During the last two decades the archipelago of Svalbard has evolved as a focal point for tourism and scientific research in the Arctic. In 1995 the Norwegian authorities inaugurated a management plan in order to conserve Svalbard and to minimise environmental degradation resulting from increased anthropogenic activity. However, the potential for accelerated modification of the tundra, as a result of field camps, was not addressed. Parameters, such as percentage vegetation cover, soil compaction, and soil infiltration rate were measured before and after a four-week period of field-camp activity, under controlled conditions, during July 1997. The study site was located near Ny-Ålesund, Kongsfjorden, Spitsbergen. Statistical analysis showed that where no significant differences in the parameters were recorded at the control site, the presence of a field camp did cause a significant impact on the Arctic heath tundra surface. For example, mean soil compaction, increased from 1.16 kg cm-2 to 2.57 kg cm-2. The use of good practice procedures, such as moving tents regularly and utilising a groundsheet, did not prevent an impact on the environment. Key parameters at the main study sites were reassessed in July 1999, revealing that no significant recovery from the impact caused in 1997 had occurred. An established campsite at Ny-Ålesund was also studied in 1997, and the results support the findings of the main survey: a significant difference recorded for the parameters measured at the campsite, compared to negligible or no changes at the control site. In order to achieve a sustainable tourism and science-based community in Svalbard, i t is proposed that the existing management plan be expanded to incorporate a set of guidelines for wilderness camping, with the aim of mitigating the impact of field camps on the tundra.

At the end of the twentieth century, Russia's Northern Sea Route (NSR) has functioned primarily as a domestic marine transport system with Murmansk Shipping Company as the dominant operator and facilitator. Total cargo along the NSR in 1999 was 1.58 million tons; during 1997–99 no through transit cargo was carried on the NSR. The International NSR Programme (INSROP), backed by Japanese, Norwegian, and Russian interests, concluded in November 1999 with a key user conference in Oslo. The six-year (1993–99) INSROP effort produced a large body of new information about the NSR and Russian Arctic that decision-makers will find valuable in planning future ventures in the region. Concerns have been expressed in Russia for the ageing icebreaker fleet that has been the backbone of all NSR operations since the 1950s. Several nuclear icebreakers have been refuelled and, although detailed plans for a replacement fleet of nuclear and diesel-electric ships have been developed, financing has not been identified. As Arctic sea ice continues to decline in extent and thickness, the impacts on future NSR operations will be significant considerations for future operations.

In the autumn of 1835, eleven ships from British ports were beset in Davis Strait. A journal kept by William Elder, an officer of one of the unfortunate ships, the Kirkcaldy whaler Viewforth, was recently given to the Scott Polar Research Institute by Elder's great-niece, Mrs Ann M. E. Jackson. It was this journal that provided the inspiration and the quarry for a small book, now rare, edited by the Reverend J. Bain of Kirkcaldy (Bain, 1836). Elder's original journal (Elder, 1835–36) is here summarized to provide further detail of that harrowing winter, which, as Bain remarked, “will be long remembered as one of the most eventful and disastrous in the history of the Whale Fishery”.

During the last several years, the Antarctic Treaty System has confronted the world park versus mining issue, resulting in the signing on 4 October 1991, subject to ratification, of a protocol to the Antarctic Treaty, putting in place an environmental protection regime for Antarctica. This paper develops an economic case for the creation of a world park in Antarctica. The argument is based upon the international public good and common property resource characteristics of the seventh continent. The strength of the case is tested against the alternative economic uses of the Antarctic, especially mineral development. The possible creation of an Antarctic world park is evaluated in light of the recent policy events.

‘No scheme of Canadian historiography yet advanced is wholly satisfactory because none as yet takes account of the occurrence of the North’ (Morton, 1970, p 31). Where Canadian historiography has been silent, studies of Canadian federalism have chosen to ignore. The Northwest Territories (NWT) and die Yukon Territory have certainly never been major actors in national political forums, nor have they yet to play a significant role in the political processes surrounding the two major preoccupations of Canadian federalism, namely the economy and national unity.

After three years' delay, work started early in 1974 on the construction of the trans-Alaska pipeline from Prudhoe Bay on the Arctic coast of Alaska 1 270 km to Valdez on the Gulf of Alaska (Ronhovde. 1974). Within three years, the line should be delivering 1.2 million barrels per day, a volume that will be increased eventually to a daily flow of 2 million barrels. Gas production on the North Slope of Alaska will probably be exported through Canada to the United States through a 4 184-km pipeline that will cost an estimated $5.7 billion and, if built, will be one of the largest construction projects ever undertaken; the system will also carry Canadian Arctic gas to southern markets. The size of these projects is in themselves impressive, and they have been spawned and are being launched in an atmosphere of controversy and confusion that, in its different way, is equally impressive.

The year 1969 was a watershed in Alaska's history. This was the year when the full extent of the international petroleum industry's invasion became apparent to all Alaskans. Most viewed it as a cause of rejoicing and optimism. Overnight, the State of Alaska had become rich as the industry made bonus payments of over $900 million for oil and gas leases on the North Slope, and the prospects loomed of literally hundreds of millions of dollars of annual royalty and tax payments during the decade to come. The state no longer had to worry about where its money was coming from but could concentrate on spending. Private employment climbed, and all the gold rush legends of quick wealth resumed currency. The magnitude of what the oil developers and promoters had accomplished and what they proposed went beyond anything the most enthusiastic Alaskans had ever dreamed of. No physical barrier and no financial cost seemed too great to hinder a prolonged boom. All that Alaskans had to worry about was how to take their share.

Systematic optical and radio measurements from ground stations, together with measurements from rockets and satellites, have led to a good general understanding of auroras. However one topic remains conjectural: whether or not there is audible auroral sound.

Sagas, law texts, court and ecclesiastical manuscripts, the King's Mirror, and later texts of the 17th and 18th centuries provide information on whaling activities in Iceland during the classical period (up to 1300) and later. Most references concern whales washed or driven ashore, rather than hunted in the open sea. Beached whales were clearly regarded as valuable food resources, generating disputes, litigation and other social conflict among the communities of the Icelandic Commonwealth.