Timeline

Year 2018

In the stakeholder meeting of FY 2017, we presented a tentative estimation of CO2 budget at natural ecosystems in Republic of Sakha, Russia. We also explained vulnerability of the ecosystems in this region, by introducing analytical results derived from field observations, tree ring analysis and ecosystem model about inter-annual variation in the CO2 budget from the past to the future and relationship between the CO2 budget and climate change. In the vicinity of Chokurdakh at the lowland of the Indigirka River, we observed a large-scale flooding from spring to summer in 2017 and its large effects on ecosystem and social activity. We aim to clarify the response of the ecosystem to extreme weather, which is expected to increase in the future, and update our results to administrative officers and local residents. In terms of anthropogenic CO2 emission, we are going to announce estimations for each region and analytical results regarding to energy cost.
In the purpose of validating regional-scale evaluations by satellite data, we are now nearing completion of vegetation map and soil carbon distribution map. We are also improving ecosystem model and obtaining new knowledge by comparing the model with field observational data.
In the Sustainability Campus Project conducted at North-Eastern Federal University, the largest organization in Yakutsk city, we finished a preliminary evaluation of current status by questionnaire in FY 2017. It showed a severe lack in information about environmental aspects among the four evaluation items: university administration, economy, society and environment.
In addition, we conducted an activity focused on light system for reducing CO2 emission in cooperation with multiple teams in the university. As a result, we succeeded in cutting electricity usage, electricity cost and CO2 emission by 60-70%. We will broaden the scope of the activity as a project inside the university to other organizations in Yakutsk city in the future, and propose systems which contribute to city environment and local economy.