Closure of polar lab a blow to Canada's scientific reputation

[mentalfloss]

Closure of polar lab a blow to Canada's scientific reputation

The announcement this week that the Polar Environment Atmospheric Research Lab (PEARL) in Canada's High Arctic will be closed has once again lowered this country's environmental reputation on the world scene. This is ironic because, also this week, Canada's highest scientific prize, The Gerhard Herzberg Canada Gold Medal, was awarded to a scientist who studies climate change.

One of the scientists who relies on data from PEARL is Dr. Richard Peltier from the University of Toronto, winner of this year's Herzberg Award. As you will hear this week on Quirks & Quarks, Dr. Peltier develops models of the Earth's systems to not only understand changes in the past, but to try to provide indicators of what's to come.

But any model is only as good as the real data that backs it up.

In other words, models have to be checked against reality to make sure they reflect the way nature works; otherwise, they are just elaborate guesswork. That validation has to come from instruments out in the field, such as PEARL, that track the atmosphere year-round.

When PEARL closes, one third of the data from the High Arctic will be gone, making the climate models less precise.

The cost of running PEARL is about $1.5 million per year. That may sound like a lot, but when you consider the government has spent about $1.5 billion on submarines that still don't work a decade after we bought them, it's not a lot of money. Especially when you consider the returns.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/story/2012/03/01/f-vp-bob-mcdonald-pearl-closure.html

Edited March 1, 2012 by mentalfloss

[cybercoma]

$1.5 million per year is nothing when you consider the budget of NSERC. This is nothing short of an attack on environmental sciences.

[waldo]

of course, Harper Conservative muzzling of scientists takes many forms:

Canada to lose its 'PEARL' of Arctic research

Canada's most northerly research station is ceasing year-round operation, a "draconian" move decried by scientists both nationally and internationally.

"Its closure shows a stunning lack of interest on the part of the Canadian government in long-term Arctic issues," atmospheric scientist Jim Drummond, at Dalhousie University, said of the loss of the Polar Environment Atmospheric Research Laboratory.

"This loss comes at a highly significant time when Arctic conditions are changing rapidly: Witness the recent rapid loss of permafrost, the appearance of the first large Arctic ozone depletion last year and many other harbingers of significant Arctic change," the researchers said in a statement Tuesday.

"Without PEARL there will be no continuous active measurements in the High Arctic of many atmospheric quantities scientists believe greatly affect both our Arctic and the whole planet."

PEARL also has the most northerly Internet installation on the planet, was being used by Canadian astronomers working on the world's most northerly telescope, and has been piloting high-latitude-high-frequency communications in collaboration with the Canadian Space Agency.

Drummond said Canadians do not seem to realize how such science contributes to Arctic sovereignty.

"Having an occupied station 365 days a year, doing world-class science, participating at international conferences, putting papers into the international literature and being the go-to place when international groups want to come and do research in the Arctic — these things enhance Canada's sovereignty very considerably," he said. "And I don't think that's really understood."

The demise of PEARL will not only affect Canadian but global science programs.

"This will have a negative impact on our ability to detect changes in carbon emissions in the Arctic, and on our ability to validate high-latitude space-based measurements," said U.S. atmospheric scientist Paul Wennberg, at CalTech.

"The closure of PEARL will eliminate a unique set of High Arctic water vapour measurements that are essential to our global effort to better understand the atmospheric water cycle and its links to climate," said Matthias Schneider, of Germany's Karlsruhe Institute of Technology.

Biologist and acclaimed Arctic researcher John Smol, at Queen's University in Kingston, Ont., said it is a "real shame" to be closing PEARL as the Arctic is responding more quickly than any part of the planet to global warming.

"It's really the most sensitive part of the world," said Smol.

"Canada has a tremendous amount of real estate is the Arctic," he said. "About half our land mass is there and we are responsible for knowing what is happening there. And to do that, you need to monitor."

$1.5 million! That's it... Harper Conservatives just can't seem to find that $1.5 million funding to allow this most important, most significant research station to stay open and operate. But money for jets and prisons... no problemo! Shame!

High Arctic Research Station Forced To Close

Environment Minister Peter Kent:

"We certainly continue to support the concept of PEARL, but I certainly as minister of Environment Canada do not have a million and a half dollars in my back pocket," Kent said.

