Arctic Science Journeys
Radio Script
1997

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Science Chief Visits Alaska
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STORY: The National Science Foundation spends more than 50 million dollars each year on research in Alaska. Many of those dollars go to studies on the Arctic's climate, fisheries, and wildlife. Dr. Neal Lane, the head of NSF, says the agency has a special interest in Alaska and the Arctic.

LANE: "Some might wonder why we would focus on the Arctic. I mean, we don't have a Texas program. We don't have a Nevada program. Why the Arctic, and Alaska in particular? Well, I think we all really know the answer to that. Arctic research has compelling interest and importance well beyond the Arctic region. The globe is increasingly one region of the universe. So what goes on in the Arctic has a lot to do with people elsewhere around the globe and vise versa."

Lane says the Arctic's oceans and atmosphere are especially critical to scientists' understanding of global issues such as climate warming.

LANE: "Oceanographic and atmospheric changes influenced by the Arctic, to be a little more specific, we think can have a very large effect on world climate. We don't know how large, that's why the research is going on. Specific examples are impacts on fisheries, resources such as oil and gas, maritime transportation, possible sea-level rises along coasts around the world. The Arctic can be very special in the dynamics of global climate change."

Cooperative research ventures with other nations such as Russia and Japan are also being developed to better understand how changes in the Arctic will impact other parts of the world.

LANE: "NSF has made a strong investment in research and education. We expect to build on that investment, so we remain strongly committed to what you do. Our long-term commitment includes support for ecological research at the University of Alaska's Toolik Lake station. We have also supported a large global change research effort to examine the input of greenhouse gasses to the atmosphere from the frozen tundra of the North Slope."

Neal Lane was in Alaska recently to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Naval Arctic Research Laboratory in Barrow. While in Fairbanks, he visited the 30-million-dollar International Arctic Research Center, now under construction on the University of Alaska Fairbanks campus. The center, a joint venture between Alaska and Japan, is scheduled to open in 1998.

OUTRO: For Arctic Science Journeys, this is Debra Damron reporting from Fairbanks, Alaska.