MOSCOW, April 19. /TASS/. Russian scientists plan to make two expeditions to the Arctic region aboard the vessels operated by the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) this year. The research will focus on the impact of various processes underway in the Arctic on the climate, RAS President Alexander Sergeev told TASS.

According to Sergeev, methane emissions, which are related to climate change and the degradation of permafrost, have been recorded in the Arctic recently. "All that has resulted in a situation where methane’s role in present-day global warming can be substantial," he said.

"A program providing for a series of Arctic expeditions has been approved. For example, two expeditions aboard the Russian Academy of Sciences’ vessels are planned this year from the eastern and western sides to study the Arctic. The paramount issues that we are determined to study are how these processes, which are beginning to develop in the Arctic, affect the climate," Sergeev said.