he Nansen Legacy project launched ten fact sheets autumn 2023. They summarized key findings and lessons learned from the research project related to the climate- and ecosystem of the northern Barents Sea. The attention and positive response to these fact sheets from the general public as well as teachers, stakeholders, policymakers and fellow scientists was inspiring.
Therefore, five new fact sheets are now published. They present new scientific findings from the research team visualized by the illustrations of Frida Cnossen.
Seasonality is a prominent feature at high latitudes. The fact sheet visualizes how and to what degree different parts and processes of the Arctic marine system is changing with seasons.
Smarter sensors have been developed and tested to improve our observational capabilities at high latitudes where sea ice and low temperatures make the logistics more challenging. The fact sheet visualizes how use of complementary technology can cover scales in time and space through the observational pyramid.
Fish population dynamics is fundamental for management. Both changing climate, genetic diversity, changing ecosystem dynamics and fisheries impact the population structure. The fact sheet visualizes the population structure of capelin in the north Atlantic, how polar cod populations are impacted by sea ice and predation, and how the Atlantic cod is impacted by fisheries.
Long-term climate change illustrates how the Barents Sea climate has been impacted by sea ice and Atlantic water currents the past 13 000 years. The fact sheet shows what mud can tell and how use of different proxies representing characteristics in flora, fauna and environmental conditions gives insight to periods of different climate. This is useful to understand present changes.
Paleo perspectives zoom out and give the story of how the Barents Sea has developed from the last ice age. The fact sheet illustrate the deglaciation steps show how warm ocean currents impact the retreating ice sheets, and how ice sheets form the landscape, not only on land, but also at the sea floor.
All fact sheets are published on the Nansen Legacy web page under Publications, and can be cited with doi.