[waldo]

Dr. Andrew Weaver - Canada Research Chair in Climate Modelling and Analysis, Professor of Earth and Ocean Sciences, University of Victoria

“This is yet another bad day for Canadian science. One of Canada's premier research labs is being shut down just when it is most needed. The Arctic environment is changing rapidly in response to global warming and ozone depletion. PEARL represents a major Canadian and International commitment to monitor this change. Its loss will have a devastating impact on our

understanding of Arctic change.”

Dr. Gloria Manney - Senior Research Scientist, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology & Adjunct Professor, Dept of Physics, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology

“Measurements from the facility that is now in operation as the Polar Environment Atmospheric Research Laboratory (PEARL) near Eureka have been an important part of my research since the mid-­‐1990s, shortly after the facility began operations as the Arctic Stratospheric Ozone Observatory (AStrO). For work such as mine, which focuses on studies related to the ozone layer and chemical ozone destruction in the Arctic, the data from this facility are uniquely valuable. The location of PEARL is such that, during intensive winter measurement campaigns there, measurements are frequently taken inside the “stratospheric polar vortex”, a large-­‐scale band of winds encircling the polar regions within which ozone destruction takes place. Those measurements, including ozone and gases that play critical roles in destroying ozone, are, in my view, crucial not only for understanding and monitoring the processes involved in wintertime ozone destruction, but also for verifying the more global, but less precise and detailed, view of these processes we get from satellite measurements. Because of their unique features, the measurements from PEARL are being highlighted in several studies of the unprecedented Arctic ozone loss that took place in winter/spring 2011. I believe the lack of these comprehensive measurements during winter and early spring (including measurements during the polar night) from PEARL will be a grave loss to the research community. I sincerely hope that funding mechanisms can be found so that measurements from PEARL can be continued.”

Dr. Dick Pelletier - Director of the Centre for Global Change Science, Pricipal Investigator of the Polar Climate Stability Network, Scientific Director of SciNet, Department of Physics, University of Toronto

“The closure of the PEARL station is surely one of the most foolish decisions we could make insofar as the monitoring of our high latitude environment is concerned. The very significant investment in the instrumentation that has been installed there has fueled several years of data collection that has allowed Canada to begin to contribute meaningfully to the understanding of Arctic environmental conditions, especially concerning stratospheric ozone decline. To invest many millions of dollars in the development of state-of-the-art capability only to shut it down after a short period of operation makes sense neither scientifically nor economically.”

Dr. David Barber - Director, Centre for Earth Observation Science, CHR Faculty of Environment, Earth and Resources, University of Manitoba

“The PEARL laboratory is a critical part of Canada’s scientific infrastructure for the Arctic. Most people know about the dramatic reduction in sea ice in the north, the same for permafrost and the melting of our large glaciers. Many however are not as aware of the significant recent Arctic ozone depletion events and the fact that changes in the Arctic surface (either land or ocean) are directly coupled to processes which evolve through the entire atmosphere – starting at the boundary layer near the planet and all the way up through to the Stratosphere. Many people are also not as aware of the fact that changes in the Arctic climate are now affecting more southerly latitudes, including extreme weather and colder than usual conditions in Europe and southern north America. This short term lack of funding for this critical climate station is yet another example of why Canada needs a centralized Arctic strategy manifest through a new Canadian Arctic Institute. It is not so much a lack of funding which hinders Canada’s leadership in Arctic science but rather the coordinated use of these funds.”

Dr. James Drummond - Professor, Department of Physics & Atmospheric Science, Department of Physics & Atmospheric Science, Dalhousie University, and PEARL Principal Investigator.

“The PEARL observatory is one of only a very few located in the High Arctic. The loss of this station means that we will have a "black hole" over Northern Canada where the measurements should be. Canada makes sovereignty claims over this region of the Arctic and should be in the forefront of Arctic research. If it is a case of "use it or lose it", then we are definitely losing it. The rest of the world is watching how much Canada really cares about the Arctic. The answer is - not much.

There are many research programs that want to operate in the High Arctic. These range from Astronomy, through weather and pollution to permafrost and medicine. There is also strong interest in the region as a test-bed for a mission to Mars. All these programs are now being put back and the people working on them will have to find other work. Many of them will go abroad and are realistically unlikely to return.

