Arctic Sea Ice Outlook at Worst Point in 125,000 Years. The prognosis for summer Arctic sea-ice loss over the next few decades is worse than it was 125,000 years ago during the last interglacial period, despite the fact temperatures were higher then. That is the sobering conclusion reached by researchers at the Alfred-Wegener Institute in Germany. Their findings are published in the journal Nature Communications. A team led by paleoclimatologist Rüdiger Stein combined sediment core data and climate models to estimate historical ice levels in the Arctic Ocean, in light of evidence-weighted predictions that such ice may disappear during the northern summer in the next 50 to 100 years. Cosmos Magazine

UNL Scientists Work to Protect Arctic From Environmental Damages. A group of scientists, practitioners and stakeholders from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln are joining together in an effort to help the arctic environment in its battle against destructive environmental factors. These people include Nebraska researcher Craig Allen, state climatologist and director of the Nebraska State Climate Office, Martha Shulski and Hannah Birge, a postdoctoral research associate in the Department of Agronomy and Horticulture. Daily Nebraskan

 

Lemming- Little Giant of the North. Every few years, thousands of small rodents gather in the Arctic regions, blindly following a leader to the edge of a cliff where they eventually fall into the sea. Today we know that the notion of lemmings crashing to their death is a myth. However, researches know for a fact that extreme fluctuations in lemming populations are present in Scandinavia. One year there are thousands recorded while the next hardly one is in sight. This is the time to tell the real story of the lemmings, foxes and the Arctic wildlife. C21 Media

 

Refuge Notebook: How Invasive Plants Invade the Landscape. I just returned from the Dalton Highway, a thousand-mile road trip from Soldotna that can take as long as you want. Sometimes I do this trip in a manic, coffee-infused 20-hour drive that's a little reminiscent of "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas." Other times I putz, camping wherever and whenever.It was different this time. I hit peak flowering for White Sweetclover (Melilotus albus), an invasive legume native to Asia and Europe that was introduced to the American colonies in the 1600s, likely as cattle forage. Now, four centuries later, I couldn't help but notice its white flowers almost continuously marking the Alaska Highway for 700 miles between Girdwood and Coldfoot. Peninsula Clarion

 

NASA Scientists Seek to Improve Sea Ice Predictions. Sea ice in the Arctic Ocean is in a downward spiral, with summer minimum extents about 40 percent smaller than in the 1980s. But predicting how the sea ice is going to behave in a particular year is tricky: There are still many unknowns about the conditions of the sea ice cover, to say nothing of the difficulties of forecasting weather and ocean behavior over seasonal timescales. NASA researchers are working to improve their forecasts of the size of the Arctic sea ice cover at the end of the summer melt season -- but the goal is not just to have a better prediction of sea ice coverage. The challenge of making summer sea ice forecasts allows scientists to test their understanding of the processes that control seasonal sea ice growth and retreat, and to fine-tune computer models that represent connections among the ice, atmosphere and ocean. ScienceCodex

 

Sorry Twitter, This Greenland Shark is not Actually Full of Pee. Twitter can be a wasteland of heart-wrenching breaking news, trolls, and poorly placed promoted content - but then there are the metal cats and the random factoids, like this viral Twitter thread about Greenland sharks that threw the Verge newsroom into a frenzy today. The Twitter thread went on to say that the Greenland sharks - which live in Arctic waters - can live 500 years, have glowing parasites attached to their eyes, and are eaten in a "fermented pee shark dish" in Iceland. So I called some scientists to fact-check this thread. And I even found one that had eaten that fermented dish. The Verge

2017 Arctic Energy Summit, September 18-20, 2017 (Helsinki, Finland). The 2017 Summit will address energy in the Arctic as it relates to:

The AES is a multi-disciplinary event expected to draw several hundred industry officials, scientists, academics, policy makers, energy professionals and community leaders together to collaborate and share leading approaches on Arctic energy issues.

5th Northern Oil and Gas Research Form, October 11-13, 2017 (Anchorage, Alaska USA). The United States is hosting the 5th Northern Oil and Gas Research Forum from  October 11-13, 2017,  in Anchorage, Alaska. This meeting will feature current research and highlight information needs for management of petroleum activities in the US and Canadian Arctic. Abstracts for poster presentations on research and how research is used in management actions are presently being solicited. Please visit the Forum's website ( here ) for additional details. Deadline for abstract submission is  September 10 . There is no registration fee for the Forum. Please use the website link above for information on registration, agenda, lodging and transportation.