a historical underground nuclear test site. Three underground tests were conducted there by the United States Atomic Energy Commission, now US Department of Energy (USDOE), between 1965 and 1971. These were Long Shot, an 80 kiloton detonation; Milrow, a 1 megaton detonation; and Cannikin, a 5 megaton detonation. Subsequent to these tests, several scientific assessments have been conducted regarding the impacts of the tests on the terrestrial and marine environments surrounding the island. However, many citizens and groups still voice concerns over the potential for detrimental effects on human and ecological health. In its responsibility for the long term protection of human and ecological health consequent to its nuclear programme, USDOE has recently prepared a plan for the long term surveillance and monitoring of the site. The purpose of this paper is to summarise the history of the island, specifically with regards to its use as a nuclear test site, to summarise the results of investigative activities following testing, to summarise USDOE's plan for surveillance and monitoring, and to offer the authors' viewpoints on the long term stewardship of the island. The authors deemed the stewardship plan to be essentially protective of human and ecological health; however, they recommend a stronger commitment to site oversight and review, as well as to future research, for addressing uncertainties remaining at the island.

Russian and Australian primary sources were examined in an attempt to reconstruct the voyage of the first composite Soviet Antarctic expedition to Antarctica and from thence to Leningrad [St Petersburg]. This expedition had the aim of constructing a base for the Soviet International Geophysical Year (IGY) commitment. In a time of cold war tension and unresolved Antarctic claims, the Australian and New Zealand governments were wary of Soviet intentions and barely tolerated visits by Soviet expeditions. However, in their interactions with Australians and New Zealanders, the Soviets were careful to underline the friendly nature of their visits and avoided any sensitive political questions. The two governments’ apparent lack of enthusiasm for Ob and Lena entering their ports after fulfilling their task in Antarctica is contrasted with the generally more enthusiastic attitude of the Australian and New Zealand scientists and expedition members, with whom the Soviet personnel came into contact, some of whom developed lasting scientific relationships with the visitors.

The Qajuuttap Sermia glacier system north of Johan Dahl Land, on the southern slope of the Greenland ice sheet (the inland ice), has shown continuous advancing behaviour from approximately 1940 until approximately 2000. This contrasts with neighbouring sectors of the inland ice to the west and southeast, where the ice sheet has shown a more ‘normal’ trend of recession and thinning of the margin since about 1850–1890, and that has continued throughout the last half of the 20th century. The Qajuuttap Sermia glacier system has also attracted interest for its hydropower potential, and detailed investigations were carried out in 1977–1983. This article summarises the fluctuations of the Qajuuttap Sermia glacier system, and documents the demonstrable advance of the individual glaciers of the system from the early 1940s until the early years of the present millennium. The cause of the advance seems likely to be related to variations in precipitation over the southernmost parts of the inland ice, with the highlands north of Johan Dahl Land directly influencing the passage of low pressure systems moving both northwards along the west coast and northeastwards along the east coast of Greenland.

This paper reports on an exploratory analysis examining the prevalence of food (in)security in the Inuit community of Igloolik, Nunavut, identifying high risk groups, and characterising conditions facilitating and constraining food security. A stratified cross-sectional food survey was administered to 50 Inuit community members in July 2007. 64% of the participants surveyed experienced some degree of food insecurity in the past year (July 2006–July 2007). Food insecurity among the sample population greatly exceeds the Canadian average. This is cause for concern given the negative physical and mental health impacts that have been documented for low nutritional status. The prevalence and severity of food insecurity differed among participants; females and those obtaining most of their food from the store were at highest risk of food insecurity. Consumption of traditional foods was significantly associated with increased food security. The study supports the need for further research to investigate key trends highlighted by the sample. Preliminary identification of potential trends contributes towards the goal of identifying entry points for policy aimed at strengthening northern Inuit food systems.

Over the last four decades, Norwegian rule on the Svalbard islands has developed gradually, from being virtually non-existent to firm. This study explains these developments in Norwegian jurisdiction both from a perspective of international relations and within a paradigm of domestic politics. It finds that external forces have been the permissive causes of change, while internal forces represent the efficient causes. Norway's incremental strengthening of jurisdiction, notably from the mid-1970s onward, has resulted in an unprecedented Norwegian grip on the Arctic islands in which the other parties to the 1920 Svalbard Treaty seemingly acquiesce.

This paper focuses on the evolution and development of the legal scope of governance and the right to autonomy in the Arctic context by considering contemporary indigenous internationalism through a legal lens and by employing examples from the Arctic indigenous peoples of Greenland and Nunavut. It argues that depending on national policy, partnerships, and relations, there are possibilities for considering direct international representation, and the participation of autonomous sub-national units or indigenous peoples, as a part of the right to autonomy/self-government or internal self-determination. Since indigenous peoples have a limited legal personality and capacity in international law, the states of which they are a part can take special measures to accommodate their needs.

On 1 September 1909, Dr Frederick A. Cook landed at Lerwick in the Shetland Islands and cabled the unexpected news that he had reached the North Pole on 21 April of the previous year. This article recounts the equally unexpected recovery of the original telegram drafts Cook wrote for the cables sent from Lerwick. It discusses new details they add to the historical record and confirms others that previously had no confirmation. It also verifies the authenticity of the drafts, and, based on the physical condition of the recovered documents and documentary clues, it traces what can be known of the history of these documents between the time Cook wrote them and their publication a century later, proposing how they might have been originally saved from destruction in 1909.

Confusion has long existed on the subject of Vilhjalmur Stefansson's citizenship. A Canadian (that is, a British subject) by birth, Stefansson was brought up and educated in the United States. When his father became an American citizen in 1887, according to the laws of the time Stefansson too became an American. Dual citizenship was not then permitted by either the British or the American laws. Therefore, Stefansson was no longer a British subject. After he took command of the government sponsored Canadian Arctic Expedition in 1913, Stefansson was careful to give the impression that his status had never changed. Although Stefansson swore an oath of allegiance to King George V in May 1913, he did not take the other steps that would have been required to restore him to being Canadian. But, by an American act passed in 1907, this oath meant the loss of Stefansson's American citizenship. In the 1930s American officials informed Stefansson that he must apply for naturalisation in order to regain it. From 1913 until he received his American citizenship papers in 1937, Stefansson was a man without a country.