For nearly 10 years, CAGE has been an active contributor to the global conversation on the role of methane in a changing Arctic and related environmental issues. CAGE’s main goal is to quantify methane release beneath the Arctic Ocean, and to assess its potential impact on marine environments and global climate in the past, present and future. As CAGE entered its last months of a Norwegian Centre of Excellence, we invited scientists from all around the world to join us for the final international conference that CAGE would host, on ‘Methane in a Changing Arctic’.
Text: Mariana Esteves
Held between 14-16th September at UiT the Arctic University of Norway, the conference brought together more than 140 scientists, from 14 different countries, to discuss all aspects of Arctic methane and its role in the global carbon cycle. Our goal was to provide interdisciplinary forum for discussion and exchange of knowledge relating to our current understanding of these complex systems and their response to and impact on, the rapid environmental and climatic changes that characterise the Arctic.
In total we had eight sessions, with over 90 presentations (both oral and poster):
- Methane in the geosphere: subsurface thermogenic, (a-)biogenic and methane stores and sinks
- Methane in the hydrosphere: methane processes and budgets in marine and lacustrine settings
- Methane in the cryosphere: methane dynamics in ice sheets and permafrost
- Methane in the atmosphere: methane source, sinks, and budget in the atmosphere
- Microbial cycling of methane: the role of microbes in methane budgets
- Past methane histories: past methane processes and budgets as analogues for future climate scenarios
- Science and Art
- Outreach and Education
We would like to thank all who participated and attended the CAGE International Conference on Methane in a Changing Arctic. This conference was a success, promoting important discussions regarding Arctic methane and the global carbon budget.
Conference participants. Photo: Kai Mortensen/UiT
The organising committee and Master student volunteers. Left to right – Péter Paloczy (Master student), Zeynep Sancak Sert (CAGE Administrative advisor; Co-lead organiser), Freya Sykes (PhD Candidate), Karin Andreassen (Director of CAGE), Marie Stetzler (PhD Candidate), Luke Simmons (Master student), Mariana Esteves (Lead organiser; Project leader for CAGE), and Isaiah Olayiwola (Master student). Photo: Kai Mortensen/UiT
To read more about the conference: https://site.uit.no/methane-in-a-changing-arctic/
More photographs from the conference on the CAGE Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cage.coe/
