| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
ICESAT-2 Cryospheric Science Hackweek, June 15-19, 2020 (Virtual).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.
Alaska Electric Vehicle Workshop, June 16-17, 2020 (Virtual)
.
The first virtual Alaska Electric Vehicle Workshop co-hosted by the
Alaska Center for Energy and Power
and the
U.S. Arctic Research Commission is to be held
June 16-17, 2020 (9 am to 1 pm AKDT)
.
The goal of the workshop is to connect stakeholders and help develop a clearer vision of electric vehicle research and policy priorities for Alaska and the Arctic.
Local, national, and international speakers will engage with each other, as well as audience members, on topics including vehicle charging behavior,
cold weather performance, electrical grid impacts and policy opportunities.
Registration and workshop details can be found at
here
.
|
|
Arctic Reading for the Quarantine:
If you find yourself looking for a good read, consider boosting your Arctic knowledge with this report.
 (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, June 2020).
Mapping the Coast of Alaska: A 10-year Strategy in Support of the United States Economy, Security, and Environment. Alaska's 66,000 miles of Arctic and sub-Arctic shorelines constitute a tremendous strategic, economic, and ecological resource to the Nation. Accurate and contemporary mapping of Alaska's coastal and nearshore regions is critical to informed use of these vast resources, maritime domain awareness, safeguarding of the health and security of coastal communities, and strengthening of the Blue Economy. The November 2019 Presidential Memorandum on Ocean Mapping of the United States Exclusive Economic Zone and the Shoreline and Nearshore of Alaska calls for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the State of Alaska, and the Alaska Mapping Executive Committee (AMEC) to develop an Alaska coastal mapping strategy. The Alaska Coastal Mapping Strategy (Strategy) builds on decades of effort to modernize Alaska's geospatial infrastructure, including AMEC's creation in 2012, and envisions an Alaska that in 2030 possesses seamless coastal mapping data.
|
Researchers in Arctic Ocean Map Undersea Methane Pockets Distributed Across a 250-Million-Year-Old 'Fault Zone' That Could Accelerate Ice Sheet Withdrawal with Future Ruptures. Researchers in the Arctic Ocean have discovered a massive network of undersea faults that have been slowly leaking methane, which are believed to be contributing to the withdrawal of ice sheets in the region. Led by Malin Waage, the team from the Arctic University of Norway documented a huge number of active 'mounds' of undersea methane in the Barents Sea, some as wide as 1,600 feet.
Daily Mail
 Russia Accuses Top Arctic Scientist Valery Mitko of Spying for China. Russia has accused one of its top Arctic scientists of passing state secrets to China, the latest case of an academic falling foul of the security services over foreign contacts. Investigators say Valery Mitko, president of Russia's Arctic Academy of Sciences and a visiting professor at China's Dalian Maritime University, handed secret information to Chinese special services, his lawyer Ivan Pavlov said by phone. Mitko, 78, who faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted, denies the charges.
South China Morning Post
China's Polar-Observing Satellite Starts Arctic Mission. China's first polar-observing satellite has started its Arctic observation mission after orbiting Earth for nine months, sources in its operations team said Tuesday. The mission will test the observation capabilities of the satellite, which is expected to achieve full coverage of the Arctic in seven days, said the operations team leader, Chen Zhuoqi, who is also an associate professor at the School of Geospatial Engineering and Science under the Sun Yat-Sen University in Guangzhou.
Ecns
Siberia's Persistent, Freakishly Mild Weather is Reverberating Around the World. On a temperature map these days, Siberia shows up as a bright red splotch, like a widespread rash on the Earth's surface. This region has seen persistently extreme temperatures since the winter, which has led to a damaging Arctic oil spill, sparked early outbreaks of large wildfires and helped vault global temperatures to new milestones. Unusually high temperatures in Siberia, along with above average temperatures elsewhere, propelled the globe to set or tie the record for the warmest May, according to data released last week by four different atmospheric research groups that keep track of global temperatures.
Seattle Times
 Carbon Emission From Permafrost Soils Underestimated by 14%. Currently, scientists estimate that 5-15% of the carbon stored in surface permafrost soils could be emitted as the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide by 2100, given the current trajectory of global warming. This emission, spurred by microbial action, could lead to 0.3 to 0.4 degrees Celsius of additional global warming. But this estimation is missing a crucial path that carbon dioxide may be entering the atmosphere: sunlight.
Science Daily
Moscow Aims at Post-COVID 200% Boost in Arctic Tourism. "The population of the world must be given the opportunity to see the rare beauty of the Arctic," says Russia's Deputy Minister of the Far East and Arctic Aleksandr Krutikov. The high-ranking state official foresees a three-times increase in the number of travelers to the region over the next 15 years. Krutikov in an online conference in early June underlined that tourism is a top priority in Russia's major investments in the Arctic, and that a separate Arctic Tourism Strategy is in the making.
The Barents Observer
|
|
Future Events
113th meeting of the US Arctic Research Commission, June 22, 2020, 9 am to noon, Alaska Time (Virtual)
. After postponing the Commission's original
 113th meeting, scheduled (for in-person participation
) for March 24, 2020 at the University of Maine, in Orono, ME, USARC has renumbered its meetings, and will now meet virtually, on June 22nd. The three-hour-long meeting will focus on commission business and on an initial discussion of the outline and content of USARC's next publication "Report on the Goals and Objectives for Arctic Research 2021-2022 for the US Arctic Research Program Plan." The part of the meeting open to the public (from 9:00 am until 10:15 am, Alaska time) will be on commission business. The remainder of the meeting will not be open to the public, because the discussions on the next goals report are pre-decisional and deliberative. Details, an agenda, and the URL link to the YouTube live broadcast of the meeting can be found here
.
Arctic Science Storytelling Webinar With Film Michael Snyder, June 24, 2020 (Virtual). Great stories can change the world, and you have one to tell! Join the Migration in Harmony NSF-Research Coordination Network and our collaborator, award-winning filmmaker Mike Snyder, in this virtual workshop to learn how you should think about your research topics and experiences in the context of a story, how to develop photographer and videographer partnerships, and how to pitch your work to different outlets. The event is hosted by Migration in Harmony. Migration in Harmony: An Interdisciplinary Network in Littoral Species, Settlements, and Cultures on the Move (MiH-RCN) is an international, cross-disciplinary network of Arctic migration researchers funded by the National Science Foundation.
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.
|
| 
  
4350 N. Fairfax Drive, Suite 510
Arlington, VA 22203, USA
External links in this publication, and on the USARC's World Wide Web site (
www.arctic.gov) do not constitute endorsement by the US Arctic Research Commission of external Web sites or the information, products or services contained therein. For other than authorized activities, the USARC does not exercise any editorial control over the information you may find at these locations. These links are provided consistent with the stated purpose of this newsletter and the USARC Web site.
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
