Subsistence Hunting in Alaska in an Age of Climate Change.  As Arctic sea  ice extent diminishes off the northern coast of Alaska, scientists have questioned what kind of impacts this will have on the marine mammals that call the region home - and the subsistence hunters who depend on them.  In a   study published Wednesday   in   Biology Letters, researchers interviewed hunters from 11 coastal villages from the northern Bering Sea to the Beaufort Sea to gain an understanding of the challenges they faced, and their potential for adaptation.   News Deeply

 

Survey: Western Arctic Caribou Population Drops. The 2016 Alaska Department of Fish and Game survey is the first since 2013 of the Western Arctic Herd in northwest Alaska. The results were announced Monday. The survey estimates the herd's population at 201,000 head. The survey also included positive findings about the calf survival rate and the weight of animals. The results come during a hunting season that includes new restrictions for nonresident hunters. In April, the Federal Subsistence Board closed caribou hunting on federal lands to everyone except federally qualified subsistence users. The state Department of Fish and Game opposes the decision, arguing this type of hunting restriction shouldn't be implemented when the herd population exceeds 200,000. Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

 

Putin Says Arctic Should Remain Free of Geopolitical Tensions. Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia is committed to maintaining peaceful relations with Arctic nations while exploring the Arctic's largely untapped resources. "The Arctic must be regarded as a space for an open and equitable dialogue...where there will be no place for geopolitical games by military blocs, backstage deals, or struggle for spheres of influence," Putin said in a message read to Arctic Council members on August 30 by Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev. Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty

 

Watch Bubbling Alaska Lakes Catch on Fire. Some Arctic lakes are starting to look like witches' cauldrons. The above video shows an increasingly common site in northern latitudes. As global warming heats these areas up, the frozen ground is melting. And when  permafrost turns from solid ground to looser mud, it releases gases that have been trapped inside. Much of the gas is methane, which is produced by microbes that feed on prehistoric biological matter laid down before the last Ice Age. The methane bubbles up to the surface, sometimes gently and at other times violently. ( Read a magazine feature on this topic.) National Geographic

 

Nunavut Hamlet Seeks Chinese Investors to Build Dream Port. The Nunavut hamlet of Qikiqtarjuaq has been lobbying the federal and territorial governments for a deep water port for decades, but funding has never come. Now, with the Northwest Passage opening, they're turning to international investors to build their dream port. "We are serious now to make this dream a reality," said Arthur Nicomedes, the hamlet's director of finance. "Qikiqtarjuaq is strategically located and beautiful. "That's why I'm calling this place 'little Singapore of the Arctic.'" CBC News

Technique Could Assess Historic Changes to Antarctic Sea Ice and Glaciers. Historic changes to Antarctic sea ice could be unravelled using a new technique pioneered by scientists at Plymouth University. It could also potentially be used to demonstrate past alterations to glaciers and ice shelves caused by climatic changes, a study published in Nature Communications suggests. The new method builds on an existing technique, also developed by Plymouth University over the last 10 years, which identified a means by which scientists could measure changes to sea ice in the Arctic. That has already led scientists to reveal periods when the Arctic was previously ice free during summers, and when sea ice first expanded to is modern extent. Space Daily