Executive Summary 



to the Vision and Scope of the 



North American Ice Service 



Today, the Canadian Ice Service, the U.S. National Ice Center and the 

 International Ice Patrol all provide sea ice, lake ice and iceberg intormation that 

 permit mariners to operate safely and efficiently year round in North American and 

 global waters. Wintertime economies in North America are dependent on the 

 reliable and efficient movement of goods and materials through ice-encumbered 

 coastal waters. The ice services of Canada and the United States enable this by 

 providing timely and accurate strategic and tactical ice information to the marine 

 community. In doing so, these agencies also reduce the risk of loss of life, 

 property and environmental damage from ice-related accidents and disasters. 

 Military operations in the Polar Regions (land and sea patrols) depend on regular 

 ice information to enhance their domain awareness and to plan their operations 

 under, through and on top of sea ice. 



Dramatic shifts in global ice regimes are occurring now and are anticipated to last 

 throughout this century. Transportation routes and natural resources, once 

 encumbered by the presence of sea ice, are now more viable and likely in the 

 wake of shrinking ice conditions. As such, northern requirements for security and 

 maritime domain awareness are expected to approach those of North America's 

 east and west coast. Importantly, monitoring and understanding this reduction in 

 ice is the basis to sound national policy decisions around the mitigation of, and 

 adaptation to, this environmental change. In the face of this change, the need for 

 ice information is growing rapidly and broadening beyond those of traditional 

 users as activities and interest in the Polar Regions escalates. Under the current 

 structure, the ice services will not be able to adequately respond to the increased 

 future demands. 



One integrated North American Ice Service capable of delivering a broad- 

 based mission is considered to be the best way to ensure Canada and the 

 United States have the ice information required to secure borders, expand 

 economies and ensure citizens are in a position to meet and adapt to the 

 challenges of rapidly changing sea ice, lake ice and iceberg conditions. 



The intent of the North American Ice Service is to: 



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Facilitate the growing public, commercial and government activities in ice affected waters 

 around the world through the provision of accurate and timely ice information. 



Enhance the Maritime Domain Awareness of North America for national security by 

 developing and disseminating geospatially-enabled ice products tailored to the 

 environmental intelligence needs of defense and other government security agencies. 



Improve the accuracy of civilian and military numerical weather, ocean and environmental 

 models by providing enhanced and timely observations of ice conditions. 



Help ensure that climate change research and the development of government policies and 

 regulations is based on the best knowledge of past, present and future ice conditions. 



Meet North American requirements for ice information more effectively and efficiently 

 through the development and assumption of a new organizational framework. 



Despite some early successes, it is now apparent that the organizational and service model as 

 defined in the current agreement is not adequate to realize the full promise of an integrated ice 

 service. 



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