One of my colleagues once told me that Canada had no science policy for the long-term but had a series of "bouts of enthusiasm" for various research topics. It seems that Canada no longer has much enthusiasm for this kind of Arctic research.

Climate change is moving very quickly in the Arctic. In many ways it will be the first place to show adverse effects. Temperature rises at PEARL have been recorded at five times the average for the planet. With PEARL closing we will be unable to watch these changes and learn what this means for the rest of Canada.”

John Streicker - Science Advisor, Northern Climate ExChange, Yukon Research Centre.

“Losing the PEARL station is a real loss to understanding the rapid changes, especially to climate, ozone and sea ice, being experienced in the High North. Changes to the Arctic have now become critical for Canada and the rest of the world. Unlike Las Vegas, what happens in the Arctic doesn't stay in the Arctic.

Last year, with the help of PEARL, we detected a hole in the Arctic ozone, similar in size to the Antarctic. This was a first, but the scientific community is concerned it will persist due to warming of the high Arctic stratosphere. Unfortunately with the loss of government funding for the Canadian Foundation for Climate and Atmospheric Sciences, research facilities like PEARL will have to shut down.”

Dr. Kimberly Strong - Professor, Department of Physics, University of Toronto, and PEARL Scientist.

What are the potential impacts of this closure?

The closure of PEARL will have a negative impact in many areas. It will significantly diminish Canada's ability to make year-round measurements of the atmosphere in the Canadian High Arctic at a time when conditions in the Arctic are changing rapidly and the need for such measurements to help us understand long-term trends and atmospheric processes is growing.

It will limit Canada's participation in a number of international networks. PEARL instruments have been certified by several networks (Network for the Detection of Atmospheric Composition Change (NDACC), Total Carbon Column Observing Network (TCCON), Multi-platform remote Sensing of Isotopologues for investigating the Cycle of Atmospheric water (MUSICA), and the Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) and have been providing valuable Arctic datasets to each. These contributions will cease or be severely limited.

In addition to these networks, PEARL has enabled numerous national and international collaborations, as our datasets are in high demand, resulting in frequent requests to participate in collaborative projects. These collaborations will also come to an end. It will further Canada's growing reputation as an unreliable scientific partner, unable to maintain a state-of-the-art Arctic laboratory that has gained international recognition among atmospheric scientists, despite claims that we value the Arctic and claim sovereignty. It will demoralize our young scientists, particularly the graduate students and post-doctoral fellows who have received training at PEARL, and will reduce our ability to train the next generation of atmospheric scientists in Canada, particularly those that have expertise in Arctic issues. We are already losing some terrific young scientists to better opportunities in Europe and the USA. The lack of support for PEARL is sending them a sad message about the state of science in Canada.

What does the timing of this closure mean for our understanding of air quality, ozone, and climate changes?

The instruments at PEARL are capable of measuring a suite of products that are being contributed to data archives and being used to construct long-term time series, investigate atmospheric processes, test models, and validate satellite measurements. These data products include concentrations of trace gases, winds, precipitation, temperature, radiation, aerosols, and clouds.

Regarding air quality, PEARL is well located for measuring pollutants that are transported into the Arctic from southern latitudes by atmospheric circulation patterns. These pollutants include aerosols and such trace gases as carbon monoxide, ethane, and hydrogen cyanide. For example, we can trace enhancements of these gases back to forest fires as far away as Siberia. The closure of PEARL will bring these measurements to an end.

PEARL is ideally located for studying stratospheric ozone loss and recovery, as evidenced by our measurements of the record low ozone depletion in spring 2011. That discovery was made against the backdrop of 15 years of measurements; such long time series are essential both for deriving trends and identifying outliers. PEARL instruments currently measure ozone and a suite of chlorine, bromine, and nitrogen compounds that control the ozone budget, along with temperatures and clouds that are also important ingredients in ozone chemistry. Again, the closure of PEARL will end this measurement capability at a time when we need to know how effective the Montreal Protocol and its amendments will be at ensuring ozone recovery and when the links between climate change and ozone recovery remain uncertain.

