Arctic Update Header
April 4, 2014

This weekend:

Arctic Science Summit Week April 5-8, 2014 and Arctic Observing Summit, April 9-11 (Helsinki, Finland). ASSW is a gathering for Arctic research organizations. Any organization engaged in supporting and facilitating arctic research is welcome to participate. The ASSW meeting in 2014 will be arranged during April 5-8 in Helsinki Kumpula Campus, in the facilities of FMI and Physics Department of the University of Helsinki. Second circular here


capital Today's Congressional Action:   

The Senate is not in session. The House will consider non-Arctic legislation.

 

 

Media 

    

Coast Guard Seal Coast Guard Report Shows Shell Was Underprepared for Ill-Fated Tow Across Gulf of Alaska. A Coast Guard report released Thursday shows that while a series of events ultimately led to the grounding of a drilling rig designed to drill in the Arctic, an "inadequate assessment and management of risks" was the biggest cause of the Kulluk grounding. In a letter outlining the report from U.S. Coast Guard Rear Admiral Joseph A. Servido, the Coast Guard explained its findings related to the New Year's Eve 2012 grounding of the Kulluk, a conical drilling unit and then one of the centerpieces of Royal Dutch Shell's Arctic drilling operation. Alaska Dispatch 

 

Bill to Boost Infrastructure Development in Arctic Unanimously Passes Senate. Today, the Alaska State Senate passed Senate Bill 140, sponsored by Senator Lesil McGuire (R-Anchorage), which is designed to boost infrastructure development in the Arctic.  As Co-Chairs of the Alaska Arctic Policy Commission (AAPC), Senator McGuire and Representative Bob Herron (D-Bethel) developed the idea behind SB140 during the commission's multiple meetings around the state over the past year. Alaska Senate Majority 

 

Swedes Pondering Climate-Change Adaptations, More Carbon-Emissions Cuts. What does climate change mean for Sweden, and how prepared to cope with it are Swedish authorities? The latest of the United Nations reports on the greenhouse effect is all about how to adapt to a changing climate. Some degree of warming is now inevitable, due to carbon dioxide already in the atmosphere. Alaska Dispatch 

 

Search and Rescue Resources Stretched Close to Limit, Report Says. Canadian military search and rescue missions face pressing challenges that could interfere in the air force's delivery of what it terms a "no fail mission," an internal report obtained by CBC News reveals. According to the report, there is official concern with the availability of search planes, the provision of rescue equipment, and the number of trained personnel available to staff rescue units. CBC News 

 

BSEE BSEE to Fund Arctic Oil Spill Response Research. The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) has announced that it is investing up to $600,000 for targeted oil spill response research in drift ice conditions. In a Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) released on the federal government's business opportunities website, www.FedBizOpps.gov, the bureau called for white papers on new mechanical technologies for cleaning up oil spills in drift ice conditions that could be found in an Arctic environment. BSEE will select up to three designs for prototype development and testing at Ohmsett, the bureau's National Oil Spill Research and Renewable Energy Test Facility. White papers are due by April 21, 2014. For more information on this specific research topic and directions for submittal, please view the announcement here. The Maritime Executive 

  

nuunavut Nunavut to Bring Tele-psychiatry to Remote Communities. The students are in the Arctic, but now the teachers can be anywhere. Nunavut is launching a program today that uses technology developed by Cisco Systems to bring experts from across North America into classrooms in Iqaluit. Students that have never seen a frog can now link to a university biology lab to see one being dissected. Huffington Post 

 

Alaska Arctic Policy Commission Announces New Member: Rep. Negeak to Replace Rep. Neuman on Commission. The Alaska Arctic Policy Commission today announced that House Speaker Mike Chenault, R-Nikiski, has appointed Representative Benjamin Nageak, D-Barrow, to replace Rep. Mark Neuman, R-Su-Valley, on the Commission which is co-chaired by Senator Lesil McGuire, R-Anchorage, and Rep. Bob Herron, D-South Bering Sea. "As a legislator who represents an Arctic region, Representative Nageak is already familiar with many of the issues the Commission is working on," Herron said. "The Commission appreciates Rep. Neuman's participation over the past year and in particular his contributions to the wildlife section of the Preliminary Report. We welcome Representative Nageak to the AAPC." The Alaska House Majority 

Legislative Actionfutureevents  

  

No Arctic legislation was formally considered yesterday.

Future Events

 

Association of American Geographers Polar Geography Sessions, April 8-12, 2014 (Tampa, Florida).  Polar Geography Sessions are being planned in areas such as Sustainable Development in the Arctic, Urbanization and Transportation in the Arctic, etc. Contact Scott Stephenson (stephenson@ucla.edu) for more information, and see attached flyer. 

