EU gives 30 mill NOK to health research in the High North

Sami procession in Norway. Sami reindeer herders are struggling to cope with changing weather patterns as a result of climate change. Photo: Olav Mathis Eira / Flickr.com

The European Union (EU) will finance a larger science project to map consequences of climate changes and transport of contaminants on people’s health in the High North.

The aim of the project, that will last for four years, is to uncover how contaminants are absorbed in the food chain and how these affect people’s, especially the indigenous people’s, health.

The University in Tromsø (UiT) and the University Center on Svalbard (UNIS) will take part in the program, which will be led by the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program (AMAP). Scientists from Canada and Russia are also involved in the project.

The primary function of AMAP is to advise the governments of the eight Arctic countries (Canada, Denmark/Greenland, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden and the United States) on matters relating to threats to the Arctic region from pollution, and associated issues. AMAP was originally established in 1991 to implement parts of the Arctic Environmental Protection Strategy (AEPS).

Source: NRK.no