Arctic and Antarctic Climate and Governance

📋 Course Outline

1. Arctic Climate Change
2. Greenhouse Gases and Black Carbon
3. Ice-Albedo Feedback and Permafrost
4. Arctic Ecosystems and Pollution
5. Monsoon Disruption and Ocean Circulation
6. Human Security in the Arctic
7. Arctic Development and Resource Dependence
8. Antarctic Marine Protected Areas
9. South American Antarctic Claims
10. Chile and Brazil in Antarctica
11. Antarctic Cooperation and Tourism
12. Antarctic Pollution and Invasive Species

📖 1. Arctic Climate Change

🔑 Key Concepts & Definitions

• Greenhouse effect: Greenhouse effect is the warming process strengthened when greenhouse gases trap part of Earth’s outgoing heat and alter the natural climate cycle.
• Short-lived climate pollutants: Short-lived climate pollutants are atmospheric agents with brief lifetimes that still strongly affect climate during their persistence, such as methane and black carbon.
• Ice-albedo feedback: Ice-albedo feedback is a self-amplifying loop where loss of reflective ice and snow increases absorbed energy, raising temperatures further.
• Permafrost: Permafrost is ground that stays below 0°C for at least 2 years and can act as a long-term carbon storage.
• Rapid Arctic warming: Rapid Arctic warming is the observed pattern that the Arctic warms faster than the global average, especially after 2005.

📝 Essential Points