Arctic Daily Update: March 18, 2020

March 18, 2020

Please note that many events are postponing, canceling, or moving online.

** Updated ** High North Dialogue, March 18-19, 2020 (Bodø, Norway).This event is canceled.

Arctic Reading for the Quarantine:

If you find yourself looking for a good read during the quarantine, consider boosting your Arctic knowledge with these reports.

(US Arctic Research Commission) Report on the Goals and Objectives for Arctic Research, 2019-2020. Arctic research plays a key role in addressing fundamental scientific issues and in helping the nation meet its needs, aspirations and responsibilities as an arctic nation. To this end, the USARC delivers a biennial report to the President and Congress outlining recommended scientific research goals and objectives for the Arctic.

(US Government Accountability Office) Arctic Capabilities: Coast Guard is Taking Steps to Address Key Challenges, but Additional Work Remains, 02/05/2020. Coast Guard icebreakers can ensure year-round access to the Arctic-critical to protecting U.S. economic and national security interests in the region. We testified on the Coast Guard's Arctic strategy and capabilities, including icebreaking. The Coast Guard's only operating heavy polar icebreaker is near the end of its service life. The plan is to replace it with 3 Polar Security Cutters. We've made a number of recommendations on this cutter acquisition.

(Congressional Research Service) Changes in the Arctic: Background and Issues for Congress, updated 01/23/2020. The diminishment of Arctic sea ice has led to increased human activities in the Arctic, and has heightened interest in, and concerns about, the region's future. The United States, by virtue of Alaska, is an Arctic country and has substantial interests in the region. The seven other Arctic states are Canada, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark (by virtue of Greenland), and Russia.

(University of the Arctic's Thematic Network on Geopolitics and Security) Arctic Yearbook, 2019. The Arctic Yearbook is an initiative of the UArctic Thematic Network on Geopolitics and Security. Yet since our first publication launched in 2012, we have never elected to produce a volume on the theme of security itself, focusing instead on topics such as human capital, innovation, regional governance, development, and the Arctic Council.

Media

Russia and Sweden Agree on Joint Projects in the Arctic. Presidential Advisor Anton Kobyakov and Swedish Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Malena Mard discussed aspects of Russian-Swedish cooperation at a meeting in Moscow. The key areas for cooperation will include interaction in regional multilateral organizations (the Council of the Baltic Sea States, Barents Euro-Arctic Council, the Arctic Council, and the Northern Dimension and its partnerships). They will work on tightening up security and stability in the Baltics, and are also planning to continue cooperating on environmental issues. The Arctic

New Research First to Relate Antarctic Sea Ice Melt to Weather Change in Tropics. While there is a growing body of research showing how the loss of Arctic sea ice affects other parts of the planet, a new study is the first to also consider the long-range effect of Antarctic sea ice melt. It estimates that Arctic and Antarctic ice loss will account for about one-fifth of the warming that is projected to happen in the tropics. Science Daily

Audio: Songs and Sounds of Bering Sea Whales and Seals Reveal a Story of Change. On today's episode of the Mongabay Newscast, we listen to recordings of marine mammals in the Arctic with Dr. Howard Rosenbaum, the director of the Wildlife Conservation Society's Ocean Giants Program.Rosenbaum co-authored a recent study that used bioacoustics to better understand how seasonal variation in sea surface temperatures and sea ice extent affect populations of five species of endemic Arctic marine mammals: bearded seals, beluga whales, bowhead whales, ribbon seals, and walrus. Mongabay

How Horses Can Save the Permafrost: New mitigation strategy bears great potential. Permafrost soils in the Arctic are thawing. As they do, large additional quantities of greenhouse gases could be released, accelerating climate change. In Russia, experiments are now being conducted in which herds of horses, bison and reindeer are being used to combat this effect. A study from Universität Hamburg, just released in the Nature journal Scientific Reports, now shows for the first time that this method could indeed significantly slow the loss of permafrost soils. Science Daily

