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Today's C
ongressional Action:
The House and Senate are not in session.
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Media
 Here's How Much of the Arctic You're Personally Responsible for Melting. Dirk Notz calculates that for every person who drives a car 2,500 miles or takes a round-trip flight from New York to London, three square meters (about 32 square feet) of sea ice vanishes from the Arctic. Researchers have long documented that human-fueled carbon dioxide emissions contribute to the overall warming of the planet - and, by extension, accelerate the diminishing of sea ice in the Arctic each year. But in a paper published Thursday in the journal Science, Notz and a colleague detail the complex set of calculations that allowed them to estimate how much Arctic sea ice melts for every metric ton of carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere.
The Washington Post
A New Look at Captain Cook Shows Just How Much the Arctic Has Melted. When Captain James Cook entered the Bering Strait in 1778, he did it with pride in his king and country, as evidenced by the Union Jack flying high over the HMS Endeavour. The legendary explorer was on a special mission to find the Northwest Passage, which George III hoped would allow ships to pass through the pole. The passage would allow European and Asian traders to connect without going all the way around the horn of Africa. Guided through the fog by a chorus of barking walruses, Cook ultimately encountered a wall of ice so thick he had to abandon the expedition. He was killed in Hawaii the next summer without ever finding the passage.
Popular Science
 Report: China's Arctic Activities Demand Closer US Attention. A report by the State Department's International Security Advisory Board (ISAB) expresses concern about the rapid expansion of China's activities in the Arctic. The board of national-security experts is now urging the U.S. government to pay more attention to the impact of China's Arctic activities on regional security. Overall, ISAB is calling for a continuing U.S. leadership role on Arctic issues, and highlighting concerns about "Russian interests, policies and activities" in the world's northernmost regions. But the board also has reviewed the activities of China and other countries not physically close to the Arctic but who have growing interests in its development.
Voice of America
Canada Investigates Mysterious 'Pinging' at Bottom of Sea in Arctic.
Canada's military is investigating a mysterious "pinging" that is emanating from the sea floor in
the Arctic. The sound, which has also been described as a "hum" or a "beep", has apparently spooked the
local wildlife in the Fury and Hecla Strait. Paul Quassa, a member of the legislative assembly, said the noise was "emanating from the sea floor."
The Telegraph
The North Pole is Making Ice at a Record-Slow Pace. The Arctic Ocean is freezing up at a slower pace than ever before, with the extent of sea ice at a lower level this fall than in all previous years, the National Snow and Ice Data Center reported this week. The North Pole averaged 2.5 million square miles of ice in October. That's 154,400 square miles less than the previous record set during October 2007. Scientists said that as of early November, the ice levels remained especially low in Alaska's Beaufort and Chukchi seas and Russia's East Siberian and Kara seas.
E&E News
Elections at Sigma Xi. The scientific research society
Sigma Xi is holding an election in which only Sigma Xi members may vote. Several positions are open, including the President. The two presidential candidates are
Dr. Lawson Brigham, representing the Alaska chapter, and
Dr. Joel Primack, of the UCSC chapter in California. Members will receive ballots via email. Vote! Details
here.
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Legislative Action
No Arctic legislation was formally considered yesterday.
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Future Events
1st International Muskox Health Ecology Symposium, November 7-10, 2016 (Calgary, AB Canada).
The goal of this symposium is to share knowledge on muskox health ecology and sustainability across a variety of international stakeholders including community members/users, industry, wildlife management, and academia. We will discuss: the values, ecological, economic, social and cultural, of muskoxen; population status and trends; threats, vulnerabilities and resilience or sustainability; knowledge gaps; disease ecology; and existing and new tools for muskox health monitoring and research. For more information, please contact Susan Kutz.
** New this week **
Arctic Indigenous Economies in Canada, November 9, 2016 (Seattle, WA USA). The Arctic has long been a site for global economic activity particularly during the years of the whaling industry and the fur trade. Today, in what one might call a post-land claims environment, traditional livelihoods are integrated with Arctic Indigenous-owned businesses to create what one might call a uniquely Arctic economic model. The goal of the workshop is to better understand Arctic Indigenous economies - how they differ from economies outside the region, the challenges and opportunities they face today, and their future expectations and plans. The world has long approached the Arctic as a resource to benefit domestic and global economies, but increasingly those who call the region home are defining a distinct economic model and determining how they will interact globally. International studies is only beginning to integrate the voices of non-nation-state actors in considering global decision-making - how Arctic Indigenous people organize economically is a new frontier in international relations and one this workshop hopes to address. The event is sponsored by the Korea Maritime Institute and the Canadian Studies Center, Henry M. Jackson School of International, as part of the Agreement for Academic Cooperation, with partnering units - the East Asia Center, Center for Global Studies, Arctic and International Relations, and International Policy Institute in the Jackson School of International Studies, and the Global Business Center, Foster School of Business.
