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Arctic Reading for the Quarantine:
This week's newly shared reports and publicans.
(The Study of Environmental Arctic Change) Arctic Futures 2050 Conference Report, April 16, 2020. In September 2019, the Study of Environmental Arctic Change (SEARCH) brought together nearly 400 scientists, Indigenous Knowledge holders and leaders, and policy makers from 15 countries to explore Arctic research needs. The Arctic Futures 2050 conference report covers takeaways from the spoken and poster presentations organized by five conference questions and reflects on the conference format and lessons learned. A main conference conclusion is that holistic understanding and useful adaptation to rapid Arctic change requires bringing together scientists, Indigenous Knowledge holders, and policy makers in all phases of research from defining the problems to conducting research and sharing knowledge. Please also note
the webinar opportunity for providing ideas inspired by the report.
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April Was a Warm One in the Eastern Arctic. Residents of the eastern Arctic may have noticed some above-average temperatures during the month of April. These were highlighted when Dalhousie University weather watcher Patrick Duplessis recently reviewed temperatures across the North for Nunatsiaq News.
Nunatsiaq Online
 DFG Supports MOSAiC Expedition in Arctic Ocean During Coronavirus Pandemic. The Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) together with the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) is stepping in to support the MOSAiC expedition in the Arctic Ocean by sending the research vessels Sonne and Maria S. Merian to Spitzbergen. There they will rendezvous with the research icebreaker Polarstern and perform a complete changeover of approximately 100 personnel as well as exchanging cargo and supplies. "We are delighted to be able to support the MOSAiC expedition in this way," said DFG President Professor Dr. Katja Becker in Bonn. "We are preventing the premature termination of the project and therefore protecting research from the loss of extremely valuable data."
EurekAlert!
Arctic Plankton Populations Vary by Season. As temperatures rise, sea ice melts, and the ocean's chemistry undergoes significant changes in pH and salinity, predicting the downstream ecological effects is challenging, particularly in areas like the Arctic, where change is occurring quickly. Scientists often turn to planktonic species to glean insights into ecosystem health. These keystone species constitute the basis of the food web in the region and are especially sensitive to changes in the water.
EOS
Polarstern Sets Records on Arctic Climate Mission. The Polarstern is a ship laboratory, drifting in Arctic ice. Part of MOSAiC, a large-scale expedition led by Germany's Alfred Wegener Institute, it's measuring climate change at the North Pole. And setting new records.
Deutsche Welle
 Why Permafrost Thawing in the Arctic Matters to the Whole Planet. If you leave frozen food sitting out on the counter for too long, it starts to thaw and it will eventually rot. The same goes for plant and animal remains that have long been trapped in frozen Arctic soil called permafrost. Brendan Kelly directs a collaborative program called the Study of Environmental Arctic Change. "A quarter of the lands in the Northern Hemisphere are underlain by permafrost, ground that's perpetually frozen and has been in many cases for thousands of years," he says.
Yale Climate Connections
Russia to Launch First Satellite for Monitoring Arctic Climate This Year. Russia will launch its first Arktika-M satellite for monitoring the Arctic climate and environment at the end of the year, General Director of the Lavochkin aerospace company Vladimir Kolmykov said. "As of now, the number one Arktika-M spacecraft has been developed and is undergoing radio-electronic testing ... the launch is planned for the end of 2020", Kolmykov said, adding that the second Arktika-M satellite is still under development and will be launched in 2023.
Space Daily
Extended Deadline - Call for Input: Comment on the Next IARPC 5-Year Arctic Research Plan Due August 2
The Interagency Arctic Research Policy Committee (IARPC) has extended the deadline for comments on the next Arctic Research Plan.
A scoping Federal Register Notice (FRN) for the next Arctic Research Plan was published on 3 April 2020 and will be open for comments until 2 August 2020. The full FRN is available
online
. IARPC is initiating development of the next Arctic Research Plan, as called for in the Arctic Research Policy Act (ARPA) of 1984 (15 U.S.C. 4108). The Plan aims to strengthen interagency communication, coordination, and collaboration of the 14 Federal agencies, departments and offices that make up IARPC. The Plan will address critical needs in Arctic research and identify those areas where research in the Arctic can be improved through interagency collaboration.I ARPC will begin developing the next 5-year Arctic Research Plan and wants to know what should be included. Your thoughts and ideas are valued and welcome.
Comments can be made via the
Federal Register
or email:
[email protected]
.
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Future Events
** New this week **
National Science Foundation Manager Chat: Response to COVID-19, May 6, 2020 (webinar). An IARPC Collaborations Webinar Series, join NSF Office of Polar Programs Officers to discuss the NSF response to COVID-19 including impacts on awards, regulations, and the 2020 field season. This is an opportunity for open dialog with OPP and we welcome the research community to join, ask questions and share feedback.
Register here! For more information about the topics to be covered in this webinar, see
here.
 COVID-19 Impacts in the Arctic, May 19-20, 2020 (Virtual conference, Zoom)
. Organized and hosted by the US Naval War College, the Wilson Center's Polar Institute, and the US Arctic Research Commission, this event will be a series of panel conversations on the impacts of the virus in the Arctic. COVID-19 threatens the Arctic region with new challenges to human life, economic prosperity, and the fabric of communities. Ongoing climate and environmental change further compound the challenges facing Arctic communities. In light of these unprecedented, intersecting challenges, the co-hosts will run a virtual conference of panels focusing on Arctic Community health, economic
activities, US Coast Guard Operations, scientific research, international impacts and more. Speakers will include leading voices from Arctic communities, federal and state agencies, academia, international entities, and the private sector.
Registration
is
open
and is
required
.
ICESAT-2 Cryospheric Science Hackweek, June 15-19, 2020 (Seattle, Washington USA). ICESat-2 Cryospheric Science Hackweek is a 5-day hackweek to be held at the University of Washington. Participants will learn about technologies used to access and process ICESat-2 data with a focus on the cryosphere. Mornings will consist of interactive lectures, and afternoon sessions will involve facilitated exploration of datasets and hands-on software development.
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.
3rd Arctic Science Ministerial, November 21-22, 2020 (Toyko, Japan). Since the last Arctic Science Ministerial in 2018, changes in the Arctic ecosystem and the resulting impacts locally and globally have been severely felt. While the reasons for these changes in climate largely stem from activities outside of the Arctic, the Arctic is warming at a rate of nearly double the global average. 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. The Third Arctic Science Ministerial will be co-hosted by Iceland and Japan.
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.
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