ИСТИНА

The Arctic region is one of the least developed regions of the planet. With an area of 8.7% of the Earth's surface, only 0.07% of the world's population lives here. A significant territory of the Arctic is located within the Russian Federation. The importance of this region is determined by two main reasons. Firstly, the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation has huge reserves of natural resources: about 90% of gas and 17% of oil in Russia is produced in the Arctic. In addition, the region has large deposits of diamonds, gold and other non-ferrous metals. Secondly, the coastal waters of the Arctic are a strategic transport corridor - the Northern Sea Route, which reduces the time of transporting goods from Europe to Asia by almost 2 times. At the same time, northern ecosystems are characterized by high vulnerability to changes in external conditions and anthropogenic impact. The increase in air temperature recorded in recent decades is 3 times higher in the Arctic than the global average. Climate warming leads to a radical transformation of the natural environment, primarily warming and thawing of permafrost, activation of exogenous processes, changes in the terrestrial hydrological regime and the invasion of southern species of flora and fauna northward. The observed changes affect not only ecosystems, but also the life quality of the population. In this regard, Russian geographers conduct broad studies to assess the current and predicted rates of transformation of natural environment, as well as to find solutions and approaches to mitigate negative environmental and economic consequences to the Arctic territories. Recent studies have been organized for calculation of economic damage to populated areas from thawing permafrost, quantitative assessments of the current dynamics of the Arctic coastal zone. Besides, extensive oceanographic and geophysical measurements have been carried out in the waters of the Arctic seas and the Russian sector of the Arctic Ocean. The socio-economic model for the development of Arctic territories has been developed and proposed for governmental implementation. Russian ethnographers have done a lot of work to inventory the intangible heritage of the indigenous peoples of the North.