ArcticNet annual Scientific Meeting 2016, December 5-9, 2016 (Winnipeg, MP Canada).
ArcticNet
will host its 12th Annual Scientific Meeting.
The ASM2016 will welcome researchers, students, Inuit, Northerners, policy makers and stakeholders to address the numerous environmental, social, economical and political challenges and opportunities that are emerging from climate change and modernization in the Arctic. As the largest annual Arctic research gathering held in Canada, ArcticNet's ASM is the ideal venue to showcase results from all fields of Arctic research, stimulate discussion and foster collaborations among those with a vested interest in the Arctic and its peoples.
American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting, December 12-16, 2016 (San Francisco, CA USA). Anticipating about 25,000 attendees, AGU's Fall Meeting will again be the largest Earth and space science meeting in the world. 2016 marks the meeting's 49th year and there will be approximately 20,000 oral and poster presentations in over 1,700 sessions, many of which will focus specifically on Arctic science. Among the highlights, the "2016 Arctic Report" will again be released, IARPC will hold a "Town Hall Meeting" on Thursday, Dec. 15th, from 12:30 to 1:30 pm in Moscone West Room 2003, and NASA will have a Town Hall on Operation IceBridge on Dec. 14th, in Moscone Room 202 from 12:30 to 1:30 pm.
Alaska Marine Science Symposium, January 23-27, 2017 (Anchorage, AK USA). The annual Alaska Marine Science Symposium (AMSS) is Alaska's premier marine research conference. It brings together roughly 800 scientists, educators, resource managers, students, and interested public to discuss marine research being conducted in Alaskan waters. Research will be presented by geographic theme, including the Gulf of Alaska, Bering Sea & Aleutian Islands, and the Arctic. Topic areas will include ocean physics, fishes and invertebrates, seabirds, marine mammals, local traditional knowledge and more. Keynote presentations will be held Monday, January 23rd; Gulf of Alaska presentations will be on Tuesday, Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands on Wednesday, followed by the Arctic on Thursday.
Alaska Forum on the Environment, February 6-10, 2017 (Anchorage, AK USA). This statewide gathering of environmental professionals, community leaders, Alaskan youth, conservationists, biologists and community elders will be holding its 19th meeting to continue providing a strong educational foundation for all Alaskans and a unique opportunity to interact with others on environmental issues and challenges. As many as 1,800 people are expected to attend AFE this years meeting.
6th Annual Fletcher Arctic Conference, February 17-18, 2017 (Medford, MA USA). Fletcher Arctic VI, a TEDx-style event, will showcase the ideas, stories, and initiatives of people who live and work in the Arctic. The conference will bring together inspiring leaders, innovative business people, expert scientists, and artists from the pan-Arctic region. Building on The Fletcher School's interdisciplinary approach, Fletcher Arctic VI will be a forum to engage in conversation and spark open and constructive debate between speakers and participants, providing deep insights into this unique and rapidly changing region.
IV International Forum, March 2017 (Arkhangelsk, Russian Federation)
Arkhangelsk will host the Forum. The Forum will be titled Human in the Arctic and will be aimed at putting together joint efforts of the international community to promote effective development of the Arctic region as a territory for comfort life, work and leisure. The Forum will be attended by government officials, representatives of international organizations and prominent business communities, centers for political studies, Polar researchers and members of the international Arctic expeditions, foreign political scientists and economists, Russian and foreign journalists from leading international media organizations. The Forum will be attended by the President of the Russian Federation, Mr. Vladimir Putin. Additional information will be announced
here
.
Ninth International Congress of Arctic Social Sciences: People and Places (ICASS IX), June 8-12, 2017 (Umeå, Sweden).
ICASS IX's theme is People & Place. Research on social sciences and humanities have a great responsibility to address the challenges for sustainable development in the Arctic, with a specific focus on the many different parts of the Arctic and the people that live there. The multiple Arctics have lately been addressed by many policy makers and researchers. The purpose is often to counteract the stereotypic understanding of the Arctic too often represented by icebergs and polar bears. A focus on people and place highlights the many variances across the region in terms of climate, political systems, demography, infrastructure, history, languages, legal systems, land and water resources etc.
POLAR 2018, June 15-27, 2018 (Davos, Switzerland).
POLAR2018 is a joint event from the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) and the International Arctic Science Committee (IASC). The SCAR meetings, the ASSW and the Open Science Conference will be hosted by the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL under the patronage of the Swiss Committee on Polar and High Altitude Research. The WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF is organizing POLAR2018.
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