A
AAC Arctic Athabaskan Council (AAC).
Aasiaat – town (68.43N, 53.53W) and municipality (4,000/1.544 sq. km/miles) in West Greenland. Aasiaat means “spider”. The total population is around 3,500, hereof 3.200 in the town. The fishing industry is the most important sources of revenue. Besides the town houses a gymnasium and several other schools. The son of Hans Egede, Niels Egede, established Aasiaat as the colony of Egedesminde in 1759.
Aasivik– the Greenlandic word for summer camp. In the old days it was a place with good hunting conditions, and where families from many small settlements met to exchange goods, news, experiences etc. It was also here a spouse could be found. Since 1976 and many years forth, Aasivik became the major annual summer event for the ethno-political and cultural life in Greenland. Especially issues like Danish neo-colonialism in contrast to Inuit culture were on the agenda. After introduction of Home Rule in 1979 and Greenland’s withdrawal from the European Community in 1985, the annual summer camps became less political oriented. In 2006 an initiative was taken to re-introduce the annual summer camps as Asimi Inuaqerpalaaq.
ABC-weapons – Atomic, Biological and Chemical weapons. Nuclear bomb.
Ablation – defines the process of melting, runoff or evaporation of glacier ice. Ablation can also refer to removal of rock material by wind activity.
Ablation zone – the area of a glacier where the loss of ice in summer exceeds the accumulation in winter.
ABM – Antiballistic missile. A missile designed to counter ballistic missiles.
ABM-Treaty – a bilateral treaty between the U.S.A. and the Soviet Union of 1972 regarding limitations on Anti-Ballistic Missile Systems. The U.S.A. and the USSR signed a Protocol to the treaty, which entered into force in 1976 that reduced the number of ABM deployment areas from two to one. The Treaty has been extensively modified by amendments, and various common understandings and protocols. Five-year review meetings are held in Geneva. Nuclear deterrence.
Aboriginal Rights – usually refers to the inherent, collective rights of the indigenous peoples in countries where aboriginal is the preferred term of indigenous. Indigenous Rights.
Aboriginal self-government – a terminology mainly used in Canada for governments designed, established and administered by the indigenous peoples themselves.
Aboriginal Subsistence Whaling – the International Whaling Commission (IWC) distinguishes between two types of whaling operations, the commercial and the Aboriginal Subsistence Whaling. The Aboriginal Subsistence Whaling aims at satisfying the indigenous peoples’ subsistence needs. Under the current IWC regulations, Aboriginal Subsistence Whaling quotes are given to Greenland (fin and minke whales), Chukotka (grey and bowhead whales), Alaska (grey and bowhead whales), and St. Vincent and The Grenadines (humpback whales). It is the responsibility of the national governments to provide the Commission with evidence of the cultural and subsistence needs of their people. The Scientific Committee of IWC provides scientific advice on safe catch limits for such stocks. International Whaling Commission (IWC).
Aboriginal title – a Canadian legal term that recognizes indigenous peoples’ interest in the land. It is based on a long-standing use and occupancy of the land as descendants of the indigenous inhabitants.
Aboriginals – the original, or indigenous, inhabitants of a place, region or country, as distinguished from an invader, explorer, colonist etc. Indigenous, First, Fourth World and Natives are other terms for Aboriginals. In Canada the term is used to describe all indigenous peoples of Canada, the Indians, Inuit and the Métis. Indigenous.
Aborigines – a word originated from Latin ab origine, meaning “from the origin or beginning”. Most often the word is referring to the indigenous peoples of Australia. Indigenous.
Absolute zero – is considered to be lowest possible temperature. The value is 0° Kelvin, -273.15° Celsius and -459.67° Fahrenheit.
Absolutism – the absolute truth. In politics it means the kind of political regime where the rulers can exercise their government unrestricted.
Abstaining – to refrain from voting. Example: “The Declaration was adopted by unanimous vote (with the six members of the Soviet bloc, Saudi Arabia, and the Union of South Africa abstaining).”
ABWC Alaska Beluga Whale Committee (ABWC).
ACArctic Council (AC).