Measurements of temperature, radiation, water vapour, and the greenhouse gases carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide are all being made at PEARL. These are important indicators for climate change, but again, long-term records are needed for Arctic trend studies. These will not be acquired with the closure of PEARL.

[bjre]

Ontario spend over 1 billion each year on CAS to bully innocent people:

http://www.mapleleafweb.com/forums//index.php?showtopic=16148&view=findpost&p=527258&hl=&fromsearch=1

http://www.mapleleafweb.com/forums//index.php?showtopic=13562&view=findpost&p=767658

Close any one or two of its 54 branches will be enough to do something meaningful like this lab.

[bush_cheney2004]

...Close any one or two of its 54 branches will be enough to do something meaningful like this lab.

Wait a minute...why can't private funding or educational institution grant(s) pay the measly $1.5 million to keep this "polar lab" going? Something doesn't smell right here.

[olpfan1]

Wait a minute...why can't private funding or educational institution grant(s) pay the measly $1.5 million to keep this "polar lab" going? Something doesn't smell right here.

I'd love to see Russia or China fund it... I wonder what Harpers reaction would be haha

[Wild Bill]

I'd love to see Russia or China fund it... I wonder what Harpers reaction would be haha

That is totally impossible! You might as well suggest Iran would offer to pay the old age pensions of all Israelis!

Why one earth would Russia or China fund a scientific station that helps establish Canada's claim to the arctic regions?

Especially Russia, who has claims of its own. China of course wants the North West Passage to be an international waterway.

I get your point but it is totally lame. It just shows you needed to grab something quick to make a slam against Harper.

How about "Gee! Wouldn't it be funny if someone gave Harper a wedgie! Huyuck! Huyuck!"

It would be consistent.

[olpfan1]

That is totally impossible! You might as well suggest Iran would offer to pay the old age pensions of all Israelis!

Why one earth would Russia or China fund a scientific station that helps establish Canada's claim to the arctic regions?

Especially Russia, who has claims of its own. China of course wants the North West Passage to be an international waterway.

I get your point but it is totally lame. It just shows you needed to grab something quick to make a slam against Harper.

How about "Gee! Wouldn't it be funny if someone gave Harper a wedgie! Huyuck! Huyuck!"

It would be consistent.

China wants some of the arctic too..who knows, I doubt the CPC could do anything about it

[Wild Bill]

China wants some of the arctic too..who knows, I doubt the CPC could do anything about it

Then you agree with me!

[Vendetta]

can't afford 1.5 million for the arctic research facility but CAN afford 12 million in Flaherty propaganda action plan ads? wow! another new low? Nope election fraud is still lower.

[jbg]

I generally support Harper, but this cut seems puny and needless.

[eyeball]

I generally support Harper, but this cut seems puny and needless.

I'm willing to bet Harper think's it's huge and desperately necessary. Scientific evidence does not have a right-wing bias.

[waldo]

$1.5 million per year is nothing when you consider the budget of NSERC. This is nothing short of an attack on environmental sciences.

Liberal Statement on the Closure of the PEARL High Arctic Research Lab:

Liberal Environment critic Dr. Kirsty Duncan made the following statement today on the decision by the Conservative government to allow the shut-down of the Polar Environment Atmospheric Research Laboratory (PEARL) in Eureka, Nunavut, on Ellesmere Island:

“The PEARL High Arctic research lab is a world-renowned centre for atmospheric research and is the most northern research facility in the world. It was instrumental in the discovery of the first ever arctic ozone hole in 2011. Now, because of this Conservative government’s systematic elimination of funding opportunities, including their discontinuation of funding to the Canadian Climate Foundation, it is being forced to close its doors.

After abandoning the Canadian Foundation for Climate and Atmospheric Sciences, which has sustained climate science for the last 10 years, after firing more than 700 scientists, after vilifying environmentalists as ‘radicals,’ this Conservative government is now reneging on its commitment to deliver $35 million in new funding promised in the last budget.

The Harper Conservatives are not just short-sighted in their cuts to ozone research, they are willfully blind, following their anti-environment ideological agenda and doing permanent damage to Canada’s environmental research community and Canada’s reputation on the world stage.” (emphasis added)

[mentalfloss]

can't afford 1.5 million for the arctic research facility but CAN afford 12 million in Flaherty propaganda action plan ads?

