Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP)

AMAP is an international organization established in 1991 to implement components of the Arctic Environmental Protection Strategy (AEPS). Now a programme group of the Arctic Council, AMAP's current objective is 'providing reliable and sufficient information on the status of, and threats to, the Arctic environment, and providing scientific advice on actions to be taken in order to support Arctic governments in their efforts to take remedial and preventive actions relating to contaminants'. AMAP's priorities include the following contaminant groups and issues: Persistent organic contaminants (POPs) Heavy metals (in particular mercury, cadmium, and lead) Radioactivity Acidification and Arctic haze (in a subregional context) Petroleum hydrocarbon pollution (in a subregional context) Climate change (environmental consequences and biological effects in the Arctic resulting from global climate change) Stratospheric ozone depletion (biological effects due to increased UV-B, etc) Effects of pollution on the health of humans living in the Arctic (including effects of increased UV radiation as a result of ozone depletion, and climate change) Combined effects of pollutants and other stressors on both ecosystems and humans