ACAP – Arctic Council Action Plan to Eliminate Pollution in the Arctic. In 2006 established as the Arctic Contaminants Action Program (ACAP).Arctic Contaminants Action Program (ACAP).
ACAPArctic Contaminants Action Program (ACAP).
Accession –the act by which one nation becomes party to an agreement already in force between other powers.
Acculturation – a process in which contacts between different cultural groups or individuals lead to the acquisition of new cultural patterns by one, or perhaps both, group(s), with the adoption of all or parts of the other’s culture.
Accumulation zone - the area of a glacier where the accumulation of snow in winter exceeds the loss in summer.
ACIAArctic Climate Impact Assessment (ACIA). Arctic Council (AC).
Acid rain – a type of rain containing large amounts of acid-bearing chemicals. The main pollutants originate from vehicle exhaust, chemical industries and coal smoke. Acid rain is very harmful to the environment, especially on lakes and forests. Less well known are the many ways it damages freshwater and coastal ecosystems, soils and even ancient historical monuments, or the heavy metals these acids help release into groundwater. The international society has agreed on gradually to reduce and prevent air pollution, including long-range trans-boundary air pollution.Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution (LRTAP).
Acidification – the process whereby air pollution, mainly ammonia, sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides, is converted into acid substances. It is a cross-border issue, requiring coordinated initiatives across countries and sectors.
ACOPSAdvisory Committee for the Protection of the Seas (ACOPS).
ACR Arctic Circumpolar Route (ACR).
Act – a formal decision (law or decree) of a court or legislature etc.
Active layer – the seasonally thawed surface layer that lies above permanently frozen grounds, like the permafrost in the Arctic.
ACUNS – Academic Council on the United Nations System (ACUNS).
ACUNS Association of Canadian Universities for Northern Studies (ACUNS).
Adaptability – the ability to be altered according to need and circumstance.
Adaptation – the way of how a social system (animals, society, family, business company etc.) is changing to better survive and live in a particular environment, or responds to their environment. Adaptation occurs over many generations, it is a gradual process caused by natural selection.
ADD– theInternational Arctic Environment Data Directory (ADD) has been closed and taken over by other initiatives. UNEP/GRID-Arendal Polar Programme.
Addition – a part added to something.
Adjacent – something that is nearby, close, not distant or having a common endpoint or border.
Adoption – the process of being taken or received into a new relationship. Assimilation. Integration.
Advection fog – the kind of fog caused by the movement of warm, moist air over a cold surface.
Adverse effects – according to the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer: the “changes in the physical environment or biota, including changes in climate, which have significant deleterious effects on human health or on the composition, resilience and productivity of natural and managed ecosystems, or on materials useful to mankind.”
Advisory Committee for the Protection of the Seas (ACOPS) – a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) established in 1952. ACOPS originally concentrated on encouraging international agreements to reduce marine oil pollution. Since then, ACOPS has expanded its interests to include land-based sources of marine pollution, as well as other aspects of degradation of the coastal and marine environment. The primary aim of ACOPS is to promote strategies for the sustainable development of the coastal and marine environment through scientific, legal and policy research, and advisory and public awareness activities. Work is carried out at the global, regional and national levels. Studying the seas and oceans both as indicators of pollution and as threatened resources in their own right, ACOPS strives to identify cost-effective, long-term environmental solutions that can effectively be implemented across the world. Cost-effective. Sustainable development.
AEPSArctic Environmental Protection Strategy (AEPS).
Aerosol – a suspension of colloidal particles in gas, smoke or fog. Used in deodorants etc. Aerosol is known to have a negative effect on thestratospheric ozone layer. Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution (LRTAP).
AEWC Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission (AEWC).
Affirming – confirming or declaring something positively. Often used in declarations, etc.
AFN Alaska Federation of Natives (AFN).
AFN Assembly of First Nations (AFN).
AGASPArctic Gas and Aerosol Sampling Program (AGASP).
Agenda – a program or a list of subjects to be dealt with at a meeting.
