Arctic Update Header
August 6, 2018

 
DC Science Cafe: Polar Opposites, August 6, 2018 (Washington, DC USA). The Arctic. Antarctica. Two poles of one planet, the one that matters most. Join intrepid reporters Mike Lucibella and Eli Kintisch as they share their personal adventures in search of the uplifting, astonishing, and globally-consequential discoveries by scientists who trek to these extreme regions for their uniquely telling windows on an epic and ongoing planetary story. This event is hosted by the DC Science Café.
Media
 
New Study: The Arctic Carbon Cycle is Speeding Up. When people think of the Arctic, snow, ice and polar bears come to mind. Trees? Not so much. At least not yet.  A new NASA-led study using data from the Arctic Boreal Vulnerability Experiment (ABoVE) shows that carbon in Alaska's North Slope tundra ecosystems spends about 13 percent less time locked in frozen soil than it did 40 years ago. In other words, the carbon cycle there is speeding up -- and is now at a pace more characteristic of a North American boreal forest than of the icy Arctic. NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory: California Institute of Technology
 
Saildrones Head to the Arctic. The saildrones are completely autonomous, so they can sail along under their own power as long as there's a little sun and wind to send them on their way. But aimlessly floating around might not produce the best science, so it's our job to give them a place to go. All of our communication to and from the saildrones is done through a website operated by Saildrone, Inc. We can see where the saildrones are, what measurements they are making, and plan the next place to go. Alaska Native News
 
inuit children Inuit Families are Affected by Societal Change. Everyone is related to someone. It's a common refrain across the Arctic, where people share cousins and the definition of nieces and nephews is often different from what you might find in some non-indigenous communities. These special bonds and definitions of family were the focus of one panel during the Inuit Circumpolar Council's general assembly, held last month in Utqiaġvik. The Arctic Sounder
 
60 Years After Nautilus Polar Crossing, Arctic Still Vital Region for US Submarines. Even though they'd sailed 1,830 miles from Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, to Portland, England, including a historic passage underneath the North Pole, the 116 men did not think that what they accomplished would captivate the world. When the boat arrived in England after the 19-day journey, that changed. "It was incredible. We were like rock stars," said John "J.C." Yuill, 80, of Cumberland, R.I., who served on the USS Nautilus, the world's first nuclear-powered submarine, and was on board when it made its historic Pacific-to-Atlantic transit under the polar ice cap in 1958. Military.com
 
Healy, Coast Guard Is the Coast Guard's Icebreaker Project Doomed? Partisan wrangling on Capitol Hill over funding President Donald Trump's border wall might doom the Coast Guard's plan to begin building a needed icebreaker. A draft of the Homeland Security Appropriations Act percolating out of the House of Representatives proposes to strip $750 million out of the Coast Guard's 2019 budget, part of a larger effort to sluice $5.2 billion in federal funds to barrier construction along the international boundary with Mexico and hike spending on Immigration and Customs Enforcement programs. Navy Times
Future Events
 
Coastlines & People (CoPe), application deadline is August 12, 2018
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 The National Science Foundation (NSF) is launching a new initiative on Coastlines and People (CoPe), that includes the Arctic region, and NSF seeks input on research priorities. Four simultaneous, three-day (Sept. 26-28, 2018) scoping sessions will be hosted by the University Cooperation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) and facilitated by KnowInnovation on behalf of the NSF. Workshop sites include San Diego, Chicago, and Atlanta, with a fourth 'virtual' workshop held on Mountain Time. The scoping sessions aim to attract a variety of stakeholders including academic researchers, state, federal and local representatives working on important issues relating to coastal environments. Travel support is available to selected participants. The application deadline is midnight (local time) August 12, 2018. More information is available at  https://coastlinesandpeople.org/

The ICCH congresses are held every third
 year in different locations in the circumpolar area and represent the largest scientific meetings worldwide on circumpolar health. The ICCH congresses serve as the primary source of information exchange and scholarly communication in issues relating to circumpolar health. 
More than 750 participants generally register and 
participate  in each Congress, and more than 400 scientific papers or posters are usually presented.

