Proposed Pentagon Budget Cuts Would Shrink Army, Retire Aircraft. The Army will shrink to its lowest troop levels since before World War II under a budget proposed Monday by the Obama administration that seeks to downsize the Pentagon from the wartime buildup of the last 13 years, and calls for retiring hundreds of aging aircraft and warships. The proposals reflect changing fortunes in the once-sacrosanct Pentagon budget. Congress has already ordered nearly $500 billion in defense spending cuts over the next decade, and automatic budget cuts - only partially rescinded - have caused a harsh reevaluation of military needs as the nation closes out the punishing ground wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Los Angeles Times 

Climate Warrior Ramps It Up. It's personal, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse said. The impact of climate change on homes in the Rhode Island Democrat's state gives his fight increasing urgency. "When I see little summer cottages washed into the sea when a winter storm comes, that makes it a bit personal," Whitehouse said in a recent interview with The Hill. "And when we can't take action on something of this magnitude, that is a disgraceful moment in our history." The Hill 

Alaska Volcano Monitors Fail After Years of Federal Funding Cuts. The Alaska Volcano Observatory relies on a network of buried, solar-powered seismic instruments to predict eruptions at 32 volcanoes around the state. But along with advisories about volcanic unrest, the Anchorage-based observatory's Web site now includes this eye-catching alert: "Loss of critical volcano monitoring information in Alaska." Anchorage Daily News 

FASD: A Silent Epidemic. As many as nine in 10 children with an FASD are diagnosed with something less visible than full fetal alcohol syndrome. That diagnosis specifically requires that the child have the hallmark facial features and be under-sized in height and weight. Even so, FASD children may suffer behavior and learning problems as severe, or more severe, than those with full FAS. A child with an FASD can suffer damage to parts of the brain that determine intelligence, memory, language ability, motor skills and senses like touch and hearing. Anchorage Daily News 

Murkowski Representing Nation at International Arctic Conference. Senator Lisa Murkowski is representing the United States of America at a meeting of the Standing Committee of Parliamentarians of the Arctic Region (SCPAR) in Ottawa, Canada.  She is working alongside representatives from the other Arctic nations, as they study and discuss emerging possibilities and challenges in the region.  Among the topics of discussion today are shipping routes through the Northwest Passage and intelligent investment in the region. Senator Lisa Murkowski 

Navy Releases Updated Plan for Future Arctic Readiness. The U.S. Navy released an updated Arctic Roadmap Feb. 24 to prepare naval forces over the next 15 years for operations in the Arctic Ocean. "This updated Navy Arctic Roadmap prepares the U.S. Navy to respond effectively to future contingencies, delineates the Navy's Arctic leadership role within the Defense Department, and articulates the Navy's support to achieve national priorities," wrote Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Adm. Jonathan Greenert in the Roadmap introduction. In the coming decades, as multi-year sea ice in the Arctic Ocean recedes, previously unreachable areas may open for maritime use for a few weeks each year. This opening maritime frontier has important national security implications and impact required future Navy capabilities. The Department of the Navy 

Floating Arctic Greenhouses. A large-scale floating hydroponic installment could be the future of agriculture in the Arctic, at least according to a vision that took top honors in an architecture competition last year. Arctic Harvester consists of a circular floating structure with a central bay. The bay is used to house icebergs, from which the soil-less system gets its fresh water. The idea was inspired by the density and vertical orientation of Greenland's villages, "and their social, cultural and economic relationship to the sea." Alaska Dispatch