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Seeking Comment: Principles for Conducting Research in the Arctic, July 31, 2018 (Webinar).  The Interagency Arctic Research Policy Committee (IARPC) is seeking comment from the public on the draft newly revised Principles for Conducting Research in the Arctic. The Principles are directed at federally-funded researchers, though they may be useful to academic, state, local, and tribal researchers in the Arctic. Attend our listening session on July 31 at 11 AM Alaska / 3 PM Eastern to learn more and submit your comments: here.
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Media
Coastlines & People (CoPe). The National Science Foundation (NSF) is launching a new initiative on Coastlines and People (CoPe), that includes the Arctic region, and NSF seeks input on research priorities. Four simultaneous, three-day (Sept. 26-28, 2018) scoping sessions will be hosted by the University Cooperation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) and facilitated by KnowInnovation on behalf of the NSF. Workshop sites include San Diego, Chicago, and Atlanta, with a fourth 'virtual' workshop held on Mountain Time. The scoping sessions aim to attract a variety of stakeholders including academic researchers, state, federal and local representatives working on important issues relating to coastal environments. Travel support is available to selected participants. The application deadline is midnight (local time) August 12, 2018. More information is available at
https://coastlinesandpeople.org/
 Report to Congress on Changes in the Arctic. From the Report: The diminishment of Arctic sea ice has led to increased human activities in the Arctic, and has heightened interest in, and concerns about, the region's future. The United States, by virtue of Alaska, is an Arctic country and has substantial interests in the region. Record low extents of Arctic sea ice over the past decade have focused scientific and policy attention on links to global climate change and projected ice-free seasons in the Arctic within decades. These changes have potential consequences for weather in the United States, access to mineral and biological resources in the Arctic, the economies and cultures of peoples in the region, and national security.
USNI News
 The Swedish Town on the Frontline of the Arctic Wildfires. Until this month, nobody would have imagined that the bucolic Lapland town of Jokkmokk could be home to one of the world's busiest fire brigades. Nestled beside a bank of pink willowherb and the start line of the Arctic 220km ski marathon, the fire station normally has just three full-time staff and a team of volunteers. During the dark, freezing winters, that is enough hands to deal with the usual electric fires and traffic accidents. During the 24-hour sunlight of the summer, they can usually manage with the aftermath of lightning strikes and barbecue accidents.
The Guardian
Climate Change Means Bigger Arctic Spiders-and That Could be a Good Thing. Warmer temperatures in the Arctic may lead to more, and larger, wolf spiders. But this might be good for the region, according to a new study released in the journal Proceeding of the National Academy of Sciences. Wolf spiders, which stalk and ambush their prey rather than catching it in a web, are one of the Arctic's most abundant predators. While they can eat other spiders, crickets and ants, at the top of their dietary list is springtail, a small insect. Springtails eat fungi, which in turn feeds on decomposing plants and animals, a process that releases greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane. More springtails mean fewer fungi, which leads to fewer greenhouse gases released.
Nunatsiaq Online
International Research Expedition Sets Sail for the Arctic. The Arctic climate is changing faster than anywhere else in the world. On July 31, a Swedish-American research expedition to the Arctic Ocean will set sail to study how these polar changes may impact global temperatures by altering cloud formation. Forty researchers from across the world will be based aboard the Swedish icebreaker Oden. Paty Matrai, a senior research scientist from Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences in East Boothbay, will act as co-chief scientist for the expedition. After sailing nearly as far north as the Pole, the crew will moor the ship to a moving ice floe. As they drift with the ice, specialized research teams will collect vital statistics from the sea, ice and air.
