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June 26, 2015

 

Today's Congressional Action:   

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The House is not in session. The Senate is expected to hold a pro forma session.

 

 

 

 

 

Media  

 

greenland Giant Earthquakes are Shaking Greenland-and Scientists Just Figured out the Disturbing Reason Why. If Greenland goes, it is becoming clear that it won't go quietly. Scientists have already documented entire meltwater lakes vanishing in a matter of hours atop the vast Greenland ice sheet, as huge crevasses open beneath them. And now, they've cast light on the mechanisms behind another dramatic geophysical effect brought on by the rumbling and melting of this mass of often mile-thick ice: earthquakes. In a new paper in the journal Science, a team of researchers from Swansea University in the UK, the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia University, and several other institutions explain how the loss of Greenland's ice can generate glacial earthquakes. In brief: When vast icebergs break off at the end of tidal glaciers, they tumble in the water and jam the glaciers themselves backwards. The result is a seismic event detectable across the Earth. Washington Post

 

Alaska Bear Cam Lets You Watch Brown Bears Catch Salmon Live at Katmai National Park. The bears are back! A series of cameras set up near Brooks Falls in Alaska's Katmai National Park have returned for the season, allowing armchair travelers to watch coastal brown bears catch and eat sockeye salmon. The National Park Service says up to 25 bears have been seen on the camera at once in previous years, eating fish and fighting for prime salmon-catching spots. Huffington Post

 

Outlook for September Arctic Sea Ice Tilts Toward Small Reduction From Last Year. It may be only June, but predictions are already in for Arctic sea ice conditions in September, the month of maximum melt and minimum coverage. A collection of 32 scientific forecasts, released on Thursday, yields a median prediction of about 1.93 million square miles of sea ice extent in September, slightly less than levels reached last September. The September Sea Ice Forecast comes from the Sea Ice Prediction Network, part of the Arctic Research Consortium of the United States. The collected forecasts use a variety of methods -- statistical analysis, modeling and educated estimates -- in various combinations. Alaska Dispatch News

 

Finland's Vanishing Rural Population. If you live in rural Finland the nearest shop might be a 60-mile drive away. If you live in the far north it might be even further. Finland's 5.5 million people are spread out over a large geographical area. A drive from Helsinki to Lapland takes around 16 hours. This means that the familiar challenges for advanced economies with ageing populations are even more acute in rural Finland. Younger people leave villages to find work in the cities while an older population is left to manage alone. And without migration from urban areas, the villages risk eventual extinction. Geographical

 

Legislative Actionfutureevents  

 

No Arctic legislation was formally considered yesterday.

 

Future Events  

  

Can Russian-Western Cooperation in the Arctic Survive the Current Conflict? June 29, 2015 (Washington, DC) This event co-sponsored by the Wilson Center's Polar Initiative, Environmental Change and Security Program, Global Europe Program, and Kennan Institute as well as The Institute For 21st Century. The Russia-Ukraine conflict will affect the prospects for war, peace, and general cooperation in many parts of the world for the foreseeable future. What impact will this conflict have on the future of the Arctic? Is there an agenda for continued Russia-U.S. cooperation in this theatre and others? What does it look like? And what happens if it fails?

 

6th Symposium on the Impacts of an Ice-Diminishing Arctic on Naval and Maritime Operations, July 14-16, 2015 (Washington, DC, USA). This biennial symposium, co-hosted by the US National Ice Center and the US Arctic Research Commission, brings together nationally and internationally recognized experts on Arctic observations, climate change, and maritime operations. Past symposia expanded the discussion to include the impact of an ice-diminishing arctic on other nations and their maritime operations including commercial transportation, oil and gas exploration and exploitation, fisheries, and oceanographic research. The continuing reduction in Arctic sea ice extent remains a central focus. 


104th Meeting of the USARC, August 25-26, 2015 (Nome, AK, USA).

Attention researchers in the Nome region: USARC (Fran Ulmer, Chair) invites you to share your Arctic research activities and/or suggestions on research when the Commission meets in Nome . There will be limited opportunities for formal presentations to the Commission, as well as a community comment period. If you would like to share your research (or ideas on research) with the Commission and will be in the area during our visit, please contact USARC's Deputy Director, Cheryl Rosa, at  crosa@arctic.gov by June 30th. The Agenda will be forthcoming. 

 

Polar Law Symposium (8th) will be held in Alaska ( Sept. 23-24, UAF; Sept. 25-26, UAA). It's sponsored by UAF, UAA (and ISER), UAA Justice Center, UW Law School. Abstracts due 3/15/15. This year's conference theme is, "The Science, Scholarship, and Practice of Polar Law: Strengthening Arctic Peoples and Places."

2015 Arctic Energy Summit, September 28-30, 2015 (Fairbanks, Alaska, USA). The Institute of the North's 2015 Arctic Energy Summit builds on our 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.

 

2015 Arctic Circle Assembly, October 16-18, 2015 (Reykjavik, Iceland). 

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.
 
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.

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.

  

11th International Conference on Permafrost (ICOP 2016), June 20-24, 2016 (Potsdam, Germany). The Alfred Wegener Institute has teamed up with UP Transfer GmbH and the University of Potsdam to organize a great conference for you, permafrost researchers. The conference aims at covering all relevant aspects of permafrost research, engineering and outreach on a global and regional level.

  

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