Meeting prior to 11th International Conference on Permafrost (ICOP)
RATIC is a new initiative organized through the Terrestrial, Cryosphere, and Social & Human working groups of the International Arctic Science Committee (IASC). It is a forum that addresses the cumulative effects of infrastructure and climate change. A full description of RATIC and goals can be found in the RATIC white paper presented at the Arctic Science Summit Week in Fairbanks, Alaska (ASSW 2016):
http://www.arcticobservingsummit.org/sites/arcticobservingsummit.org/fi…
Permafrost thawing and its associated impacts on natural and built environments are identified in the RATIC white paper as priority issues for circumpolar study because permafrost is universally present in the Arctic and plays major roles in the stability of Arctic infrastructure and social-ecological systems. The specific issues related to permafrost are different in each region of the Arctic and require detailed ground-level knowledge for anticipating change through social-ecological-system and permafrost scenario modeling, planning and engineering.
The organizers of RATIC decided to meet informally prior to the 11th International Conference on Permafrost (EICOP) because the meeting place in Potsdam is rather easily accessible to European members of RATIC and to take advantage of this gathering of the world’s permafrost experts to inform them of RATIC and invite them to participate in this new initiative.
The intent of this informal meeting is to communicate progress on RATIC since the Third International Conference on Arctic Research Planning (ICARP III) at ASSW 2015 in Yohama, Japan, and to begin organization of a larger meeting and session during Arctic Science Summit Week 2017 in Prague.
Although permafrost is a major unifying theme within RATIC, most of the members of RATIC are not permafrost scientists and will not be at EICOP. Consequently, we arranged a rather small meeting room. However, if you are interested in the topics discussed for RATIC, you are welcome and invited to the meeting at Telegrafenberg, Room A43-KR, Sunday, 13 June, 13:00-15:00. Please plan to help us develop the permafrost themes of RATIC and the next meeting in Prague.