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May 2018 National Weather Service Alaska Climate Outlook Briefing, May 24, 2019 (Webinar).
This event is part of the OneNOAA Science Seminar Series.
The tools and techniques for making monthly and season scale climate forecasts are rapidly changing, with the potential to provide useful forecasts at the month and longer range. We will review recent climate conditions around Alaska, review some forecast tools and finish up the Climate Prediction Center's forecast for June and the summer season. Feel free to bring your lunch and join the gathering in person or online to learn more about Alaska climate and weather.
Arctic Science Summit Week, May 22-30, 2019 (Arkhangelsk, Russia).
The Arctic Science Summit Week 2019 will take place in Northern (Arctic) Federal University and Northern State Medical University, Russia, Arkhangelsk. Under the auspices of International Arctic Science Committee, participants from more than 23 countries and regions will be involved.
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breaking... Canada defines its continental shelf in the Arctic Ocean.
After more than a decade's worth of scientific and legal work to determine the limits of Canada's undersea landmass in the Arctic, Canada filed a 2,100-page submission with the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf at United Nations headquarters in New York. This marks the first step in the process set out in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) to obtain international recognition for the outer limits of the continental shelf in the Arctic Ocean, which will confirm Canada's rights over this area. This is a critical step to fully define the map of Canada. Quotes:
"Canada is committed to furthering its leadership in the Arctic. Defining our continental shelf is vital to ensuring our sovereignty and to serving the interests of all people, including Indigenous peoples, in the Arctic. Today's submission is a major step toward securing legal and international recognition of the outer limits of Canada's continental shelf in the Arctic Ocean."
- Hon. Chrystia Freeland, P.C., M.P., Minister of Foreign Affairs
"International recognition of the outer limits of Canada's extended continental shelf is vital to ensuring our sovereignty and protecting our national interests. We are proud to support Canada's Arctic Ocean submission to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf, supported by science and evidence, reaffirming our government's commitment to furthering Canada's leadership in the Arctic."
- Hon. Amarjeet Sohi, Minister of Natural Resources
"Canada is a proud ocean nation. The filing of the Arctic Ocean continental shelf submission is a major milestone in delivering on the government's priority to define the outer limits of Canada's continental shelf. Today we are taking a major step forward in ensuring Canada's Arctic sovereignty."
- Hon. Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard
A Billion-Year-Old Fungus May Hold Clues to Life's Arrival on Land. Scientists reported on Wednesday that they have discovered the oldest known fossils of fungi, a finding that may reshape our understanding of how life first arrived on land from the oceans. Fungi are the invisible giants of the natural world, even if most people are only dimly aware of them as toadstools along a hiking trail, or mushrooms sprinkled across a pizza.
New York Times
As Arctic Ship Traffic Increases, Narwhals and Other Unique Animals are at Risk. Most Americans associate fall with football and raking leaves, but in the Arctic this season is about ice. Every year, floating sea ice in the Arctic thins and melts in spring and summer, then thickens and expands in fall and winter. As climate change warms the Arctic, its sea ice cover is declining. This year scientists estimate that the Arctic sea ice minimum in late September covered 1.77 million square miles (4.59 million square kilometers), tying the sixth lowest summertime minimum on record.
World Economic Forum
 Funding Shortfalls Threaten Alaska Ionosphere Research Center. The High-frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP), operated by the University of Alaska Fairbanks, allows scientists to study the ionosphere - from the effects of the aurora on radio systems to aircraft communications in the High North. But the center, which costs $2 million a year to operate, isn't making enough money to pay the bills, according to Bob McCoy, director of UAF's Geophysical Institute. If they don't figure out a way to increase their revenue, HAARP will soon shut down.
Arctic Today
As Gray Whales Die Along the West Coast, Alaska Scientists Look for Answers Beneath Blubber. Cutting through a six-inch-thick layer of blubber demands a sharp knife. But as she prepared to slice into the abdomen of a dead gray whale beached outside Anchorage on Tuesday, many of Kathy Burek's knives were dull. Burek, a veterinary pathologist, had used them two days earlier to collect samples from a different gray whale, 100 miles away. Then, the next whale washed up.
Alaska Public Radio
 Scientists Name A New Reason for Methane Release in the Arctic. Russian scientists opened a new mechanism, explaining influence from salt migration emerging from decomposition of huge gas (methane) hydrates reserves on the Arctic shelf, the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology's (Skoltech) press service said. Results of the studies are published on Geosciences magazine's website. Methane is a main greenhouse gas, which affects the global warming. Russian scientists came to "understanding of the mechanism of massive methane release from bottom sediments of the East Siberian Arctic shelf," the article reads.
TASS
Scientists Discuss Involvement of Indigenous Arctic Peoples in Research Activities. As part of the Arctic Science Summit Week, Arkhangelsk hosted a meeting of the International Arctic Science Committee's Social & Human Working Group. Experts addressed a wide range of issues related to human activities in the Arctic, studies of direct and indirect effects of ecosystem changes on the Arctic area's population, and issues of geopolitics and peace, and gender equality. Yet the main aim of this group's work is involving indigenous peoples of the Arctic in the scientific community's initiatives.