Melting of Arctic Permafrost Brings Long-dead Viruses Back. Most scientists agree that climate change in the Arctic has caused the thawing of permafrost at a rapid rate. The thawing arctic also brought about a new occurrence: it reemerged new viruses and bacteria that were long gone. Scientists are using these virus strains to study recent outbreaks and develop new potential vaccines and medicine to combat diseases. In the 1990s, the melting arctic article from permafrost in Alaska thawed, revealing an Inuit woman who was believed to be a victim of the Spanish flu in 1918. Her body was able to preserve the virus as body fat kept her lungs insulated against warmer temperatures. The discovery of the virus allowed scientists to study the its genetic blueprint and gave a picture of why the 1918 flu became a pandemic. Nature World News

Future Events

March 2020 National Weather Service Alaska Climate Outlook Briefing, March 20, 2020 (Webinar and Fairbanks, Alaska USA). This is part of the OneNOAA Science Seminar Series. The tools and techniques for making monthly and season scale climate forecasts are rapidly changing, with the potential to provide useful forecasts at the month and longer range. We will review recent climate conditions around Alaska, review some forecast tools and finish up the Climate Prediction Center's forecast for the coming months.

** New this week ** Interagency Arctic Research Policy Committee (IARPC) Webinar Series: National Science Foundation (NSF) Program Manager Chat, March 20, 2020 (Webinar). NSF Polar Programs Directors Roberto Delgado and Colleen Strawhacker will host a webinar ( https://www.iarpccollaborations.org/events/16190) on NSF funding opportunities, including RAPID and RCN. Topics to be covered in this webinar: NSF Grants Resource Center; Research Coordination Networks (RCNs); Rapid Response Research (RAPID) Proposals; and, NSF Arctic Research Opportunities Program Solicitation.

** Updated ** 113th USARC Meeting, March 24, 2020 (Orono, Maine USA). The US Arctic Research Commission meeting is postponed indefinitely.

** Updated ** Arctic Science Summit Week and the 5th Arctic Observing Summit. March 27 to April 2, 2020, (Akureyri, Iceland). This conference will now be limited to online participation.

** Updated ** A Comparison of the Zooplankton Communities Between the Arctic Ocean and Subarctic Pacific with Emphasis on ROV Observations, March 30, 2020 (Webinar). This is part of the OneNOAA Science Seminars. We describe the zooplankton communities found in the upper 3 kilometers of the oceans to the north and south of Alaska from ROV observations supported by plankton net collections. Each tool has implicit biases. The ROV is particularly adept at finding larger, rarer and more fragile species, while nets provide quantitative information on smaller, more abundant and more robust species. Together they provide a more complete assessment of biodiversity in each habitat.

** Updated ** Ice Core Science Community Planning Workshop 2020, April 2-3, 2020 (Virtual Meeting Only). Please note, this event is meeting virtually only now. Scientific discoveries achieved in the Arctic and Antarctic ice sheets and temperate glaciers are critical to society today, but they are not achieved without significant advance planning. The U.S. Ice Drilling Program (IDP) will sponsor an interdisciplinary ice community workshop to identify science driving future Arctic and Antarctic ice coring sites, the ice drilling technology that will be needed, and the timeline over the coming decade for advancing ice core science on multiple frontiers. The outcome of the workshop will be white papers describing community endeavors with associated timelines that will become part of the updated U.S. Ice Drilling Program Long Range Science Plan.

** Updated ** North x North Festival + Critical Futures, April 13-19, 2020 (Anchorage, Alaska USA). North x North is postponed until the fall. Additional information will be available soon.

** Updated ** The 7th Annual Arctic Encounter, April 16-17, 2020 (Seattle, WA USA). The Arctic Encounter has been postponed. More information may be available at the link soon.

NOAA Deep Sea Coral Research and Technology Program Webinar Series, April 16, 2020 (Webinar). Deep-sea coral and sponge communities in the Aleutian Islands are important habitat features for many life stages of commercially important fish targets, including Atka mackerel, Pacific cod, and rockfish. The effects of commercial fishing activities on deep-sea corals and sponges has been difficult to quantify due to a lack of spatially-explicit fishery data, bottom contact by different gear types, undetermined location of corals and sponges, and the susceptibility and recovery dynamics these structure-forming invertebrates (SFI). To address these challenges, a fishing effects model was developed in the North Pacific to integrate spatially explicit VMS data with target-specific gear configurations for over 40,000 bottom trawls since 2003. Fishery observer coverage for Aleutian Island trawl fisheries is nearly 100 percent and records catch species composition. Species distribution models provide presence data for coral, sponge, Primnoidae, and Stylasteridae.

