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Arctic Reading for the Quarantine:
This week's newly shared reports and publicans.
(Arctic Council) The Coronavirus in the Arctic: Spotlight on Mental Health, April 2020. As the current pandemic evolves, the focus on the health effects of the coronavirus widens. While nations around the globe implement strict measures to flatten the curve of infections, concerns are rising that the virus and the measures taken to combat it, will cause long-term mental health issues. In the Arctic, where concerns about mental health and suicide have been long standing challenges, there is a particular need to reflect on the consequences. Fostering mental well-being must be an important component of a holistic approach to address the longer-term effects of the coronavirus outbreak. The Arctic Council's Sustainable Development Working Group project Local2Global is one of these efforts.
(Congressional Research Service) Changes in the Arctic: Background and Issues for Congress (April 28, 2020). The diminishment of Arctic sea ice has led to increased human activities in the Arctic, and has heightened interest in, and concerns about, the region's future. The United States, by virtue of Alaska, is an Arctic country and has substantial interests in the region. The seven other Arctic states are Canada, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark (by virtue of Greenland), and Russia.
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Virus Delay, Early Ice Melt Challenge Arctic Science Mission. They prepared for icy cold and trained to be on the watch for polar bears, but a pandemic just wasn't part of the program.Now dozens of scientists are waiting in quarantine for the all-clear to join a year-long Arctic research mission aimed at improving the models used for forecasting climate change, just as the expedition reaches a crucial phase.
Phys.org
 The US Navy Returns to an Increasingly Militarized Arctic. The U.S. Navy's Barents Sea patrol is the latest sojourn into an increasingly militarized Arctic, where questions of international law are becoming proliferating. For the first time since the end of the Cold War, the U.S. Navy is making regular trips to the Arctic Circle, with the four-ship patrol sailing in the Barents Sea. Three of the four ships, which sailed alongside the British Royal Navy frigate Kent, were destroyers based in Rota, Spain, as part of an operation spearheaded by the US Navy's 6th Fleet.
Defense News
Sen. Sullivan of Alaska Talks Military Strength and Strategy in the Arctic. When it comes to boosting the U.S. Defense Department's role in the frigid Arctic, nobody in Congress seems hotter under the collar than Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska. A former Alaska attorney general and Marine Corps officer, Sullivan has spent his time in office evangelizing for Alaska's strategic role in the region, grilling and cajoling Pentagon officials in public hearings, and pressing change through provisions in successive National Defense Authorization Acts.
Defense News
Failure to Communicate: US Navy Seeks Faster Data Transfers Amid Arctic Ice. Research in the Arctic Ocean is no small feat. The area can prove inaccessible at times, and sensors can fail to communicate data from under the ice or get crushed by slabs of ice. But with the Arctic getting warmer and ice melting at an accelerated rate, the U.S. Navy is preparing to operate in newly available waterways. To do that effectively, the service knows it will take intense research to create durable, innovative solutions that can withstand harsh conditions, while also relaying data to researchers.
Defense News
 New Technique Uses Radar to Gauge Methane Release. A research team has developed a way to use satellite images to determine the amount of methane being released from northern lakes, a technique that could help climate change modelers better account for this potent greenhouse gas. By using synthetic aperture radar, or SAR, researchers were able to find a correlation between 'brighter' satellite images of frozen lakes and the amount of methane they produce.
Science Daily
Arctic Researchers Prepare for a Summer Where They Can't Travel to Canada's North. "I thought: 'oh no, we are going to have a gap,' not just myself, but a gap in the entire Arctic research field," said Whalen, a physical scientist with Natural Resources Canada from Nova Scotia. With the territory's chief public health officer confirming on Wednesday that due to the COVID-19 pandemic, only essential workers and residents will be allowed in the territory for the foreseeable future, it will be a very different summer for a territory that's enriched with research projects.
Radio Canada International
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Future Events
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.
Over 500 confirmed participants so far.
Confirmed speakers/moderators include (among others)...
AlexAnna Salmon, Village Council President, Village of Igiugig, Alaska
Peter Sköld, Professor, Umea Univ., Sweden
David Balton, Senior Fellow, Polar Institute, Wilson Center
Fran Ulmer, Chair, US Arctic Research Commission
VADM Linda Fagan, Pacific Area Commander, USCG
RADM Todd Sokalzuk, Atlantic Area Deputy Commander, USCG
Mark Myers, former Director, US Geological Survey
John Tichotsky, Alaska Capital
Cara Condit, Exec. Dir. Center for Arctic Study and Policy, USCG Academy
Gail Schubert, President & CEO Bering Straits Native Corp.
Rebecca Pincus, Assoc. Prof. US Naval War College
Gwen Healy, Executive Director, Qaujigiartit Health Research Centre
Tim Gilbert, President/CEO, Maniilaq Assoc.
Robert Onders, Medical Dir. of Comm. and Health Systems Improv., ANTHC
Dalee Sambo Dorough, Int'l Chair, Inuit Circumpolar Council
Tony Penikett, former Premier, Yukon Territory, Canada
Mia Bennett, Assist. Prof., The Univ. of Hong Kong
Anne Budgell, author and radio/TV journalist in Labrador and Newfoundland
Inuuteq Holm Olsen, Minister Penipotentiary & Head of Rep. for Greenland
Friðrik Jónsson
,
Senior Arctic Official (Iceland), Arctic Council
Tim Gallaudet,
Asst. Sec. of Comm. for Oceans & Atm. & Deputy
NOAA Admin.
Simon Stephenson, Head, Arctic Section, National Science Foundation
Bob Foy, Science & Res. Dir., AK Fisheries Sci. Center, NOAA
Thorsten Markus, Cryospheric Science Prog. Manager, NASA
Doug Causey, Professor, Univ. Alaska Anchorage
Sally McFarlane, ARM Climate Research Facility Manager, DOE
Hajo Eicken, Director, Int'l Arctic Research Center, Univ. of Alaska Fairbanks
Brendan Kelly, Executive Director SEARCH, IARC/UAF
Bob Campbell, Research Scientist (was on MOSAiC), GSO, Univ. of RI
Jackie Grebmeier, Professor, CES, Univ. of Maryland
Kaare Erickson, North Slope Science Liaison, Ukpeagvik Inupiat Corp.
Ted Schuur, Professor, Northern Arizona Univ.
Jackie Richter-Menge, UAF and USARC Commissioner
David Kennedy, Global Fellow, Polar Institute, Wilson Center
Sydonia Brett-Harte, Assoc. Sci. Director, Toolik Field Station, UAF
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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