Who Were the Ancestors of Native Americans? A Lost People in Siberia, Scientists Say. A skeleton in Siberia nearly 10,000 years old has yielded DNA that reveals a striking kinship to living Native Americans, scientists reported on Wednesday. The finding, published in the journal Nature, provides an important new clue to the migrations that first brought people to the Americas. New York Times

A Strategic Plan for the Arctic Council: Recommendations for Moving Forward. For the first time since its creation in 1996, the Arctic Council failed to reach agreement on a Ministerial Declaration when it met in Rovaniemi earlier this month. Such Declarations signed at each past Ministerial meeting have served to highlight the Council's programs and projects over the prior two years and to chart new work that the Council would undertake during the next biennium. This unfortunate turn of events raises serious questions about the ability of the Arctic Council to continue to play the constructive role that has been its hallmark in helping to keep the Arctic Region peaceful and cooperative despite growing geopolitical tensions relating to other issues and to other areas of the world. [Coauthored by chair of the US Arctic Research Commission Fran Ulmer] Wilson Center

 

Arctic Coast Erosion Revealed by Drone Images. Extreme erosion of Arctic coastlines in a changing climate-up to a meter a day-has been revealed with drone surveys. Storms in the Canadian Arctic are washing away increasing amounts of coastal permafrost-frozen ground-which is exposed when sea ice melts during the summer. Phys.org  

 

Canada Makes a Claim to the North Pole. The mystique of the North Pole, at the very top of the world, has long driven explorers to risk their lives in the Arctic - while those of us not so adventurously inclined look on in awe. Now, three northern nations are vying to stake their claim to part of the Arctic seafloor, a region chock-full of fossil fuels that lies under thousands of miles of water and ice. Late last month, Canada threw its metaphorical hat into the ring, joining Russia and Denmark in arguing that science is on their side in laying claim to almost half a million square miles of underwater Arctic territory, based on the extent of its continental shelf - including the geographic North Pole. LiveScience  

 

Tromsø Scientists Make Scary Findings in Norway's Arctic Population: "Saturated" with Environmental Toxins. Environmental toxins kill 1,000 people in the Nordic countries every year, according to a recent report. Much goes to indicate that such toxins may cause damages to children's central nervous system. Scientists in Tromsø, Norway have long worked to map the extent of environmental toxins in the Arctic populations, and the result is frightening. High North New  

 

Inuit Plan Says Climate Change Can't Be Separated From Social Issues. Climate change affects all parts of life in the North and any plan to deal with it must be just as wide-ranging, says a strategy document to be released today by Canada's Inuit. "This is something that isn't just a policy area for us," said Natan Obed, head of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, which wrote the strategy. "It also is a life-and-death situation for people who are still inextricably linked to the environment." CTV News