ARCTIC RESEARCH.

The study deals broadly with the U. S. national interest in arctic research, as well as with the potential interest of the U.S. Navy in such research. This interest is examined from three distinct points of view--military, economic, and climatic stability. The military and economic interests are based on the geographic position of the Arctic at the center of the populated industrial power structure of the Northern Hemisphere, while the climatic stability interest lies in the prospective consequences of the vanishing of the Arctic Ocean pack-ice cover. Any change in the delicate balance that maintains the ice cover on the Arctic Ocean would have far-reaching and profound climatic effects in other parts of the world. Recommendations are made as to the types of observations and research necessary to satisfy requirements for more and deeper knowledge of the arctic environment and of its interaction with that of lower latitudes. Increased international cooperation in arctic research, particularly between the United States and Canada is urged, and a description of the Canadian Polar Continental Shelf Project is included as an appendix. A recommendation is made that the interested agencies determine the nature and the level of effort necessary to assure that the United States and Canada, in the arctic region, shall not be confronted with situations where far-reaching decisions must be made without adequate background knowledge. Author