AGENDA 21 – one of the results of the UNCED conference in Rio de Janeiro, June 1992. Agenda 21 addresses the pressing problems of today and also aims at preparing the world for the challenges of the 21st. century. Chapter 6.22 concerns the protection of indigenous peoples. In the activities suggested (6.27), National governments, in co-operation with locals and NGO’s, should initiate or enhance programs in the following areas: “strengthen, through resources and self-management, preventative and curative health services; (and) integrate traditional knowledge and experience into health systems.” Chapter 26 and 27 are both important to indigenous NGO’s. Chapter 26: “Recognizing and strengthening the role of indigenous peoples and their communities”. Chapter 27: “Strengthening the role of non-governmental organizations: partners for sustainable development.”Sustainable development. Johannesburg Summit 2002.
Agreement on the Conservation of Polar Bears – an agreement between Canada, Denmark, Norway, the USSR (now Russia), and the U.S.A. of November 1973. The nations agreed to prohibit random, unregulated sport hunting of polar bears and to outlaw hunting the bears from aircraft and icebreakers, as it had been common practice. The agreement also obliges each nation to protect polar bear breeding places and migration patterns and to conduct research relating to the conservation and management of polar bears. Scientists meet every three to four years under the auspices of the IUCN World Conservation Union to coordinate their research on polar bears throughout the Arctic. According to Article III, indigenous peoples are allowed to continue their traditional subsistence hunt on the bear. Subsistence.
Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) – an international agreement administered by the World Trade Organization (WTO) that sets down minimum standards for many forms of intellectual property rights regulation. It was negotiated at the end of the Uruguay Round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) in 1994. Intellectual Property Rights (IPR). World Trade Organization (WTO).
AHHIArctic Human Health Initiative (AHHI).
AIAAleut International Association (AIA).
Aid –thetransfer of money or resources from the industrial nations to the developing world. It may be difficult to distinguish between aid and ordinary commercial transactions, but there is a common consensus among development experts that the term aid is applicable if the following three criteria apply: 1) the recipient project should be one that is developmental or charitable and not military; 2) the donor’s objective should be non-commercial; 3) the terms of the transfer should have a grant element.
AIDJEXArctic Ice Dynamics Joint Experiment (AIDJEX).
AINAArctic Institute of North America (AINA).
Air pollutants – foreign and natural particles occurring in the atmosphere, which may result in harmful effects to humans, animals, vegetation, etc. The particles in question are ground-level ozone, carbon monoxide, sulphur oxides, nitrogen oxides, and lead.
Air pollution – the pollution of the atmosphere by contaminants to the point that may cause injury to health, property, plant, or animal life, or prevent the use and enjoyment of the outdoors. Soot in areas with ice and snow is melting faster than clean areas, and may therefore play an important role in the climate change. Climate change.
Aivilingmiut – a group of Inuit who is a part of the Iglulik Inuit, which belongs to several divisions of the Central Inuit group. They reside on the northwest coast of Hudson Bay, Canada. Eskimo-Aleut languages. Inuit.
Akilia Island – an island (63.93N, 51.66W) in West Greenland. Akilia is the location of a rock outcropping that some geologists believe is the oldest known sedimentary rocks, and perhaps the oldest evidence of life on Earth.
Akilineq – the Greenlandic name for Northeast Canada, also the name for a mythical country on the other side of the ocean.
Aklavik – town (68.25N, 135.0W) at the Mackenzie River in the Yukon Territory, Canada. The population is estimated to be around 800. Aklavik means the “Place of the Barren Lands Grizzly Bear”. Hudson Bay Company established a trade post at Aklavik in 1918. The Indigenous Inuvialuit has lived here for centuries. Hudson Bay Company.
Akukitsormiut – an inhabitant of Greenland in the Canadian Inuit language, Inuktitut. Eskimo-Aleut languages.
Akulliit Partiiat – a Greenlandic political party represented in the Greenland Parliament a short time in the 1990’s. Greenland Home Rule.
Alákshak– or Alyeska are the indigenous Aleut peoples’ names for the mainland portion of Northwest North America, Alaska.Both terms mean the “great country”.
