摘要：The first ideas for this symposium were presented several years ago at SCAR and IASC meetings. They were based on the realization that there had apparently never been such an interdisciplinary bipolar meeting. The intent of the symposium was to provide a current assessment of the role of the polar regions in global change. Contributions were requested primarily on subjects that were not narrowly of interest to researchers working only in one hemisphere. This aim was achieved for almost every session. Dealing with social issues, the ninth session was the exception. Here nearly all papers concerned the Arctic.
