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2015 Arctic Energy Summit, September 28-30, 2015 (Fairbanks, Alaska, USA).
The Institute of the North's 2015 Arctic Energy Summit builds on legacy efforts to address energy as a fundamental element of the sustainable development of the Arctic as a lasting frontier. Central to this concept is a focus on providing pathways for affordable energy development in the Arctic and for Arctic communities.
Today's C
ongressional Action:
The Senate will consider a procedural motion regarding federal funding for fiscal year 2016. The House may consider legislation to extend federal funding as well as the Department of Defense appropriations act.
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 Shell's Chukchi Failure the Latest in Decades-Long Series of Offshore Arctic Flops.
After pouring billions of dollars into offshore Arctic leases and a complicated drilling program that used the latest available technology, oil explorers were confident that they would strike a gusher and open up a new northern petroleum frontier. The plan went bust and the explorers walked away. Alaska Dispatch News
Demand for Arctic Infrastructure High Despite Shell's Departure. Shell's plans to abandon its quest for oil off Alaska's coast removes a huge presence from the U.S. Arctic, but the call for new icebreakers and the region's first deep-water port isn't diminishing. In fact, it may grow louder. Some 30 Shell ships this summer provided an added measure of safety that will be gone next year, but international traffic is expected to continue rising even in the oil giant's absence, said Reggie Joule, mayor of the Northwest Arctic Borough. Alaska Dispatch News
 Murkowski's Arctic Trip Hits Everything But Oil. As Shell prepared to announce its impending departure from the U.S. Arctic, Sen. Lisa Murkowski was closing out a weekend tour of all things Arctic with a few Senate colleagues that included a stop in Barrow, just 150 miles from Shell's soon-to-be-abandoned well in the Chukchi Sea. Despite recent major news of setbacks for Arctic oil drilling, the trip Murkowski planned for herself and Sens. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., and Mike Rounds, R-S.D., wasn't about oil at all. "We had a fabulous trip," Murkowski said upon returning to Congress Monday night for an evening budget vote. Alaska Dispatch News
Arctic Education: The World's Northernmost University is Booming.
In the land of the midnight sun and the northern lights, in the most fragile ecosystem on the planet, you'll find the world's northernmost university. Students from around the world are flocking to the spectacularly remote University Centre in Svalbard (UNIS), which lies at a latitude of 78 degrees north, in the Arctic Sea, midway between Norway and the North Pole. CNN
 Arctic Energy Summit Focuses on Both Fossil Fuels and Renewables.
This week's announcement from Shell that it would abandon Arctic offshore drilling has hovered at the edge of the proceedings - organizer Nils Andreassen of the Institute of the North asked for a moment of silence Monday morning to "recognize the complexities" of operating in the region. But, he said, it doesn't change a basic reality. "This is still the decade of the Arctic,"Andreassen said. "Whether Shell is here or not. I think you had President Obama in the state for a reason, and an attention to the Arctic by the U.S. that we've never seen before. And I don't think that's going away." Alaska Public Radio
Russia Builds Arctic Air Defense Base.
An icebreaker carved a channel through the ice for the Northern Fleet flotilla, Interfax news agency said. Besides Sredniy, five island bases are being built by 1,500 workers - at Alexandra Land, Rogachevo, Cape Schmidt, Wrangel and Kotelny. Russia sees the Arctic as a strategic priority in its new naval doctrine. BBC News
World's Glaciers Could Shrink by Almost Half by End of Century, Study Says.
The visible and measurable retreat of glaciers in Alaska and worldwide over recent decades is only expected to continue, a new study says. By the year 2100, glaciers could lose 25-48 percent of their volume and the resulting runoff could contribute 3-6 inches to sea-level rise, according to the first major projection of global glacial melting. Publication of the final version of the study in the journal Frontiers in Earth Sciences is expected Tuesday. Alaska Dispatch News
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Legislative Action
No Arctic legislation was formally considered yesterday.
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Future Events
2015 Arctic Science Conference, October 1-3, 2015 (Anchorage, Alaska, USA). The conference theme is "Healthy Estuaries: Sustainability and Resilience." Conference topics include traditional scientific disciplines, science education, arctic social sciences, biomedical research, and artistic interpretation of the evolving North. Abstract submissions are now being accepted. The deadline is August 1, 2015.
Resources for the Future and the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment are hosting a seminar to understand the science behind increased shipping and the related impacts on marine life, ecosystems, and the communities that depend on them. Among the speakers will be Dr. Lawson Brigham, from the University of Alaska Fairbanks, an advisor to the USARC, and Ms. Denise Michels, Mayor of Nome, Alaska.
Registration required
. Available as webcast too.
The Arctic Circle is the largest global gathering on the Arctic. It is attended by heads of state and governments, ministers, members of parliament, 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. The Arctic Circle highlights issues and concerns, programs, policies and projects; it provides platforms for dynamic dialogue and constructive cooperation. While the plenary sessions are the responsibility of the Arctic Circle, the breakout sessions are organized by various participating partners in their own name and with full authority over the agenda and the choice of speakers.
US Expert Panel on Shaping Global Policies for the Arctic : Penn State University, October 20, 2015 (State College, PA, USA).
