The scientific journal Nature called for the unification of the work of Western and Russian scientists on monitoring climate change in the Arctic. Without information from Russian observation stations, the data will be incomplete.
As reported by the Go Arctic news portal, the quality of empirical information is critical when it comes to issues of global climate change. For example, the Interact, an international network of climate monitoring stations in the Arctic, is the most extensive network of research stations in the Northern Hemisphere at 94 objects, of which 21 are located in Russia. Turning off the Russian array makes the entire work of this system unrepresentative.
To be able to adequately monitor changes in the Arctic, the international community must continue to strive to establish and improve research infrastructure and standardized monitoring programs that are representative of the entire Arctic.
Geopolitical reasons should not influence transnational scientific cooperation on global issues, the authors at Nature believe. Russia is the largest Arctic country and is a member of the Arctic Council, an intergovernmental forum for coordinating the activities of the eight Arctic countries.
Theodor Lisovoy, Editor in Chief of the European bureau, Rough&Polished