Alaska – the largest state of the U.S.A. in Northwest North America separated from Asia by the Bering Strait. Alaska covers 1,518,807/586,412 sq. km/miles and has a coastline on 17,198/6,640 km/miles, including the islands; the state has 87,811/33,904 km/miles of shoreline adjacent to the North Pacific Ocean, Bering Sea, Chukchi Sea, and Arctic Ocean. Almost one-third of the Alaska territory lies north of the Arctic Circle. Mount McKinley with its 6,194/20,320 m/feet is the tallest mountain in North America. The first European to sight Alaska was the Danish explorer Vitus Bering in 1741. Russian traders established the first European settlements in 1784. Alaska was bought from Russia for US $ 7,200,000, or two cents per acre on October 18, 1867 whereby Alaska officially became the property of the U.S.A. The Constitution was adopted in 1956 and became effective in 1959 making it the 49th state. The Senate and the House of Representatives make up the Alaska State Legislature. Every four years the Alaskans elect a Governor and a Lieutenant Governor to four-year terms. The flag is blue with eight gold stars, seven in the constellation Ursa Major, or the Big Dipper, and the eighth is the North Star. Alaska’s most important revenue source is the oil and natural gas industry and accounts for 25% of the oil produced in the U.S.A. Prudhoe Bay, on the northern coast, is North America’s largest oil field. Up to 88,000 barrels of oil per hour is running through the Trans-Alaska Pipeline on the 1,288/800 km/miles journey to Valdez. The fishing and seafood industry is the state's largest private industry employer. Most of America's salmon, crab, halibut, and herring come from Alaska. Major Cities: Anchorage, Fairbanks and Juneau. Indigenous Peoples: Yupik, Inupiat, Aleut, Gwich’in and Athabaskan. Estimated total population 630,000, hereof approximately 16% are indigenous.
Alaska Beluga Whale Committee(ABWC) – sometimes referred to as Alaska and Inuvialuit Beluga Whale Committee (AIBWC). The committee was established in 1988 to encourage conservation and informed management of beluga whales and to involve indigenous subsistence hunters in the management of these small cetaceans. In ABWC representatives from beluga hunting communities, local, state, and federal administrations, and beluga researchers are discussing conservation issues, the biology of belugas, and the needs for additional information.
Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission (AEWC) – a commission established by the Inupiat and Yupik in 1977. AEWC represents the whaling communities in an effort to convince the United States Government to take action to preserve the Eskimos subsistence hunt of bowhead whales. The members of the AEWC are the registered whaling captains and their crewmembers of the ten whaling communities: Gambell, Savoonga, Wales, Little Diomede, Kivalina, Point Hope, Wainwright, Barrow, Nuiqsut, and Kaktovik. The main purpose of AEWC is to preserve and enhance a vital marine resource, the bowhead whale, including the protection of its habitat, to protect Eskimo subsistence bowhead whaling, to protect and enhance the Eskimo culture, traditions, and activities associated with bowhead whales and subsistence bowhead whaling, and to undertake research and educational activities related to bowhead whales.
Alaska Federation of Natives (AFN) – AFN was formed in 1966, when more than 400 Alaskans representing 17 indigenous organisations gathered for a three-day conference to address Alaska Native Aboriginal Land Rights. From 1966 to 1971, AFN worked primarily to achieve passage of a just and fair land settlement. On December 18, 1971 the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) was signed into law. In the early and mid 1970’s, AFN provided technical assistance to help Alaska Natives implement ANCSA and set up the corporations mandated by the Act. Since then, AFN has evolved to meet the changing needs of Alaska Indigenous peoples and respond to new challenges as they emerge, working to address and protect Indigenous interests at the state and federal levels. In the late 1980’s, AFN turned its attention to social, tribal and economic issues. Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA).
Alaska Inter-Tribal Council (AI-TC) – a council founded in 1992 by the 12 Indigenous regions of Alaska. The purpose of AI-TC is to draw up a treaty and to exercise the sovereign rights of the Indigenous peoples. AI-TC is a state wide, tribal governed non-profit organisation that advocates in support of tribal governments throughout the state.
Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) – an Act of 1980 which purpose is to provide for the designation and conservation of certain public lands in the State of Alaska, including the designation of units of the National Park, National Wildlife Refuge, National Forest, National Wild and Scenic Rivers, and National Wilderness Preservation Systems, and for other purposes.