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Today's C
ongressional Action:
The House and Senate are not in session.
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Media
Suicide: Who'll Stop the Pain. On Thursday, Greenlandic health officials announced that the number of suicides in 2016 had been the highest in five years. Forty-seven people died by their own hand, ten more than in 2015. Today, it was revealed that 2017 has got off to an inauspicious start: two people in the town of Tasiilaq, a town of 2,000 on the eastern coast, took their own lives last week. On Saturday, a third was murdered.
Arctic Journal
 A Shifting Landscape Means Less Food for Alaska's Hunters. The Arctic is warming twice as fast as the rest of the world, and for those who call the region home, finding enough to eat is becoming harder and harder. Until recently, fish and game managers assumed the biggest hurdles for local communities would be changes in animal distribution and abundance, such as caribou herds changing migrational routes. But a new study published in Climatic Change finds that for people like Shewfelt, the greatest challenge is access to traditional hunting grounds. Indeed, of 47 identified relationships between climate-driven changes in the environment and availability of subsistence resources, 60 percent of those relationships focused on a change in harvester access.
News Deeply
House Science Panel Adds Climate-Denying Members. The newest members of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology may give a sense of the direction the panel could take in the era of President Trump.
Under Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas), the committee has earned a reputation for questioning climate scientists and environmental groups that say human activity, like burning fossil fuels, is the main cause of rising temperatures. The panel has also challenged government scientists who refuted the theory of a global warming pause, a favorite conservative talking point. Scientific American
Arctic Yearbook Call for Abstracts.
The Arctic Yearbook (www.arcticyearbook.com) is calling for abstracts for the 2017 edition. The Arctic Yearbook is an international and peer-reviewed volume that focuses on issues of regional governance, circumpolar relations, geopolitics and security, all broadly defined. It is an open access, online publication. The Arctic Yearbook is an initiative of the Northern Research Forum's (NRF) and University of the Arctic's joint Thematic Network on Geopolitics and Security.
Arctic Yearbook
 US Energy Agency Toughens Protections for Scientists.
The US Department of Energy (DOE) has released new guidelines to protect researchers from political interference-a move that many say is long overdue.
"DOE officials should not and will not ask scientists to tailor their work to any particular conclusion," said energy secretary Ernest Moniz, who announced the guidelines on 11 January.
The plan allows scientists to publicly state their opinions on science and policy, as long as they make clear that they are not speaking for the government.
Scientific American
[Opinion] Polar Code Heralds a New Era of Safer Navigation in Arctic Waters. A historic milestone was reached on New Year's Day 2017 when the International Maritime Organization's Polar Code for Ships Operating in Polar Waters came into force. The "Polar Code," as it is widely known throughout the maritime world, is designed to improve marine safety and enhance protection of Arctic peoples and polar marine environments. It is a groundbreaking marine governance regime for the Arctic and southern oceans. The code establishes a set of mandatory and voluntary international standards for new and existing commercial ships and passenger vessels (all 500 tons or more) operating in Arctic and Antarctic waters. In contrast with Canada's Arctic Shipping Pollution Prevention Regulations and Russia's Rules for the Northern Sea Route - both long established within national statutes - the U.S. has lacked any special polar ship rules and regulations to govern marine operations in its maritime Arctic. This situation will change quickly as the U.S. Coast Guard begins to implement and enforce the many elements of the Polar Code during a two-year, phased application to ships sailing on international voyages in Alaska's polar waters. Canada and Russia are engaged in merging their national regulations with the Polar Code; Denmark (for Greenlandic waters) and Norway (for Svalbard) are taking measures to implement the Code in their Arctic waters.
Alaska Dispatch News
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Legislative Action
No Arctic legislation was formally considered yesterday.
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Future Events
Alaska Marine Science Symposium, January 23-27, 2017 (Anchorage, AK USA). The annual Alaska Marine Science Symposium (AMSS) is Alaska's premier marine research conference. It brings together roughly 800 scientists, educators, resource managers, students, and interested public to discuss marine research being conducted in Alaskan waters. Research will be presented by geographic theme, including the Gulf of Alaska, Bering Sea & Aleutian Islands, and the Arctic. Topic areas will include ocean physics, fishes and invertebrates, seabirds, marine mammals, local traditional knowledge and more. Keynote presentations will be held Monday, January 23rd; Gulf of Alaska presentations will be on Tuesday, Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands on Wednesday, followed by the Arctic on Thursday.
 ** New this week **
Changing Arctic: How It's Impacting Our Weather, February 2, 2017 (Washington, DC USA). Profound changes in the Arctic have coincided with more frequent extreme weather events across the mid-latitudes, was as Washington, DC. These events include intense heat and rainfall, and severe winter cold spells and snow storms. Scientists are actively addressing if and how Arctic change is connected to these events, which impact economies, geopolitics, security, and society at large. The evening lecture will feature experts discussing scientists' understanding of these events and the impact this has on society. This event is hosted by US CLIVAR (US Climate Variability and Predictability Program)
Alaska Forum on the Environment, February 6-10, 2017 (Anchorage, AK USA). This statewide gathering of environmental professionals, community leaders, Alaskan youth, conservationists, biologists and community elders will be holding its 19th meeting to continue providing a strong educational foundation for all Alaskans and a unique opportunity to interact with others on environmental issues and challenges. As many as 1,800 people are expected to attend AFE this years meeting.
