Dry Winter and Warm Spring Set Stage for Wildfire in Canada.  A relatively dry El Niño winter, a warm spring that melted snow earlier and years of policies that left forests ripe for burning have contributed to the destructive wildfire   that forced the evacuation of Fort McMurray in Alberta, scientists say.  Global warming may have played a role, too, although experts cautioned that it was impossible to link an individual event like this one directly to climate change  New York Times

 

Mystery Disease Showing Up in Bering Sea Ribbon Seals.  Five years after a mysterious and sometimes fatal disease struck Arctic Alaska ringed seals, causing them to lose their fur or develop bleeding lesions, there are signs of the disorder or something similar to it among a different species of ice-dwelling seals.  Federal scientists who just completed a survey of  ice seals   in the Bering Sea found several  ribbon seals   with bald patches, including one that was almost completely bald.  Five years after a mysterious and sometimes fatal disease struck Arctic Alaska ringed seals, causing them to lose their fur or develop bleeding lesions, there are signs of the disorder or something similar to it among a different species of ice-dwelling seals.  Alaska Dispatch News

 

As Firm Abandon Arctic Drilling, Obama Comes Under Pressure to do More to Avert Danger. Major oil and gas firms abandoned most of their leases in the Arctic this week, just as President Obama and others are coming under increased pressure to avert dangerous warming in the region. Royal Dutch Shell, ConocoPhillips, Eni and Iona Energy have relinquished all but one lease in the Chukchi Sea, company officials confirmed Tuesday, as well as some in the Beaufort Sea. The move to give back roughly $2.5 billion worth of oil and gas leases spanning 2.2 million acres of the Arctic Ocean, in the same week that the leaders of five Arctic nations are coming to Washington for a White House summit, has reignited the debate over how best to protect an area that is showing new signs of vulnerability to climate change. The Washington Post

 

Subsistence Advisory Council Coordinator, Alaska Region. The USDA Forest Service Alaska Region, is outreaching to permanently fill the Regional Subsistence Advisory Council Coordinator, GS­0301­11/12. The Subsistence Advisory Council Coordinator provides relevant technical support and data, and manages the logistics and operations of Subsistence Regional Advisory Councils consistent with implementation of Title VIII of the Alaska National Interests Lands Conservation Act. This position is assigned to the Alaska Regional Office (Juneau, AK) and the duty station is Juneau, Alaska. For more information, see here.

 

UN Indigenous Forum Continues Talks on Collective Rights.  On the second day of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Peoples, speakers continued to take stock of progress made implementing the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, a   UN press release   said. In a formal announcement that drew a standing ovation, Carolyn Bennett, Canada's minister for Indigenous and Northern Affairs, confirmed that Canada is now a full supporter of the UNDRIP "without qualifications."  Nunatsiaq Online