TABLE OF CONTENTS RECOMMENDATIONS CONERNING GREENHOUSE GAS REDUCTION STRATEGIES: STATEMENT TOT HE MINISTERS OF ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY CLIMATE CHANGE STUDY GROUP FORMED AT THE UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO CGCP NOW GLOBAL CHANGE AND CANADA NEW CGCP ANNUAL REPORT TO PROVIDE FACTS, FIGURES AGRICULTURE FORUM ON CLIMATE CHANGE ROYAL SOCIETY'S CASE STUDY OF RESEARCH IN THE MACKENZIE BASIN EXAMINES AQUATIC SCIENCE IN CANADA INTERNATIONAL GEOCHEMICAL MAPPING CLIMATE ON THE INTERNET UPDATE REGARDING PROPOSALS SUBMITTED TO THE IAI PACT OVERVIEW AND UPDATE HUMAN DIMENSIONS OF GLOBAL CHANGE STUDENTSHIP CCP INFO IMPLICATIONS FOR CANADA OF INTERGOVERNMENTAL PANEL ON CLIMATE CHANGE ASSESSMENT REPORTS -- AN OVERVIEW INTERNATIONAL MODEL FOREST NETWORK SECRETARIAT TRANSFERRED TO IDRC. EARTH OBSERVATION DATA SETS PROGRAM CALL FOR PROPOSALS WETVNEW TELEVISION NETWORK FOR GLOBAL AUDIENCE   INTERNATIONAL BIODIVERSITY MONITORING SYSTEM SET UP IN NOVA SCOTIA RECENT PUBLICATIONS EVENTS CALENDAR

PACT -- OVERVIEW AND UPDATE Glen M. MacDonald University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) PACT (Palaeoecological Analysis of the Circumpolar Treeline) is a five-year project organized by Canadian and Russian scientists to study the Holocene history of the northern treeline. The project, now in its fourth year, is supported by a National Science and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) Special Collaborative Grant. Canadian scientists and graduate students from a variety of institutions across Canada work closely with scientists from the Laboratory of Evolutionary Geography, Institute of Geography, Russian Academy of Sciences. The field component of PACT includes securing lake sediments, peat, sub-fossil wood and tree ring cores from sites across northern Canada and Eurasia to document changes in treeline position and environmental conditions. As the northern treeline is extremely sensitive to climate warming, it is hoped that this evidence of past treeline changes will be useful in predicting, detecting and mitigating the impact of future global warming. Northward movements of treeline can affect local environmental conditions and can also feed back to climate and enhance global warming. Thus far active field work has been conducted in the Mackenzie Delta region of Canada and at the Yamal Peninsula, Taimyr Peninsula and Lena River Delta of Siberia. Work in Siberia has turned up direct evidence of past treeline extension in the form of sub-fossil larch stumps found in the Siberian tundra. These stumps have been radiocarbon dated at between 3000 and 9000 years old. This evidence suggests a major northward shift of the Russian treeline at that time. In 1995 field work was conducted near Vorkuta in northern Russia. In addition to field and lab work, PACT members are involved in synthesizing data from other studies. To this end, close collaboration has been developed between PACT and the National Science Foundation's PALE (Paleoclimates of Arctic Lakes and Estuaries) and the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme's PAGES (Past Global Changes) programs. At the 1995 INQUA meeting in Berlin, PACT sponsored a treeline symposium aimed at bringing workers from many countries together to develop a complete circumpolar treeline history for the past 12,000 years. The principal investigators for PACT are Les Cwynar and Glen MacDonald (Canada), and Andre Velichko (Russia). For more information contact Les Cwynar, Department of Biology, University of New Brunswick, Bag Service Number 45111, Fredericton, New Brunswick E3B 6E1; tel: (506) 453-4584; fax: (506) 453-3583