151 



Union appear in the form of "arctic haze" over large regions of the Arctic. The Arctic 

 Ocean receives as much as 10% of all of the world's riverine discharge in spite of 

 representing only 1 .2% of the total ocean water mass. Since this ocean has limited 

 outflows into the other world oceans, it is much more vulnerable to industrial, urban 

 and agricultural pollutants discharged into rivers flowing into it than any other ocean. 



POTENTIAL FOR INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH COLLABORATION ON ARCTIC 

 ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION 



International cooperation is an integral component of many scientific endeavors 

 in the Arctic, linked to, and often inseparable from, the normal process of research 

 planning and execution. The Commission, charged with advising the President and 

 Congress on arctic research policy and priorities, promotes those Internationa] 

 aspects of science that are beneficial to United States arctic research. 



Scientific cooperation among the circumpolar nations, as well as among other 

 countries with scientific activities in northern latitudes, is accelerating. The U.S. and 

 Russia have had since 1972 a bilateral agreement in the field of environmental 

 protection which was renewed this year. Cooperative activity in the Arctic, however, 

 has been limited. Quite generally, the increasing number of international bilateral and 

 multilateral agreements for arctic research in recent years signals the rising importance 

 and breadth of both governmental and nongovernmental international collaboration in 

 the Arctic. 



In August 1990. the International Arctic Sdence Committee (lASC), which the 

 Arctic Research Commission has advocated since 1986, was formally constituted as a 

 non-governmental body to facilitate collaboration in arctic science. In June 1 991 , a 

 ministerial meeting among the eight arctic nations, initiated by Finland, was held to 

 complete intergovernmental accords for protection of the arctic environment. Included 

 was a concept for an Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program (AMAP) 