6th Annual Fletcher Arctic Conference, February 17-18, 2017 (Medford, MA USA). Fletcher Arctic VI, a TEDx-style event, will showcase the ideas, stories, and initiatives of people who live and work in the Arctic. The conference will bring together inspiring leaders, innovative business people, expert scientists, and artists from the pan-Arctic region. Building on The Fletcher School's interdisciplinary approach, Fletcher Arctic VI will be a forum to engage in conversation and spark open and constructive debate between speakers and participants, providing deep insights into this unique and rapidly changing region.
IV International Forum, March 2017 (Arkhangelsk, Russian Federation)
Arkhangelsk will host the Forum. The Forum will be titled Human in the Arctic and will be aimed at putting together joint efforts of the international community to promote effective development of the Arctic region as a territory for comfort life, work and leisure. The Forum will be attended by government officials, representatives of international organizations and prominent business communities, centers for political studies, Polar researchers and members of the international Arctic expeditions, foreign political scientists and economists, Russian and foreign journalists from leading international media organizations. The Forum will be attended by the President of the Russian Federation, Mr. Vladimir Putin. Additional information will be announced
here
.
The 4th annual Arctic Encounter Symposium (AES) will convene policymakers, industry leaders, and leading experts to confront the leading issues in Arctic policy, innovation, and development in Seattle, WA at the Bell Harbor International Conference Center. As the largest annual Arctic policy event in the United States, the AES mission is to raise awareness, engage challenges, and develop solutions for the future of a region and a people. The two-day program includes two keynote luncheons, expert plenary sessions, break out sessions, a networking cocktail reception and seated three-course dinner.
- The Arctic Cryosphere
- Pollution in the Arctic
- Human Health Aspects of Pollution and Climate Change
- Global and Arctic Systems Feedback Mechanisms
- Resilience within Arctic Ecosystems
- Science and Policy Making
- Socio-Economic Drivers and Impacts of Arctic Change
Organizers announce a call for abstracts which are due by December 2, 2016. The event is organized by the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program (AMAP).
Ninth International Congress of Arctic Social Sciences: People and Places (ICASS IX), June 8-12, 2017 (Umea, Sweden).
ICASS IX's theme is People & Place. Research on social sciences and humanities have a great responsibility to address the challenges for sustainable development in the Arctic, with a specific focus on the many different parts of the Arctic and the people that live there. The multiple Arctics have lately been addressed by many policy makers and researchers. The purpose is often to counteract the stereotypic understanding of the Arctic too often represented by icebergs and polar bears. A focus on people and place highlights the many variances across the region in terms of climate, political systems, demography, infrastructure, history, languages, legal systems, land and water resources etc.
The 2nd Asian Conference on Permafrost, July 2-6, 2017 (Sapporo, Japan). Delegates will participate in state-of-the-art oral and poster presentations in the modern city of Sapporo (host of the 1972 Winter Olympics). Field trips will visit marginal and extrazonal mountain permafrost sites that support unique geo-eco-hydrological features. All aspects of frozen ground research will be covered, from needle ice to deep permafrost, from frozen ground engineering in cities to permafrost on volcanoes, and from links between frozen ground and ancient cultures to present-day outreach. Plan now to enjoy science and engineering, excellent food, and unique field trips in Sapporo.
- Small and off-grid community energy solutions
- Oil and gas development
- Renewable energy
- Regulation and Financing
- Transportation and transmission
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.
Polar Law Symposium 2017 and Rovaniemi Arctic Spirit, November 13-16, 2017 (Rovaniemi, Finland).
The purpose of the Polar Law Symposium is to examine, in detail, the implications of the challenges faced by the Polar Regions for international law and policy and to make recommendations on appropriate actions by states, policy makers and other international actors to respond to these emerging and re-emerging challenges. The Rovaniemi Arctic Spirit
Conference is integrated with the Polar Law Symposium, which will be organized by the Northern Institute for Environmental and Minority Law at the Arctic Center of the University of Lapland.
POLAR 2018, June 15-27, 2018 (Davos, Switzerland).
POLAR2018 is a joint event from the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) and the International Arctic Science Committee (IASC). The SCAR meetings, the ASSW and the Open Science Conference will be hosted by the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL under the patronage of the Swiss Committee on Polar and High Altitude Research. The WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF is organizing POLAR2018.
As the Symposium is organized jointly by two leading Research Institutes of Russian Academy of Science - Institute of Water Problems and Melnikov Permafrost Institute, particularly the contributions on following research topics are welcome:
- Observational evidences of change in coupled permafrost-hydrology system.
- Present state and future projections of local, regional and pan-Arctic hydrology.
- Modeling studies representing landscape evolution, dynamics of water storages and permafrost degradation.
- Impacts of permafrost hydrology changes on local communities."
VII International Conference on Cryopedology, August 21-25, 2017 (Yaktsk, Russia).
The conference will be hosted by the Institute for Biological Problems of the Cryolithozone of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (SB RAS). Plenary reports will be organized in the hall of the Academy of Sciences of the Sakha (Yakutia) Republic.
The official languages of the conference are English and Russian (with translation).
All technical facilities (projectors, computers, video sets) will be available during the conference for presentation of papers. Additional information will be available soon. See the Facebook page
here.
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