The Arctic is having a bit of a moment: From climate change coverage to television dramas like “The Terror” and “Fortitude,” the media has brought vistas of cold, snowy places to people around the world. As an environmental historian who works in the far north, I talk to audiences across the country about the Arctic’s past and present. I’ve heard a few misconceptions emerge over and over.

A survey team on a remote island in Arctic Canada came across a grisly sight in the summer of 2016. Caribou carcasses, dozens of them, lay strewn across the tundra of Prince Charles Island, just north of the Arctic Circle in Nunavut. Based on the condition of the carcasses and the decomposition of internal organs, death was estimated to have occurred at least several weeks prior to the team’s arrival, perhaps in late winter. While some animals died lying down, others appeared to have simply collapsed.

The Russian State Commission for the Development of the Arctic has pointed to a new study which estimates that approximately 7,000 hectares of land are washed out to the sea annually, as the ice melt or are washed out into the sea. The study was conducted by a group of scientists specializing in climatic changes at the Moscow State University and was first reported by the analytic news site Akcent.

The authors of the Alaska chapter of the Fifth National Climate Assessment will host a virtual workshop to receive comments on climate change-related issues. The information gathered will help authors decide which topics to cover in their chapter of the Fifth National Climate Assessment, a US government report on how climate change affects people and places in the United States.

This event will convene Arctic leaders and voices from around the world. The Arctic Encounter has brought together thousands of Arctic stakeholders since its inception in 2013. Following two years of cancellation due to COVID-19, the Arctic Encounter is eager to welcome participants to Alaska for dialogue and presentations with elected leaders, business leaders, scientists, and more.

The participants in the forum will focus on improving the living standards in the Arctic region, preserving its unique ecological potential, ensuring sustainable socioeconomic development in polar territories, and strengthening international cooperation to this end. The IAF is a unique space for constructive cooperation with international and regional organizations and an opportunity to focus on Russian and international priorities, including climate change, the environment, economic cooperation in the Arctic, sustainable development of transport infrastructure, and human capital development.

Arctic Symposium 2022 continues momentum in Arctic defense and security collaboration established in prior ALCOM-hosted events. AAS22 seeks to address the challenges faced by the U.S. military and our allies and partners in understanding and responding to our respective national interests. AAS22 is planned and organized by the Arctic Domain Awareness Center at the University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA) in support and in compliance to guidance from Alaskan Command (ALCOM) Staff and Commander. More information available soon.

Organizers announce, that due to the coronavirus outbreak, the 2nd Symposium on Polar Microbes and Viruses has been postponed to 2022. 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.

The events during the week of August 1st, 2022, will include Enhancing Arctic Science and Engineering Workshop along with Regional Development Tours and forums on the Arctic science to plan for the next 25 years of Arctic research. Participants will include scientists and engineers, Indigenous leaders, Arctic community members, policymakers, government organizations and businesses to celebrate past research success, take stock of current challenges and opportunities and plan for the next generation of collaboration and knowledge co-production that will keep Utqiagvik and Indigenous knowledge at the forefront of Arctic science and contribute to a safe and sustainable future for

the Arctic.