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Realism in the Arctic, 1 pm EDT on July 31, 2020 (Virtual). The United States and Russia disagree on many issues, including the organization of the international system. A "reset" in relations seems unlikely in the near future, but it is imperative to identify areas of cooperation. The Arctic is one. Join the Wilson Center's Polar Institute and Kennan Institute about how the Arctic may be an avenue through which the United States and Russia can build cooperative measures. The conversation will reference a recent
article authored by two speakers. The event includes the newly appointed James DeHart, US Coordinator for the Arctic Region.
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Media
Going, Going, GONE: Two Arctic Ice Caps Have Disappeared. Two little Arctic ice caps that Mark Serreze studied as a graduate student in the early 1980s might not have been as grand and dramatic as other features of our planet's cryosphere, but to him they nonetheless were quite special. Were quite special - past tense - because Serreze, who now directs the National Snow and Ice Data Center, has confirmed that the two ice caps on the Hazen Plateau of Canada's Ellsmere Island have disappeared. They're the victims of human-caused warming that has occurred three times more rapidly in the Arctic than anywhere else.
Discover
 Phytoplankton Surge in Arctic Waters. Each summer, parts of the Arctic Ocean and peripheral seas lose their ice cover and bathe in ample sunlight. In this window of time, some of these open-water areas come to life with phytoplankton blooms so large and vivid they can be seen from space. The summer of 2020 has been one of those summers. Phytoplankton-the floating plant-like organisms that, like plants on land, need sunlight and nutrients to thrive-have exploded in numbers, or "bloomed," across ice-free northern latitudes. The image above, acquired on July 26 with the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Terra and Aqua satellites, shows a bloom of phytoplankton in the Barents Sea, north of Scandinavia and Russia.
NASA Earth Observatory
 Appointment of US Arctic Coordinator May Signal More Muscular American Policy. The appointment of James DeHart as the U.S. coordinator for the Arctic signals the region's growing importance to Washington as an arena of geopolitical competition with Russia and China, say Canadian and American defense experts. DeHart, a career diplomat with extensive experience in global defense and security issues, is stepping into a position that was left vacant for nearly three years after retired U.S. Coast Guard Admiral Robert Papp left it in early 2017.
CBC News
Comment by August 2 on Development of the Next Arctic Research Plan
.The Interagency Arctic Research Policy Committee (IARPC) is beginning development of the Arctic Research Plan 2022-2026. We are seeking input on the structure, goals, and objectives of the plan. Please share your ideas on the critical issues facing the Arctic and what research needs to be conducted to address those issues. The comment deadline is August 2. Find more information about the plan and how to comment
here
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Future Events
** New this week **
A Warming Arctic: National Security Challenges and Opportunities, 12- 1 pm AKDT on August 5, 2020 (Virtual). Climate change is altering the physical landscape in the Arctic. The region is warming twice as fast as the rest of the planet, much faster than many climate scientists predicted. A warmer Arctic may pose national security challenges, but it may also create opportunities for investment and development in Alaska. Please join Brigadier General Stephen Cheney, USMC (Ret) for a discussion of the security challenges and opportunities posed by the warming Arctic. This event is hosted by the Institute of the North.
** New this week **
Building Arctic Empathy through Virtual Reality, 2 pm EDT August 12, 2020 (Virtual). Learn how virtual reality and immersive learning can build empathy, connection, & commitment to conservation in Arctic research. Research shows that immersive media drives empathy, creates connection, and motivates positive social behaviors like no other platform. Join Emmy and Webby award winning immersive technology pioneer
Wesley Della Volla as he presents ways you can use shared, synchronized immersive reality to integrate live presentations with a tangible connection with Arctic science research, traditional knowledge, and Arctic landscapes and ecosystems using the devices you already have. Migration In Harmony is an international, cross-disciplinary network of Arctic migration researchers funded by NSF. Learn more and sign up at
migrationharmony.org.
Arctic Circle Assembly, October 8-11, 2020 (Reykjavik, 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.
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.
Save the Date: 2nd Symposium on Polar Microbes and Viruses, May 3-6, 2021 (Hanko, Finland). Organizers announce, that due to the coronavirus outbreak, the 2nd Symposium on Polar Microbes and Viruses has been postponed to 2021. This symposium will bring together molecular microbial ecologists specializing in different organism groups to share our latest results and discuss methodological problems, as well as future prospects in the field, including practical international collaborations. The environmental focus will be on cryospheric environments including sea ice, glaciers, ice sheets, and permafrost, but excellent research in other polar environments is also invited. The methods to be discussed will focus on 'omics' techniques, ranging from single cells to metagenomes, but research using additional methods is encouraged as well.
3rd Arctic Science Ministerial, May 8-9, 2021 (Toyko, Japan).
The Japanese and Icelandic organizers of this ministerial continue to plan for an in-person ministerial, in Tokyo, but have moved the dates from November 21-22, 2020 to May 8-9, 2021 because of Covid-19. Since the last Arctic Science Ministerial in 2018, changes in the Arctic ecosystem and the resulting impacts locally and globally have been severely felt. 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. ASM3 will be co-hosted by Iceland and Japan.
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