The Causes and Consequences of a Rapidly Changing Arctic, August 16, 2018 (Washington, DC USA and via webinar). Earth's climate system is highly interconnected, meaning that changes to the global climate influence the United States climatically and economically. In much the same way as European and Asian financial markets affect the U.S. economy, changes to ice sheet mass and energy flows in the far reaches of the planet affect our climate. Life on Earth is sensitive to climate conditions; human society is especially susceptible due to the climate-vulnerable, complex, and often fragile systems that provide food, water, energy, and security. This event is part of the Climate Science Special Report (CSSR) Seminar Series by the US Global Change Research Program in partnership with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The presenter will be Dr. Patrick C. Taylor, Climate Research Scientist, NASA Langley Research Center.

August NWS Alaska Climate Outlook Briefing, August 17, 2018 (Fairbanks, Alaska USA or via webinar). The tools and techniques for making monthly and season scale climate forecasts are rapidly changing, with the potential to provide useful forecasts at the month and longer range. We will review recent climate conditions around Alaska, review some forecast tools and finish up the Climate Prediction Center's forecast for September and the Fall/early winter season. This event is part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Science Seminar Series.

The Fourth US National Climate Assessment: An Overview of Volume 1, August 28, 2018 (Washington, DC and via webinar). This event is part of the Climate Science Special Report (CSSR) Seminar Series by the US Global Change Research Program in partnership with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. New observations and new research have increased our understanding of past, current, and future climate change. The Fourth National Climate Assessment confirms prior assessments in concluding that the climate on our planet, including the United States, is changing, and changing rapidly. Observational evidence for a changing climate abounds, from the top of the atmosphere to the depths of the oceans. The speaker will be Donald J. Wuebbles, the Harry E. Preble Professor of Atmospheric Science at the University of Illinois.

UArctic Congress 2018, September 3-7, 2018 (Oulu and Helsinki, Finland).   The UArctic Congress 2018 will bring together key UArctic meetings and a science conference into one single gathering, including business meetings of the Council of UArctic, Rectors' Forum, Student Forum, and Thematic Networks & UArctic Institutes Leadership Team. The Congress is an integral part of the Finland's Arctic Council chairmanship program, and open to the public. The event will highlight the themes and priorities of the Finnish chairmanship, including the goals of the United Nations' 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and the Paris Agreement under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.

15 th International Circumpolar Remote Sensing Symposium, September  10-14, 2018 (Potsdam, Germany).  This symposium focuses specifically on remote sensing applications in polar environments, both Arctic and Antarctic. The theme of this year's symposium is, "Polar Regions in Transformation - Climatic Change and Anthropogenic Pressures." 

September NWS Alaska Climate Outlook Briefing, September 21, 2018 (Fairbanks, Alaska USA and via webinar). The tools and techniques for making monthly and season scale climate forecasts are rapidly changing, with the potential to provide useful forecasts at the month and longer range. We will review recent climate conditions around Alaska, review some forecast tools and finish up the Climate Prediction Center's forecast for October and the early winter season. This event is part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Science Seminar Series.

Scientific Exploration of the Arctic and North Pacific (SEA-NorP), September 25-27, 2018 (Mt. Hood, Oregon USA). This workshop will include discussion of hypotheses that can be tested by scientific drilling in the region, the technology necessary to achieve those goals, ideal sites for drilling based on existing data, and where additional site survey data is needed. The goal of the workshop organizers is that multiple proposals will be initiated at the workshop, both for full cruise legs and for shorter, targeted expeditions around the following themes: ocean gateways, geohazards, volatile cycling, ice histories at transition zones, biosphere and climate.

Polar Law Symposium (11th annual), October 2-4, 2018 (Tromsø, Norway) . This symposium brings together established scholars and post-doctoral and doctoral researchers from all across the world to share research in the fields of polar law and policy. Leading experts are invited to give keynote lectures. A history of the symposium is  here , news about it is  here , and registration is  here .

The second Arctic Biodiversity Congress is hosted by the Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna (CAFF), the biodiversity working group of the Arctic Council, and the Ministry of the Environment, Finland. The second Arctic Biodiversity Congress will build on the success of the first Congress, held in 2014 in Trondheim, Norway, and will bring together scientists, policymakers government officials, Indigenous representatives, Traditional Knowledge holders, industry, non-governmental organizations, and others to promote the conservation and sustainable use of Arctic biodiversity. 

Arctic Circle Assembly, October 2018 (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.

