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August 9, 2019
    
No Arctic-science events are scheduled for today.
Media

Russia Nuclear Power Plant Afloat in Arctic Causes Anxiety Across Bering Strait. Russia has produced the world's first floating nuclear power plant. A barge mounted with nuclear reactors is expected to begin traversing the Arctic this month, bound for the Chukotka Peninsula. Across the Bering Strait, Alaskans are worried about radiation, though one Arctic security expert also sees room for optimism. Alaska Public Radio
 
As Bering Sea Warms, Warm Water Fish Are Moving In, NOAA Says. Scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have been trawling the southeastern Bering Sea for the last two months, as they try to track the overall health of the ocean ecosystem. Now, a team from NOAA Fisheries moves northward, where they expect to see more warmer-water fish in larger concentrations than they found last year. KNOM
 
Who are Europe's Indigenous Peoples and What are Their Struggles? From Scandinavia's Saamis to Greenland's Inuits, Europe's indigenous peoples represent vibrant communities with multi-millennial histories. Yet they are still struggling for recognition. On the frontlines of climate change, they are faced with the degradation of their environments and livelihoods, the disappearance of their ancestral languages, and the exploitation of their traditional lands, often rich in resources. EuroNews
 
Breaking Through the Northwest Passage for Arctic Science. On July 18, a group of scientists and students set sail aboard the Swedish icebreaker Oden through the Arctic waterways. They were part of the Northwest Passage Project, a voyage to collect water, air and ice samples to study the Arctic summers and the effect climate change is having on the environment. Last year, one day into expedition, the boat ran aground and cut the mission off before it could get started. This year, the team successfully launched from Thule, Greenland and completed their three-week cruise. Science Friday
 
wildfire Using Sediment Cores to Study Past Arctic Wildfires. Will Daniels, a geosciences researcher in associate professor Isla Castaneda's geochemistry lab, has received a coveted National Science Foundation postdoctoral fellowship to address the question of wildfires in Arctic regions, which he and other scientists report are increasing in Greenland, across Canada and elsewhere in the Arctic today. The two-year award that begins next spring includes a salary and $25,000 in research funds. It will allow Daniels to "take my current research reconstructing climate change in the Arctic over the past 3 million years, in a new direction by and adding reconstruction of wildfires over the same period." UMass Amherst
 
Over a Century of Arctic Sea Ice Volume Reconstructed With Help From Historic Ships' Logs. Our knowledge of sea ice in the Arctic Ocean comes mostly through satellites, which since 1979 have imaged the dwindling extent of sea ice from above. The University of Washington's Pan-Arctic Ice Ocean and Modeling System, or PIOMAS, is a leading tool for gauging the thickness of that ice. Until now that system has gone back only as far as 1979. A new paper now extends the estimate of Arctic sea ice volume back more than a century, to 1901. Phys.org
 
greenland Greenland is on Track to Lose Most Ice on Record This Year and Has Already Shed 250 Billion Tons. The extreme weather event that caused widespread melting across the Greenland ice sheet last week, sending temperatures soaring above the freezing mark at the highest point on the island, may have ended, but the melt season overall - which has about 35 to 40 days to go - is poised to set a new and more significant record. According to the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) in Boulder, Colo., Greenland has already lost a total of over 250 billion tons from a combination of melt runoff and low total snowfall earlier in the season. That's enough to fill more than 90 million Olympic-size swimming pools. Or to put it another way, that much water could sustain the global population's water intake for more than 40 years. The Washington Post
Future Events
     
18th International Conference on Cold Regions Engineering / 8th Canadian Permafrost Conference, August 18-22, 2019 (Quebec, Canada). Sustainable infrastructure development and permafrost science, in a climate change context, will be the focus of the discussions of this international conference.

2019 Sea Ice Symposium, August 18-23, 2019 (Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada). IGS co-hosts a sea ice symposium every 5 years. The Centre for Earth Observation Science (University of Manitoba) is excited to be hosting the first IGS event to be held in Canada. The symposium will include oral and poster sessions, and will provide a friendly and intellectually stimulating environment to facilitate face-to-face interactions and networking. Additional activities will include an opening reception, a banquet dinner and a mid-symposium afternoon excursion. 

Arctic Futures 2050: Science and Policy for a Changing Arctic, September 4-6, 2019 (Washington, DC USA).  In 2019, the Study of Environmental Arctic Change  (SEARCH) and partners will convene Arctic scientists and decision makers to jointly forecast  Arctic research needed to inform policy in the coming decades. The conference also is intended to foster more effective and iterative collaborations among Arctic scientists and decision makers. Register online

Bridging Science, Art, and Community in the New Arctic, Sept. 23-25, 2019, (University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia USA). The University of Virginia (UVA) in Charlottesville, VA, is hosting a conference and workshop entitled "Bridging Science, Art, and Community in the New Arctic" from Sept. 23-25, 2019, sponsored by the National Science Foundation Navigating the New Arctic program, with additional support from UVA's Institute for Humanities and Global Cultures, and Center for Global Inquiry and Innovation. The UVA Environmental Resilience Institute's Arctic CoLab is organizing the event, with assistance from the Arctic Research Consortium of the U.S. (ARCUS).

EU Arctic Forum, October 3-4, 2019 ( Umeå, Sweden). The European Commission, the European External Action Service, and the Government of Sweden will jointly organize a high-level EU Arctic Forum . The EU Arctic Forum will bring together key Arctic players and stakeholders to assess recent developments in the region and to discuss the new challenges ahead. The EU Arctic Forum will include several keynote addresses and two high-level panel sessions on the morning of 3 October. Foreign ministers from EU member states as well as the Arctic Council will be invited to participate.

112th Meeting of the US Arctic Research Commission. October 9, 2019 (Reykjavik, Iceland). Details to follow...

2019 Arctic Circle Assembly, October 10-13, 2019 (Reykjaví­k, 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.

Large-scale Volcanism in the Arctic: The Role of the Mantle and Tectonics, October 13-18, 2019 (Selfoss, Iceland)The American Geophysical Union (AGU) Chapman Conference will focus on the diversity of Arctic magmatism and tectonics from the Paleozoic to present-day. The conveners are Owen Anfinson, Bernard Coakley, Carmen Gaina, and Grace Shephard. The program will focus on five themes including: Theme I: pre-breakup and rifting;Theme II: seafloor spreading;Theme III: mantle-derived heterogeneity (including plumes and large-igneous provinces);Theme IV: subduction related volcanism, and, Theme V: HALIP and environmental effects.  The website (link above) is open for abstract submission until June 19th and for meeting registration until September 9th. Funding is available for travel support, particularly for early career scientists. Travel support will be awarded on the basis of submitted abstracts and to promote diversity among attendees.

IX International Forum "Arctic: Today and the Future," December 5-7, 2019 (St. Petersburg, Russia). Save the date for Arctic: Today and the Future. More information to follow.

American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting. December 9-13, 2019 (San Francisco, CA). As per usual, there will be a lot of Arctic research presented at this huge gathering. Details to follow...

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