Wiscasset Newspaper
 The Fate of Future Endangered Species Could Hinge on a Semantic Argument. Everyone agrees that the Pacific walrus is stressed. The large, tusked pinnipeds depend on floating sea ice to rest and give birth in the spring and summers, when the Goldilocks-sized not-too-thin, not-too-thick ice floes they require are becoming increasingly rare. But coming to a consensus on how the large marine mammals will react to that stress is less straightforward. "While the Pacific walrus will experience a future reduction in availability of sea ice ... we are unable to reliably predict the magnitude of the effect," read the official Fish and Wildlife service finding in October 2017, explaining the decision not to list the species under the Endangered Species Act despite the service's own 2011 assessment that it was threatened by climate change.
Popular Science
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Future Events
g of the AAG includes over 8,500 geographers converging from the U.S., Canada, and nearly 60 other countries in a typical year including geographers, GIS specialists, environmental scientists, and other leaders for the latest in research and applications in geography, sustainability, and GIScience.
** New this week **
DC Science Cafe: Polar Opposites, August 6, 2018 (Washington, DC USA). The Arctic. Antarctica. Two poles of one planet, the one that matters most. Join intrepid reporters Mike Lucibella and Eli Kintisch as they share their personal adventures in search of the uplifting, astonishing, and globally-consequential discoveries by scientists who trek to these extreme regions for their uniquely telling windows on an epic and ongoing planetary story. This event is hosted by the DC Science Café.
The ICCH congresses are held every third
year in different locations in the circumpolar area and represent the largest scientific meetings worldwide on circumpolar health. The ICCH congresses serve as the primary source of information exchange and scholarly communication in issues relating to circumpolar health.
More than 750 participants generally register and
participate
in each Congress, and more than 400 scientific papers or posters are usually presented.
** New this week **
The Causes and Consequences of a Rapidly Changing Arctic, August 16, 2018 (Washington, DC USA and via webinar). Earth's climate system is highly interconnected, meaning that changes to the global climate influence the United States climatically and economically. In much the same way as European and Asian financial markets affect the U.S. economy, changes to ice sheet mass and energy flows in the far reaches of the planet affect our climate. Life on Earth is sensitive to climate conditions; human society is especially susceptible due to the climate-vulnerable, complex, and often fragile systems that provide food, water, energy, and security. This event is part of the Climate Science Special Report (CSSR) Seminar Series by the US Global Change Research Program in partnership with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The presenter will be Dr. Patrick C. Taylor, Climate Research Scientist, NASA Langley Research Center.
** New this week **
August NWS Alaska Climate Outlook Briefing, August 17, 2018 (Fairbanks, Alaska USA or via webinar). 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 September and the Fall/early winter season. This event is part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Science Seminar Series.
** New this week **
The Fourth US National Climate Assessment: An Overview of Volume 1, August 28, 2018 (Washington, DC and via webinar). This event is part of the Climate Science Special Report (CSSR) Seminar Series by the US Global Change Research Program in partnership with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. New observations and new research have increased our understanding of past, current, and future climate change. The Fourth National Climate Assessment confirms prior assessments in concluding that the climate on our planet, including the United States, is changing, and changing rapidly. Observational evidence for a changing climate abounds, from the top of the atmosphere to the depths of the oceans. The speaker will be Donald J. Wuebbles, the Harry E. Preble Professor of Atmospheric Science at the University of Illinois.
UArctic Congress 2018, September 3-7, 2018 (Oulu and Helsinki, Finland).
The UArctic Congress 2018 will bring together key UArctic meetings and a science conference into one single gathering, including business meetings of the Council of UArctic, Rectors' Forum, Student Forum, and Thematic Networks & UArctic Institutes Leadership Team. The Congress is an integral part of the Finland's Arctic Council chairmanship program, and open to the public. The event will highlight the themes and priorities of the Finnish chairmanship, including the goals of the United Nations' 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and the Paris Agreement under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.
** New this week **
September NWS Alaska Climate Outlook Briefing, September 21, 2018 (Fairbanks, Alaska USA and via webinar). 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 October and the early winter season. This event is part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Science Seminar Series.
