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"Why we should develop Arctic Humanities"
Arctic Environmental Humanities Workshop series: Sverker Sörlin, Professor of Environmental History (KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden). Tues Sept. 29,2020. 11am EDT
We have seen a recent growth of what has been called the "integrative humanities." Looking back at politics of frugality and various symptoms of crisis, humanities scholars and institutions around the world have looked for new agendas. These have varied, but a common feature has often been the idea that relevance and a sense of purpose has increased when different strands of humanities
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have organized themselves into intellectual and issue oriented alliances around, for example environment, climate, natural resources, rights issues, health, sustainable development. In this respect the Arctic, or the Poles, may be seen as an issue area, rather than as just a region among other regions, or as just the object of a set of disciplinary practices, like any topic. Arctic knowledge production remains dominated by the sciences while the issues that are looking for answers are by and large societal and cultural, indeed also political. I am in earnest interested in the issue of how the humanities can articulate the desire for a stronger presence in polar research, and despite some progress (mostly limited to certain disciplines) I am confident we have not yet reached as far as we can.
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Media
 The Arctic is Burning in a Whole New Way. "Zombie fires" and burning of fire-resistant vegetation are new features driving Arctic fires-with strong consequences for the global climate-warn international fire scientists in a commentary published in Nature Geoscience.The 2020 Arctic wildfire season began two months early and was unprecedented in scope. Phys.org
Brilliant Pink Auroras are Dazzling the Arctic Circle Amid an Ongoing Solar Storm. Mesmerizing curtains of colorful lights shimmered across the night skies above the Arctic Circle on Saturday and Sunday, with luminous pillars lighting up the landscape beneath shades of green, purple and pink. Skywatchers fixed their cameras pointing upward, the spectacle witnessed from Scandinavia, Alaska and Canada. It was a display of the northern lights, or aurora borealis. The Washington Post
Researchers Set to Take to the Air Above the Arctic and New York City. Atmospheric scientists are embarking on two new research projects supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation that involve using sophisticated planes to understand the atmospheric chemistry and levels of pollutants in two regions: the Arctic and the metropolitan region of New York. "These are exciting opportunities for two teams of researchers to increase our understanding of the composition and chemistry of the atmosphere -- from one of the most remote locations, the Arctic Ocean, to one of the most polluted, New York City," said Paul Shepson, dean of the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences at Stony Brook University. National Science Foundation
 University of Toronto Researchers, Students Travel to High Arctic to Conduct Atmospheric Research. For just over two decades, students and post-doctoral researchers working with the University of Toronto's Kimberly Strong and Kaley Walker have traveled to Eureka, Nunavut, in the Canadian High Arctic each spring to make unique measurements of atmospheric trace gases. Strong is chair of the department of physics and Walker is a professor in the department. Together with department colleagues and researchers from Dalhousie University and York University, the team had another extraordinary opportunity last winter to work at the Polar Environment Atmospheric Research Laboratory (PEARL). University of Toronto
Superfast Arctic Undersea Cable Attracts Japan's Sojitz. Six Japanese companies will participate in a final feasibility study for the first undersea communications line connecting Japan and Europe through the Arctic Ocean, slated to begin operations in 2023. The new 10,600 km link is expected to be one of the fastest in the world, with a data rate of 66 terabytes per second or higher. It will be shorter than existing Japan-Europe cables, which pass through Russia or the Suez Canal, allowing for smoother communications. Nikkei Asia
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Future Events
Hearings to Examine NASA Missions and Programs, Focusing on Update and Future Plans, 10:00 AM EDT on September 30, 2020 (Washington, DC USA). U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., chairman of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, will convene a hearing titled, "NASA Missions and Programs: Update and Future Plans." This hearing will focus on the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) progress on major missions, including the Artemis Program. The hearing will also provide an opportunity to discuss mission challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and how the agency is adapting to meet those challenges.
 United States Air Force Arctic Strategy: Perspectives and Insights, 12:00 pm EDT on October 5, 2020 (virtual). This event is hosted by the Polar Institute of the Wilson Center and the Arctic Domain Awareness Center. The Air Force Arctic Strategy was released in July 2020.  According to the Department of the Air Force, "The strategy outlines the Department's unique regional role and efforts to optimize Air and Space capabilities throughout the region in support of the National Defense Strategy." We are honored to host a group of distinguished military leaders for a facilitated round table discussion regarding the Air Force Arctic Strategy to include contextual perspectives about the new Arctic, the Arctic in context of Great Power Competition, and the role and importance of the Air Force in Alaska and the Arctic.
 Arctic Circle VIRTUAL: Dialogue with US Senator Lisa Murkowski, 1:30 pm EDT on October 6, 2020 (virtual). This event is hosted by Arctic Circle. In this Dialogue, which takes place only four weeks from the Presidential election, Senator Murkowski will discuss the importance of the election for the Arctic. Participants will be able to send in their questions and comments, both before and during the event, to be addressed in the Dialogue. Arctic Circle's own Chairman and former President of Iceland, Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson will moderate this event.
IARPC Public Webinar Series: MOSAiC Expedition Overview, 2:00 pm EDT/ 10:00 am AKDT on October 8, 2020. The Interagency Arctic Research Policy Committee (IARPC) will host a public webinar providing an overview of the MOSAiC expedition. Throughout October, IARPC Collaborations will be holding a "MOSAiC Month" focused on the Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate (MOSAiC) expedition. This is the first webinar in that series. All are welcome to attend.
2021 Alaska Marine Science Symposium, January 26-28, 2021 (virtual). The Alaska Marine Science Symposium (AMSS) has been bringing together scientists, educators, resource managers, students, and interested public for over twenty years to discuss the latest marine research being conducted in Alaskan waters. Over 700 people attend this 4-day long conference held annually during the month of January. Each day of the conference highlights important Alaskan marine ecosystems: Gulf of Alaska (Tuesday), Bering Sea & Aleutian Islands (Wednesday), and the Arctic (Thursday). Research topics discussed range from ocean physics, fishes and invertebrates, seabirds, marine mammals, to local traditional knowledge. Since its inception, NPRB has been a proud sponsor and one of the leading organizers of AMSS.
Arctic Frontiers 2021, February 1-4, 2021 (virtual). Arctic Frontiers started out in 2006 assembling the first global scientific conference on economic, societal and environmental sustainable growth in the north. In February 2021, we will arrange the 15th conference with the theme "Building Bridges". The conference has a pan arctic perspective and builds new partnerships across nations, generations and ethnic groups. Arctic Frontiers provides a forum for dialogue and communication between science, government and industry in 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.
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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