Scientists work on extended Arctic history

TALLAHASSEE, Fla., Oct. 30 (UPI) -- A U.S.-led international team of scientists says it's writing a comprehensive history of the Arctic region, from the late 19th century to the present.

Florida State University Associate Professor of history Ronald Doel is the project leader of the $1.1 million project funded by the European Science Foundation. Nine historians from seven nations -- the United States, Canada, England, Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Russia -- are involved in the research effort.

"There have been a lot of histories written from one national slice or another -- a Canadian history of the Arctic, a U.S. focus, a Russian focus," he said, adding he ultimately would like to see an internationally collaborative history in which the authors are able to tell a unified narrative of the region.

"When the United States got very interested in the polar regions during the Cold War, what was being discussed in the major capitals of Europe, in Oslo and in Stockholm? We can now get at that by looking at the archives of the major players in this story," said Doel.

"And for the first time, historians are able to get together as a group, collaboratively talk about those stories and produce a narrative," he added. "That's really quite new."