Sec. 2. Findings and purpose

391 words·~2 min read·/bill/113/s/272/is/section-2

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Congress makes the following findings: The United States is an Arctic Nation with— an approximately 700-mile border with the Arctic Ocean; more than 100,000,000 acres of land above the Arctic Circle; and an even broader area defined as Arctic by temperature, which includes the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands. The Arctic region of the United States is home to an indigenous population that has subsisted for millennia on the abundance in marine mammals, fish, and wildlife, many of which are unique to the region.

Temperatures in the United States Arctic region have warmed by 3 to 4 degrees Celsius over the past half-century, a rate of increase that is twice the global average. The Arctic ice pack is rapidly diminishing and thinning, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration estimates the Arctic Ocean may be ice free during summer months in as few as 30 years. Such changes to the Arctic region are having a significant impact on the indigenous people of the Arctic, their communities and ecosystems, as well as the marine mammals, fish, and wildlife upon which they depend.

Such changes are opening new portions of the United States Arctic continental shelf to possible development for offshore oil and gas, commercial fishing, marine shipping, and tourism. Existing Federal research and science advisory programs focused on the environmental and socioeconomic impacts of a changing Arctic lack a cohesive, coordinated, and integrated approach and are not adequately coordinated with State, local, academic, and private-sector Arctic research programs. The lack of research integration and synthesis of findings of Arctic research has impeded the progress of the United States and international community in understanding climate change impacts and feedback mechanisms in the Arctic Ocean.

An improved scientific understanding of the changing Arctic is critical to the development of appropriate and effective regional, national, and global climate change adaptation strategies. The purpose of this Act is to establish a permanent program to conduct research, monitoring, and observation activities in the Arctic— to promote and sustain a productive and resilient marine, coastal, and estuarine ecosystem in the Arctic and the human uses of its natural resources through greater understanding of how the ecosystem works and monitoring and observation of its vital signs; and to track and evaluate the effectiveness of natural resource management in the Arctic in order to facilitate improved performance and adaptive management.