ИСТИНА

The Arctic undergoes perpetual changes, but now we see considerable changes in its environment that are clear signatures of climate change. Freezing periods decline, no-freeze periods on the rivers increase, permafrost details change and the sea ice cover in the Arctic and particularly in the Russian arctic dramatically declines. To understand these changes and their impact on the environment and the use and future development of the region we looks into many details but need to develop a broad picture. What changes will we see in land use and land planning, in the availability of water, the way and times goods and people are transported and the development of industrial areas? What changes in vegetation and agriculture are to be expected? What are the impacts on the indigenous population and the prospects of people moving there to work? The Arctic Environmental Lab of MSU endeavours to identify and quantify the changes, which we see now and which will likely occur in the next decades. Thus, the AEL will assist in a well-argued development of the Russian Arctic.