Penn State University will host an afternoon panel of national experts in the Arctic and in US interests in the region. Building on the law of the sea expertise of VADM James Houck (former Navy Judge Advocate General and now Interim Dean of the Law School and School of International Affairs at Penn State) and the knowledge of the changing Arctic environment of RADM David Titley (former head of the Navy's Task Force Climate Change and now professor from practice in the Department of Meteorology), the panel brings together experts in science, law, policy, and Arctic diplomacy. We see these experts individually at events in Washington, but Penn State is doing a great service in bringing them altogether at one event in an region that seldom gets such first hand expertise.
The Polar Oceans and Global Climate Change, November 3-6, 2015
(La Jolla, California USA). The American Polar Society will host this Symposium at Scripps Institution of Oceanography. A flyer with a partial list of presenters is available on the Society's website (
americanpolar.org
) and from the Society's Membership Chairman by
email.
Forum for Arctic Modeling and Observational Synthesis Meeting, November 3-6, 2015 (Cape Cod, MA, USA). On November 3rd, the
2015 School for young scientists will consider "Regional Oceanography of the Arctic marginal seas" with lectures covering major features of atmospheric, sea ice and oceanographic regimes of the: Bering, Chukchi, Beaufort, East-Siberian, Laptev Sea, Kara, Barents and Nordic seas. On November 4-6, the meeting portion will summarize project accomplishments for the last 3 years of activities and will focus on the formulation of scientific questions and directions for FAMOS future research (2016-2019) to: (a) improve Arctic modeling, employing very high resolution models; (b) develop and test new arctic monitoring/observing systems and (c) improve predictions of Arctic environmental parameters with reduced uncertainties.
Due North: Next Generation Arctic Research & Leadership, November 5-8, 2015 (Calgary, Alberta, Canada).
The Association of Canadian Universities for Northern Studies (ACUNS) will convene an interdisciplinary conference of early career scientists working on Arctic issues. Topics will include:
Arctic Communities, Arctic Sustainable Development, Arctic Wildlife, Ecosystem and Biodiversity, Arctic Food Security, Arctic Landscapes, Climate Change and Adaptation, Disaster Risk Management, Policy, Politics and Leadership, Arctic Environment (Data and Techniques), Arctic Resources, and Future of Arctic.
Matchpoints Seminar, November 12-13, 2015 (Aarhus, Denmark).
The purpose of the conference is to provide a forum for policy-makers and academics to deliberate on how the security, resilience and sustainability of the globalized Arctic region and its peoples may be enhanced, and what instruments of governance may most suitably contribute. The conference will spell out (1) how the different relevant dimensions of security (military, economic, environmental, energy and human security) manifest themselves in the governing / governance arrangements in the Arctic; (2) how the challenges associated with each manifest themselves, individually and together; and (3) what forms of governing arrangements can best help to address the challenges. The conference will also focus on (4) how the Nordic countries and nations, including Greenland, the Faroe Islands and Aaland Islands, may contribute to the peace, stability and prosperity of the Arctic region through collaborative efforts based on their shared social, human, environmental and democratic values.
Arctic Observing Open Science Meeting, November 17-19, 2015 (Seattle, Washington). The Arctic Observing Open Science Meeting will be 2.5 days and held at the Hyatt at Olive 8 in Seattle, Washington. The conference will bring together individuals and teams involved in the collection, processing, analysis, and use of observations in the Arctic - from academia, agencies, industry, and other organizations. The meeting will be convened as a combination of plenary talks, parallel science sessions, and a poster session. The agenda and registration information will be forthcoming.
In the Spirit of the Rovaniemi Process 2015, November 24-26, 2015 (Rovaniemi, Lapland, Finland).
When the Arctic Environmental Protection Strategy, the so-called Rovaniemi Process, was adopted in 1991, it aimed at overcoming divisions and turning the zone of Cold War military tensions into a region of peace and co-operation. In this joint effort focusing on the protection of environment, and later, sustainable development, the Arctic states supported by indigenous organizations laid grounds for institutionalized collaboration and the emergence of Arctic regional identity. The second international conference will bring together decision-makers, scholars, artists, designers and students to address these questions and discuss the Arctic in global, regional and local perspectives.
Arctic Encounter Paris (AEP 2015), December 11-12, 2015 (Paris, France) (During the UN Convention on Climate Change - COP21).
The Arctic Encounter Paris will take place at the French Senate at Luxembourg Palace and the  French Military College,
École Militaire, in Paris, France, on the final days of the monumental United Nations Convention on Climate Change (COP21) where thousands of global citizens and government delegates will be gathered to deliberate the world's response to our changing planet in Paris. The AEP is the only Arctic policy side event currently planned to take place during the UN Convention.
A reception will take place following the closing panel.
Building upon the preceding Arctic Encounter event in Paris, the third annual Arctic Encounter Symposium (AES) in Seattle, Washington will convene policymakers, industry leaders, and leading experts to confront the leading issues in Arctic policy, innovation, and development. As the largest annual Arctic policy event in the United States, the AES mission is to raise awareness, engage challenges, and develop solutions for the future of a region and a people. The two-day program includes two keynote luncheons, expert plenary sessions, break out sessions, a networking cocktail reception and seated dinner. A closing reception will take place at the conclusion of the program.
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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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2015 Arctic Circle Assembly, October 16-18, 2015 (Reykjavik, Iceland).
2016 (Fairbanks, AK, USA).