A Shifting Focus of US Arctic Policy: China and Security, Front and Center. Last month, the Trump administration released its first presidential memo on the Arctic, marking a significant step in crafting a strategy for the region of growing interest. The memo called on executive departments to devise a plan to launch three heavy icebreakers by 2029 and establish two domestic and two international support bases. While previous U.S. strategic documents and statements had hinted at shifting policy, the presidential memo brings into direct view two key aspects of the U.S.'s current Arctic policy. The Arctic Institute

 

Climate Change is Causing More Rain in the North. That's Bad News for Permafrost. Longer, rainier summers are thawing permafrost at an accelerated rate in interior Alaska, according to a new study, begging the question: what does this mean for rainy summers in the Canadian North? "Thawing is happening even faster than we thought," said Thomas Douglas, an environmental engineer with the U.S. Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory and lead author of the study. "We've had these crazy wet summers. It's gonna be bad for permafrost." The Narwhal

Scientists Reveal Shifting Spring Phenology of Arctic Tundra With Satellite and Ground Observation. Phenology represents the seasonal dynamics of vegetation, and is an important indicator of local and regional climate change. With stronger warming trends at higher latitudes, the seasonality of vulnerable Arctic tundra is more sensitive. Many studies have reported advances in the start of growing season (SOS) in Northern Hemisphere, however, a delayed trend in SOS was reported in some recent studies.A new study, published in Science China Earth Sciences, showed the temporal and spatial variations of the spring phenology at 29 sites in the Arctic tundra region using multiple remote sensing indices and ground observations from 2000 to 2018. The study was led by scientists from the Institute of Atmospheric Physics (IAP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Phys.org

 

Arctic Expedition Studies Fauna on Franz Josef Land. Scientists examined the Arctic fauna and soil on the Novaya Zemlya and Franz Josef Land archipelagoes during an expedition on the Mekhanik Yartsev vessel, which has returned to Arkhangelsk, Director of the Russian Arctic National Park Alexander Kirilov told TASS. "The expedition visited a few islands of the Franz Josef Land Archipelago and the northern point of Severny Island of the Novaya Zemlya Archipelago, where they monitored sea mammals and avifauna in the first place," he said. "On Hooker Island, they examined the condition of the aircraft hangar to decide what works could be done there. On Heiss Island they took samples of soil in the areas of recent cleanup to evaluate the concentrations of oil products." TASS Russian News Agency

 

COVID-19 Cases Continue to Rise in Arctic. COVID-19 cases continue to climb on the North Slope Borough, mostly due to travelers entering the community, said public health nurse Andrey Boskhomdzhiev. Cumulative cases on the slope total 27 as of Aug. 19-seven of them active- according to the Arctic Slope Native Association. This week, six residents within the community tested positive for the virus and are self-isolating. Officials said two of the cases are likely travel-related, and four others appear to be a result of community spread. The Arctic Sounder