The Arctic
 National Defense Spending Bill Includes Arctic Military Operations. The Senate Armed Services Committee passed new bipartisan legislation, authorizing $750 billion in defense spending for Fiscal Year 2020. According to a press release from Sen. Dan Sullivan's office, the bill includes 30 provisions and amendments that will directly impact Alaska. This includes advancing military capabilities in the Arctic, strengthening and improving our missile defense system, and boosting military installations.
KTUU
 Murkowski Stresses Importance of America's Arctic Role. U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), who recently attended the Arctic Council Ministerial in Rovaniemi, Finland and the Arctic Circle Assembly forum in Shanghai, China spoke on the Senate floor to urge her colleagues to place a greater focus on the Arctic and ensure that the United States steps into its leadership role. While Senator Murkowski acknowledged recent progress, such as Congress appropriating full funding for the design and construction of a new heavy Polar Security Cutter (AKA icebreaker), including funding for long lead-time materials for a second Polar Security Cutter, she stressed the need for the United States to engage in the Arctic.
Alaska Native News
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Future Events
** New this week **
The US Navy's New Arctic Strategy: What it Means for America's Sea Services, May 29, 2019 (Newport, RI USA and via live stream). This event is part of the Lectures of Opportunity (LOOs) series. LOOs offer Naval War College (NWC) students, faculty, and staff an opportunity to learn more about national and international socio-political subjects that may be of relevance to the NWC community. At the request of Congress, the U.S. Navy released its updated Arctic strategy in April 2019. This "strategic outlook" describes the U.S. Navy's approach to securing U.S. national interests and promoting stability in the Arctic. Please join us for a panel discussion featuring faculty from the Naval War College's Arctic Studies Group on the updated strategy and what it means for America's Sea Services-the U.S. Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard.
Resilience in Rapidly Changing Arctic Systems, proposals close June 14, 2019. This joint Belmont Forum CRA calls for co-developed and co-implemented proposals from integrated teams of natural and social scientists, and stakeholders to address key areas of arctic resilience understanding and action. This collaboration of academic and non-academic knowledge systems constitutes a transdisciplinary approach that will advance not only understanding of the fundamentals of arctic resilience but also spur action, inform decision-making, and translate into solutions for resilience. The term "stakeholder" is used here in its broadest possible sense, allowing for co-development of projects with partners from, but not limited to, civil society, government, industry, NGOs, and Indigenous organizations.
Mark your calendars to attend IDA-8, which some have called one of the best Arctic gatherings around. Historically, this biennial symposium was co-hosted by U.S. National/Naval Ice Center (NIC) and the US Arctic Research Commission (USARC). In 2019, these partners will join forces with the Wilson Center's Polar Institute, and the Patuxent Defense Forum (run by the Patuxent Partnership), and St. Mary's College of Maryland as co-hosts. The now 2-day symposium will be held in the Ronald Reagan Building Amphitheater, in Washington, DC. The event will focus on a broad cross-section of naval and maritime operations and issues in an ice-diminishing Arctic. The symposium brings together nationally and internationally recognized experts on Arctic governance, geopolitics, marine operations, infrastructure, science, and environmental observations, from the local, regional, and pan-Arctic scale. Information on prior symposia, including lists of speakers, video clips, and copies of presentations, is available here. Attendance is free, and registration is now open, here
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The event will be webcast live, and video recorded.
2019 Sea Ice Symposium, August 18-23, 2019 (Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada). IGS co-hosts a sea ice symposium every 5 years. The Centre for Earth Observation Science (University of Manitoba) is excited to be hosting the first IGS event to be held in Canada. The symposium will include oral and poster sessions, and will provide a friendly and intellectually stimulating environment to facilitate face-to-face interactions and networking. Additional activities will include an opening reception, a banquet dinner and a mid-symposium afternoon excursion.
Bridging Science, Art, and Community in the New Arctic, Sept. 23-25, 2019, (University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia USA).
The University of Virginia (UVA) in Charlottesville, VA, is hosting a conference and workshop entitled "Bridging Science, Art, and Community in the New Arctic" from Sept. 23-25, 2019, sponsored by the National Science Foundation Navigating the New Arctic program, with additional support from UVA's Institute for Humanities and Global Cultures, and Center for Global Inquiry and Innovation. The UVA Environmental Resilience Institute's Arctic CoLab is organizing the event, with assistance from the Arctic Research Consortium of the U.S. (ARCUS).
EU Arctic Forum, October 3-4, 2019 (
Umeå, Sweden).
The European Commission, the European External Action Service, and the Government of Sweden will jointly organize a high-level EU Arctic Forum
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The EU Arctic Forum will bring together key Arctic players and stakeholders to assess recent developments in the region and to discuss the new challenges ahead.
The EU Arctic Forum will include several keynote addresses and two high-level panel sessions on the morning of 3 October. Foreign ministers from EU member states as well as the Arctic Council will be invited to participate.
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External links in this publication, and on the USARC's World Wide Web site (
www.arctic.gov) do not constitute endorsement by the US Arctic Research Commission of external Web sites or the information, products or services contained therein. For other than authorized activities, the USARC does not exercise any editorial control over the information you may find at these locations. These links are provided consistent with the stated purpose of this newsletter and the USARC Web site.
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