When Rolf Anker Ims embarked on his career as a climate scientist, he was almost looked down upon. Today, climate research is one of the most important things one can do. By: Ellen Kathrine Bludd // UiT The Arctic University of Norway In the 1990s, when Rolf Anker Ims started researching the effects of climate change on the natural environment, this field of study was new and people were sceptical. “It took place in a completely different academic climate from the one we now find ourselves in. There were all sorts of climate change deniers and sceptics. Even quite respected people in various research communities – people who should have known better – had very critical opinions, saying that this was pure speculation and we shouldn’t get involved.” Rolf Anker Ims Top photo: Global warming poses a crisis for biodiversity in the Arctic, including waders, here represented by a ruff chick. Photo: Eva Fuglei / Norwegian Polar Institute. Fortunately, things have gradually changed as the science has become more certain. Ims believes it has a lot to do with the international position of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), but what people generally perceive is also extremely influential in terms of what they believe to be true and how they act in relation to it. “The fact that climate change has become so tangible – that people can physically feel it and that research confirms and reinforces what they can already see – that’s where there has been a big change. And this is because climate change has advanced much further; it’s more noticeable than before. That makes it easier to be a climate scientist today, but it really wasn’t very easy when I first started,” says Ims. Nonetheless, he points out that Norway is home to a […]
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