2018 Forum for Arctic Modeling and Observational Synthesis (FAMOS) Project Annual School and Meeting, October 23-26, 2018 (Bergen, Norway) Major goals of this meeting are to coordinate FAMOS activities, report accomplishments, exchange ideas and hypotheses, enhance international arctic studies collaboration and discuss plans for continuing FAMOS work beyond 2019. Meeting registration form is available at project websites: here and here. For questions and details contact A. Proshutinsky, Mike Steele, and Amelie Bouchat.

Arctic Science Forum Associated with the 2nd Arctic Science Ministerial, October 25, 2018 (Berlin, Germany and via webcast). How vulnerable and how resilient are nature and the people of the Arctic region? How well do we understand the regional and global dynamics which are driving change in the Arctic? What impact will change in the Arctic have on us? These and other questions are the focus of this two-day conference. It will take interdisciplinary research in the Arctic to gain an understanding of past and future processes - a complex and cost-intensive venture. This makes an international network of Arctic research so important for delivering better results. Cooperation in research, the exchange of data, collaborative observation and monitoring schemes - international cooperation is imperative in research on the Arctic.
Only the Science Forum, on October 25th, will be webcast. The Arctic Ministerial, on October 26th, will NOT be webcast.

Maritime & Arctic Security & Safety Conference (MASS18) "Arctic Technology" November 15-16, 2018 (Newfoundland & Labrador Canada).  Now in its sixth year, MASS has gained an international reputation as a must-attend event to gain a wide perspective on challenges, opportunities and policies related to the Arctic and North Atlantic maritime environments.  The aim of this Government of Canada and the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador supported international conference is to promote stakeholder collaboration, technological innovation, harsh environment research & development, and world-class education efforts that are contributing to both Maritime and Arctic issues.   This two day conference will draw a diverse group of speakers and attendees representing government, military, Canadian and U.S. Coast Guard, industry, academic leaders, Northern Leaders, research and other key stakeholders. We hope you can join us to be a part of this important dialogue

American Geophysical Union Fall meeting, December 10-14, 2018 (Washington, DC USA). The AGU 2018 Fall Meeting will mark another dynamic year of discovery in Earth and space science, serve as the advent of AGU's Centennial year, and provide a special opportunity to share our science with world AGU logo leaders in Washington, D.C. As the largest Earth and space science gathering in the world, the Fall Meeting places you in the center of a global community of scientists drawn from myriad fields of study whose work protects the health and welfare of people worldwide, spurs innovation, and informs decisions that are critical to the sustainability of the Earth. 

ArcticNet: Annual Scientific Meeting 2018, December 10-14, 2018 (Ottawa, ON Canada). Canada's North is experiencing unprecedented change in its sea and terrestrial ice, permafrost and ecosystems under the triple pressures of climate change, industrialization and modernization. The impacts of these pressures can be seen on food and energy security, shipping, sovereignty, northern community health and well-being, and sustainable development and resource exploitation. All these issues have brought the North to the forefront of national and international agendas. Building on the success of its previous Annual Scientific Meetings and International Arctic Change Conferences, the Arctic Network of Centers of Excellence announces the 14th ArcticNet Annual Scientific Meeting. 

is a global scientific conference on economic, societal, and environmental sustainable growth.  This year's theme will be "Smart Arctic," with a pan-arctic emphasis, and an effort to build new partnerships across nations, generations and ethnic groups. Arctic Frontiers provides a forum for dialogue and communication between science, government and industry . The plenary program will have five main sessions: State of the Arctic, Blue Growth, Smart Solutions, Bridging the Gap, and Arctic business prospects. An abstract-driven science program will address Plastics in the Ocean, the Future of Governance and Handling Vulnerability in Arctic Ecosystems, State of the Arctic and A Smart Arctic Future.

Arctic Futures 2050: Science and Policy for a Changing Arctic, September 4-6, 2019 (Washington, DC USA). In 2019, the Study of Environmental Arctic Change  (SEARCH) and partners will convene Arctic scientists and decision makers to jointly forecast Arctic research needed to inform policy in the coming decades. The conference also is intended to foster more effective and iterative collaborations among Arctic scientists and decision makers.

of the AAG includes over 8,500 geographers converging from the U.S., Canada, and nearly 60 other countries in a typical year including geographers, GIS specialists, environmental scientists, and other leaders for the latest in research and applications in geography, sustainability, and GIScience.

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