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Arctic Reading for the Quarantine:
If you find yourself looking for a good read, consider boosting your Arctic knowledge with this report.
 (Alaska Ocean Observing System, June 2020)
Bering Science: Spring 2020 Bering Region Ocean Update-Learn What's Changing. The Bering Sea is experiencing many changes. Loss of sea ice and record high ocean and air temperatures impact wildlife and all aspects of life for coastal communities. 2019 saw many notable events, such as unusual mortality of ice seals, whales and sea birds; and changes in movement patterns and abundance of sub-arctic fish species. We created this publication to share what scientists are learning about some of the most striking changes in the Bering Sea region. This report focuses primarily on what we saw in 2019 in the northern Bering Sea, with some information about the southern and eastern Bering and the southern Chukchi.
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[A wager...]
Ditch the Sweater, Welcome to Arctic Swelter.
During the day of brightest midnight sun, the Arctic experienced its first recorded temperature over 100°F - in Siberia on the solstice. This is testimony to the growing oscillations in weather extremes and departures from historical norms that accompany climate change as it modifies global heat energy balances and exchanges, which impact large-scale weather and ocean patterns. The ability to understand and predict these changes and resultant extremes will be important to our safety and security for decades to come and demands we pay more attention than ever to ocean and atmospheric scientific research. By the way - I am officially predicting a new Arctic sea ice minimum record in September of this year (beating the 2012 record). If I am wrong, I will donate $20 to the National Ocean Sciences Bowl for anyone who challenges my prediction, as long as they are willing to donate $200 if I am right. Challenge cut-off is July 3.
My inbox
is open.
Ocean News Weekly
Siberian Heat Wave is a 'Warning Cry' From the Arctic, Climate Scientists Say. Pine trees are bursting into flames. Boggy peatlands are tinderbox dry. And towns in northern Russia are sweltering under conditions more typical of the tropics. Reports of record-breaking Arctic heat - registered at more than 100 Fahrenheit (38 Celsius) in the Siberian town of Verkhoyansk on June 20 - are still being verified by the World Meteorological Organization. But even without that confirmation, experts at the global weather agency are worried by satellite images showing that much of the Russian Arctic is in the red.
Reuters
 Researchers Reveal Changes in Water of Canadian Arctic. Melting of Arctic ice due to climate change has exposed more sea surface to an atmosphere with higher concentrations of carbon dioxide. Scientists have long suspected this trend would raise CO2 in Arctic Ocean water.Now University of Montana researcher Michael DeGrandpre and his patented sensors have helped an international team determine that, indeed, CO2 levels are rising in water across wide swaths of the Arctic Ocean's Canada Basin.
Phys.org
 World Meteorological Organization Worried Over Russian Arctic Heatwave. The World Meteorological Organization is seeking to verify an unprecedented temperature reading of 38ºC in the Russian Arctic town of Verkhoyansk. The weekend reading would be a record for a region north of the Arctic circle, alarming scientists, who warn that global temperatures are rising even faster than feared. University of Michigan environmental school dean Jonathan Overpeck said that "the Arctic is figuratively and literally on fire - it's warming much faster than we thought it would in response to rising levels of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, and this warming is leading to an increase in wildfires."
Morning Star
The Ticking Time Bomb of Arctic Permafrost. An Arctic ecosystem is in crisis this month after a fuel tank in Russia collapsed and spilled 20,000 tons of diesel into the environment. Thawing permafrost and aging facilities likely caused the spill, and the ecosystem could take more than a decade to recover. Although Arctic communities have long known that warming temperatures will undermine buildings, roads, and other infrastructure, scientific research is still catching up on how to create localized hazard maps of permafrost thaw. Meanwhile, communities don't have time to wait for research to catch up.
EOS
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Future Events
** New this week **
Webinar: Understanding Arctic Disaster Risk and Response, July 15, 2020 (Virtual). Arctic environmental change is creating new hazards, and is shifting how we understand and plan for challenges, from disasters to military strategies. Traditional methods to assess risks may underestimate impacts, particularly when geophysical and ecological changes undermine resilience and adaptability, and when external shocks, like COVID-19, stress systems. Dr. Chad Briggs, a Professor at the University of Alaska Anchorage, will explore tools to develop Arctic risk scenarios, and will discuss security simulations of disaster response in Alaska during the current pandemic. The event is hosted by Migration in Harmony: An Interdisciplinary Network in Littoral Species, Settlements, and Cultures on the Move (MiH-RCN), 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.
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