 

Alaska Policy Commission. May 6-7, 2014 (Anchorage, Alaska). The Alaska Arctic Policy Commission (AAPC) has more important work to do in 2014. The Commission will strive to gather public input and engage with Alaskan communities, state agencies, federal partners, and the international organizations working in the Arctic. In order to meet our goals AAPC will convene three in-person meetings over the course of 2014 and focus on implementation and final recommendations. The draft agenda is available here

 

International Congress of Arctic Social Sciences, May 22-24, 2014. ICASS is held every three years, bringing together people from all over the world to share ideas about social science research in the Arctic. ICASS VII, held in Akureyri in June 2011, attracted 450 participants from 30 different countries. ICASS VIII's theme is Northern Sustainabilities. By using the plural, ICASS underscores both that 'sustainability' has social, cultural, economic, political and environmental dimensions, and that definitions of the concept vary. Yet, while debating specific definitions, most would agree that working toward sustainable ways of living in the North and on approaches to sustainable engagement with the North, are critical both to the North's and to the world's future. Community sustainability in the North, whether for small settlements or large urban conglomerations, requires new models of food and energy security, and of access to employment, health care and social and cultural services for residents.

 

Arctic in the Athropocene. June 23-July 2, 2014 (Potsdam, Germany). Under the overarching theme "Arctic in the Anthropocene", this two-week interdisciplinary and interactive event will be the first in a series of Potsdam Summer Schools to be held annually. The goal is to bring together early-career scientists and young professionals from research departments, governmental and non-governmental agencies and organizations, as well as the private sector from all around the world. Participants will deal with global challenges and address urgent questions on how to shape sustainable futures in the Arctic and beyond from a scientific and socioeconomic point of view. 

 

Alaska Policy Commission. August 26-27, 2014 (Kotzebue-Nome, Alaska). The Alaska Arctic Policy Commission (AAPC) has more important work to do in 2014. The Commission will strive to gather public input and engage with Alaskan communities, state agencies, federal partners, and the international organizations working in the Arctic. In order to meet our goals AAPC will convene three in-person meetings over the course of 2014 and focus on implementation and final recommendations. 

 

Arctic Circle, October 31-November 2, 2014 (Reyjavik, Iceland).

The Arctic Circle is nonprofit and nonpartisan. Organizations, forums, think tanks, corporations and public associations around the world are invited to hold meetings within the Arctic Circle platform to advance their own missions and the broader goal of increasing collaborative decision-making without surrendering their institutional independence. The Arctic Circle will organize sessions on a variety of issues, such as: Sea ice melt and extreme weather; Polar law: treaties and agreements; The role and rights of indigenous peoples; Security in the Arctic; Shipping and transportation infrastructure; The prospects and risks of oil and gas drilling; Clean energy achievements and sustainable development; Arctic resources; Business cooperation in the Arctic; The role of Asian and European countries in the Arctic; Greenland in the new Arctic; Fisheries and ecosystem management; The science of ice: global research cooperation; Arctic tourism; The ice-dependent world: the Arctic and the Himalayas. 

 

Alaska Policy Commission. November 13-14, 2014 (Anchorage, Alaska). The Alaska Arctic Policy Commission (AAPC) has more important work to do in 2014. The Commission will strive to gather public input and engage with Alaskan communities, state agencies, federal partners, and the international organizations working in the Arctic. In order to meet our goals AAPC will convene three in-person meetings over the course of 2014 and focus on implementation and final recommendations. 

 

The Arctic Biodiversity Congress, December 2-4, 2014. (Trondheim, Norway). The Arctic Biodiversity Congress will present and discuss the main scientific findings of the ABA; facilitate inter-disciplinary discussion, action and status updates on the policy recommendations in the ABA; provide scientific, policy, management, NGO, academia, Indigenous peoples and industry audiences the opportunity to collaborate around the themes of the ABA; advise CAFF on national and international implementation of the ABA recommendations and on the development of an ABA Implementation Plan for the Arctic Council; highlight the work of CAFF and the Arctic Council on circumpolar biodiversity conservation and sustainable development; and, contribute to mainstreaming of biodiversity and ecosystem services, ensuring that the recommendations of the ABA are implemented by not just governments, but many organizations and people across disciplines.

USARC header

Find us on FacebookFollow us on Twitter 

4350 N. Fairfax Drive, Suite 510
Arlington, VA 22203, USA 
(703) 525-0111 (phone)
www.arctic.gov
info@arctic.gov
 
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.