Scientific Exploration of the Arctic and North Pacific (SEA-NorP), September 25-27, 2018 (Mt. Hood, Oregon USA). This workshop will include discussion of hypotheses that can be tested by scientific drilling in the region, the technology necessary to achieve those goals, ideal sites for drilling based on existing data, and where additional site survey data is needed. The goal of the workshop organizers is that multiple proposals will be initiated at the workshop, both for full cruise legs and for shorter, targeted expeditions around the following themes: ocean gateways, geohazards, volatile cycling, ice histories at transition zones, biosphere and climate.
The second Arctic Biodiversity Congress is hosted by the Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna (CAFF), the biodiversity working group of the Arctic Council, and the Ministry of the Environment, Finland. The second Arctic Biodiversity Congress will build on the success of the first Congress, held in 2014 in Trondheim, Norway, and will bring together scientists, policymakers government officials, Indigenous representatives, Traditional Knowledge holders, industry, non-governmental organizations, and others to promote the conservation and sustainable use of Arctic biodiversity.
Arctic Circle Assembly, October 2018 (Reykjavik, Iceland).
The annual Arctic Circle Assembly is the largest annual international gathering on the Arctic, attended by more than 2000 participants from 60 countries. It is attended by heads of states and governments, ministers, members of parliaments, officials, experts, scientists, entrepreneurs, business leaders, indigenous representatives, environmentalists, students, activists and others from the growing international community of partners and participants interested in the future of the Arctic.
Arctic Science Forum Associated with the 2nd Arctic Science Ministerial, October 25, 2018 (Berlin, Germany and via webcast).
How vulnerable and how resilient are nature and the people of the Arctic region? How well do we understand the regional and global dynamics which are driving change in the Arctic? What impact will change in the Arctic have on us? These and other questions are the focus of this two-day conference. It will take interdisciplinary research in the Arctic to gain an understanding of past and future processes - a complex and cost-intensive venture. This makes an international network of Arctic research so important for delivering better results. Cooperation in research, the exchange of data, collaborative observation and monitoring schemes - international cooperation is imperative in research on the Arctic.
Only the Science Forum, on October 25th, will be webcast. The Arctic Ministerial, on October 26th, will NOT be webcast.
American Geophysical Union Fall meeting, December 10-14, 2018 (Washington, DC USA). The AGU 2018 Fall Meeting will mark another dynamic year of discovery in Earth and space science, serve as the advent of AGU's Centennial year, and provide a special opportunity to share our science with world
 leaders in Washington, D.C. As the largest Earth and space science gathering in the world, the Fall Meeting places you in the center of a global community of scientists drawn from myriad fields of study whose work protects the health and welfare of people worldwide, spurs innovation, and informs decisions that are critical to the sustainability of the Earth.
** New this week **
ArcticNet: Annual Scientific Meeting 2018, December 10-14, 2018 (Ottawa, ON Canada). Canada's North is experiencing unprecedented change in its sea and terrestrial ice, permafrost and ecosystems under the triple pressures of climate change, industrialization and modernization. The impacts of these pressures can be seen on food and energy security, shipping, sovereignty, northern community health and well-being, and sustainable development and resource exploitation. All these issues have brought the North to the forefront of national and international agendas. Building on the success of its previous Annual Scientific Meetings and International Arctic Change Conferences, the Arctic Network of Centers of Excellence announces the 14th ArcticNet Annual Scientific Meeting.
is a global scientific conference on economic, societal, and environmental sustainable growth.
This year's theme will be "Smart Arctic," with a pan-arctic emphasis, and an effort to build new partnerships across nations, generations and ethnic groups. Arctic Frontiers provides a forum for dialogue and communication between science, government and industry
. The plenary program will have five main sessions: State of the Arctic, Blue Growth, Smart Solutions, Bridging the Gap, and Arctic business prospects. An abstract-driven science program will address Plastics in the Ocean, the Future of Governance and Handling Vulnerability in Arctic Ecosystems, State of the Arctic and A Smart Arctic Future.
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** New this week **