The Kola Peninsula
... of determining the fates of these contaminants due to climate induced changes, makes policy decisions extremely challenging. Many nations such as the US are now looking towards the Arctic for development opportunities. Without an understanding of how Arctic human and ecological systems react to perturbations, policy makers lack the necessary framework upon which to base development decisions and pollutant-management strategies designed to protect Arctic ecosystems and their inhabitants (AMAP 1997). Issues that cross political, disciplinary, and geophysical boundaries challenge the conventional scientific framework of investigation (AMAP 2002, Vörösmarty et al. 2001). In highly complex systems, in this case a human dominated Artic watershed, facts may be uncertain, values may be in dispute, and decision stakes may be high (Funtowicz and Ravetz 1992, 1993, 1999). In such cases, there is no single correct, value-neutral solution, and the traditional scientific method, which does not extend beyond purely scientific expertise, is inadequate. More flexible methods are required to capture all applicable knowledge and deliver it in an appropriate format. Post Normal Science (PNS) has evolved as an interdisciplinary participatory methodology for addressing environmental issues in complex environments. Understanding pollutant transport mechanisms in the Arctic requires understanding of the hydrological cycle, which encompasses both living components (plant, animal, and human) as well as complex geophysical pro...