Wait.. what?

[Wild Bill]

I'm willing to bet Harper think's it's huge and desperately necessary. Scientific evidence does not have a right-wing bias.

I'm willing to bet that Harper didn't even know about it! The PM never knows every blessed thing that's going on. The picture is just too big. That's why things are delegated to the rest of the team. Mind you, when it hits the fan the critics will state absolutely that the PM should have known!

Contrary to belief in some quarters, we have never had Superman as our PM!

The problem in this area seems to be that Harper's team has no Science champion! At least, not one that anyone has ever seen or heard!

We need a Minister of Science and Technology, who has some real clout and is forthright about using it. If Harper has such a minister, it's obvious that his office is in some basement somewhere.

As I've repeated myself many times, I've known few politicians of any stripe that seemed to understand anything scientific or technical more complicated than an office stapler. In today's world, that can be suicidal for the future of our country! Canada needs more than just RIM and the Space Arm to not just progress but survive as a strong society with a strong economy.

Sadly, most conservatives seem to be even more unfit for the role. They are stodgy! The only one I ever heard of that had any understanding of a technical subject was Chuck Cadman, who used to repair electronic equipment. Sadly, we lost him.

Today, Conservatives seem to have accounting as their background. Liberals are usually lawyers. The NDP seem to spring from teachers, auto union workers or just 2nd year college students.

Heaven help us! No wonder the Chinese are cleaning our clocks!

Edited March 2, 2012 by Wild Bill

[waldo]

We need a Minister of Science and Technology, who has some real clout and is forthright about using it. If Harper has such a minister, it's obvious that his office is in some basement somewhere.

uhhh... that would be the Honorable Chiropractor-Creationist, Gary Goodyear!

...the following quote from Gary Goodyear, Conservative Minister of State for Science and Technology... the quote he offered as "clarification" of his earlier refusal to comment on his belief (or not) in evolution:

We are evolving every year, every decade. That's a fact, whether it is to the intensity of the sun, whether it is to, as a chiropractor, walking on cement versus anything else, whether it is running shoes or high heels, of course we are evolving to our environment. But that's not relevant and that is why I refused to answer the question. The interview was about our science and tech strategy, which is strong

that gem from Conservative Gary Goodyear is classic creationism... evolving within (micro-evolution... within the same species) as distinct from common descent (macro-evolution... inclusive, of course, in creating new species). So, yes... Canada's Conservative Minister of State for Science and Technology, Gary Goodyear, is a creationist... and does not believe in evolution.

[mentalfloss]

uhhh... that would be the Honorable Chiropractor-Creationist, Gary Goodyear!

Christ...

Edited March 2, 2012 by mentalfloss

[Battletoads]

Is anyone surprised? The number one enemy of conservative views is factual information.

[bush_cheney2004]

Is anyone surprised? The number one enemy of conservative views is factual information.

Factual information never seemed to bother Chretien and the Liberals either, ignoring Kyoto Protocol treaty requirements the whole time.

[mentalfloss]

Factual information never seemed to bother Chretien and the Liberals either, ignoring Kyoto Protocol treaty requirements the whole time.

Diversion - cute method for ignoring facts.

Edited March 2, 2012 by mentalfloss

[olpfan1]

lol, Harper does this just when Putin wants to join together and work with Canadian scientists

someone didn't tell Putin that Harper hates science

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/putin-urges-joint-arctic-scientific-council-with-canada/article2356158/

Russian leader Vladimir Putin challenged Canada to set up a joint scientific council with his country to investigate issues over Arctic sovereignty and help the United Nations draw new boundaries in the northern regions, where fast-melting ice is opening channels for oil drilling, mining and shipping.

[olpfan1]

Factual information never seemed to bother Chretien and the Liberals either, ignoring Kyoto Protocol treaty requirements the whole time.

Kyoto was a farce, the biggest emitters weren't even signed on so why bother

[mentalfloss]

Kyoto was a farce, the biggest emitters weren't even signed on so why bother

In Parliament logic, a Liberal blunder excuses a Conservative one.

[bush_cheney2004]

Diversion - cute method for ignoring facts.

I agree....Chretien "ignored the facts" and hurt Canada's "international reputation", whatever the hell that means.