** Updated ** Securing S&T Success for the Coming Arctic, April 22-23, 2020 (Washington, DC USA). The Arctic Domain Awareness Center hosts this annual meeting. The meeting will review the Center's current research and discuss better leveraging ADAC. The agenda includes discussions regarding the transition of ADAC's mature research and the initiation of new research associated with ADAC's recently awarded projects from ADAC's Arctic Incidence of National Significance 2019 workshop. Cancelled

ICESAT-2 Cryospheric Science Hackweek, June 15-19, 2020 (Seattle, Washington USA). ICESat-2 Cryospheric Science Hackweek is a 5-day hackweek to be held at the University of Washington. Participants will learn about technologies used to access and process ICESat-2 data with a focus on the cryosphere. Mornings will consist of interactive lectures, and afternoon sessions will involve facilitated exploration of datasets and hands-on software development.

** New this week ** 10th International Congress of Arctic Social Sciences (ICASS X) Arctic Generations: Looking Back and Looking Forward, June 15-20, 2020 (Arkhangelsk, Russia). The ARCTICenter at the University of Northern Iowa (USA) and Northern Arctic Federal University (Russia) are pleased to host the 10th International Congress of Arctic Social Sciences (ICASS X) organized by the International Arctic Social Sciences Association (IASSA).ICASS X will focus on all aspects of human existence in the Arctic in the past, present and future: social, cultural, historical, economic, political, linguistic, educational, archaeological, engineering, health, legal, psychological, to name a few. The Congress will also emphasize history, future and sustainability of Arctic peoples and environments throughout generations and co-production of knowledge with Indigenous knowledge holders and Arctic stakeholders.

Arctic Science Summit Week 2021- Open Science Conference: The Arctic Regional Changes, Global Impacts, March 23-26, 2021 (Lisbon, Portugal). The event will bring together scientists, Indigenous people, Arctic community members, and Arctic science stakeholders from all over the world to present and discuss the most recent advances on Arctic knowledge across disciplines, from the natural sciences to the humanities. The OSC will also be an opportunity to foster research synergies between both Polar Regions, with sessions that target both Poles welcomed.

** New this week ** Arctic Circle Assembly, October 8-11, 2020 (ReykjavÃk, 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.

** New this week ** 3rd Arctic Science Ministerial, November 21-22, 2020 (Toyko, Japan). Since the last Arctic Science Ministerial in 2018, changes in the Arctic ecosystem and the resulting impacts locally and globally have been severely felt. While the reasons for these changes in climate largely stem from activities outside of the Arctic, the Arctic is warming at a rate of nearly double the global average. Considering the need for climate change mitigation, adaptation, and repair measures, the relevance of an international Arctic Science Ministerial has never been greater. It is necessary to strengthen scientific cooperation and collaboration among both Arctic and non-Arctic States in order to develop our understanding of the rapid changes impacting the Arctic. The First Arctic Science Ministerial (ASM1) was hosted by the United States in 2016, and two years later, the Second Arctic Science Ministerial (ASM2) was co-hosted by Germany, Finland, and the European Commission. The Third Arctic Science Ministerial will be co-hosted by Iceland and Japan.

** New this week ** AGU Fall Meeting, December 7-11, 2020 (San Francisco, California USA). Fall Meeting is the largest gathering of Earth and space scientists in the world. More information will be available at the link.

** New this week ** Arctic Science Summit Week, March 20-26, 2021 (Lisbon, Portugal). The Portuguese Minister of Science, Technology and Higher Education, the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) and the Local Organizing Committee will host the Arctic Science Summit Week 2021. The Conference is organized by FCT, Ciência Viva, AIR Center, the Portuguese Arctic Community and by IASC and partners. Framed by the overarching theme for the Science Conference "The Arctic: Regional Changes, Global Impacts," Lisbon invites International experts on the Arctic and Indigenous Peoples to discuss the "New Arctic" and also its impacts and interactions to and with the lower latitudes.

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