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Today's C
ongressional Action:
The House is not in session. The Senate is expected to host a pro forma session today.
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Media
New Research Project Aims to Improve Weather Reporting in Nunavut. It's not extraterrestrial life communicating with earth, and it's not a new type of aurora borealis. If you've noticed a green light stretching up and across the sky over Iqaluit, follow it down. It leads to the city's Environment Canada compound, where the federal agency has launched a new research project to hone in on weather conditions around Nunavut's capital.
Nunatsiaq Online
 DEFENSE: Trump Likely to Downplay Climate as Security Threat. The Obama administration has warned for years that climate change poses a substantial national security threat, an assertion that most Republicans have greeted with outright derision. It's also a line of strategic military thinking that, with a few exceptions, is unlikely to live on in Donald Trump's administration. Military experts vary in their assessment of how "baked in" a climate change approach to national security is within the Department of Defense. But they also say they've seen little support by the president-elect for climate-friendly policies in general, let alone in the military, to give them hope the Pentagon might continue pursuing strategies that consider global warming.
E&E News
SCIENCE: Rapidly Changing Arctic Braces for Destabilization and 'Surprise.' Global warming's transformation of the Arctic is having a cascading effect, with some changes to the region worsening others. The loss of sea ice is the most visible, and temperatures almost 40 degrees above normal certainly garner attention. However, there are other important changes such as the loss of permafrost, the collapse of certain species in the food chain and the damage to fisheries caused by higher sea temperatures.
E&E News
Russian Oil Producer Pushes Deeper in Arctic. R
ussian oil producer
Gazprom Neft
said it was starting sea trials for a vessel meant to support oil work, including spill response, in extreme Arctic climates. The company said the vessel Alexander Sannikov was formally launched in preparation
of sea trials
for late season 2018. It's one of two icebreakers designed to operate in temperatures as low as 22 degrees below zero Fahrenheit.
UPI
 'Really Crazy': Warm Arctic Ocean, Weather Halt Formation of Sea Ice During October.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration climate scientist Jessica Blunden last week reported that Arctic sea ice grew very slowly in October through the first part of this month.
"During October, the ice growth almost slowed completely," Blunden said, "and this was due to really high temperatures in parts of the western Arctic seas."
Senior Research Scientist Mark Serreze puts it more bluntly.
KUAC
Study: Diminishing Sea Ice is Increasing the Size of Arctic Ocean Food Web Base. Researchers at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego and colleagues analyzed Arctic Ocean satellite data from a 19-year period and found that the amount of biomass production at the base of the food web has increased 47 percent since 1997. The researchers led by Scripps scientist Mati Kahru attributed the increase in net primary productivity, a conversion of carbon dioxide into more complex organic compounds, to a dramatic increase in the open water area that is inversely related to the area of the Arctic Ocean that is covered with ice in spring and summer.
Scripps Institution of Oceanography
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Legislative Action
No Arctic legislation was formally considered Friday.
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Future Events
Observations and Predictions for Arctic Sea-Ice Use: Perspectives from Coastal Alaska, November 30, 2016 (Washington, DC USA). The Arctic sea-ice cover is in the midst of a major transformation, with the Pacific Arctic sector and Alaska experiencing some of the most profound changes in ice cover anywhere in the Arctic. With impacts on Arctic coastal communities and increases in maritime activities, both observations of changes underway and predictions at the scale of less than a week to several months out are of importance to the research community and those living and operating in ice-covered seas. The presentation will explore key benefits or hazards deriving from sea ice, and explore the types of information and predictions most relevant to sea ice users, with a focus on Alaska coastal environments. Specifically, use of coastal land fast ice by Indigenous communities and industry serves to illustrate the importance of stakeholder input and guidance in defining the research problem and types of observations and predictions needed. The presentation will explore how the combination of surface-based observations, Indigenous and local knowledge, and remote sensing is particularly effective in addressing a hierarchy of issues of deriving from rapid changes in coastal ice environments.
Alaska Ocean Acidification 'State of the Science' Workshop, November 30 - December 1, 2016 (Anchorage, Alaska USA).
This 2-day workshop
will discuss the latest monitoring, research, findings. Workshop goals include educating the broader Alaska community on the processes and consequences of OA, creating connections between researchers and stakeholders, and developing new ideas and partnerships to enhance monitoring, community engagement, and future adaptation efforts. The workshop is free and will be broadcast via webinar to satellite locations and personal computers. For more information and registration, please visit the
Alaska Ocean Acidification Network
.
 ArcticNet annual Scientific Meeting 2016, December 5-9, 2016 (Winnipeg, MP Canada).
ArcticNet
will host its 12th Annual Scientific Meeting.
The ASM2016 will welcome researchers, students, Inuit, Northerners, policy makers and stakeholders to address the numerous environmental, social, economical and political challenges and opportunities that are emerging from climate change and modernization in the Arctic. As the largest annual Arctic research gathering held in Canada, ArcticNet's ASM is the ideal venue to showcase results from all fields of Arctic research, stimulate discussion and foster collaborations among those with a vested interest in the Arctic and its peoples.
American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting, December 12-16, 2016 (San Francisco, CA USA). Anticipating about 25,000 attendees, AGU's Fall Meeting will again be the largest Earth and space science meeting in the world. 2016 marks the meeting's 49th year and there will be approximately 20,000 oral and poster presentations in over 1,700 sessions, many of which will focus specifically on Arctic science. Among the highlights, the "2016 Arctic Report" will again be released, IARPC will hold a "Town Hall Meeting" on Thursday, Dec. 15th, from 12:30 to 1:30 pm in Moscone West Room 2003, and NASA will have a Town Hall on Operation IceBridge on Dec. 14th, in Moscone Room 202 from 12:30 to 1:30 pm.
Symposium on Climate Displacement, Migration, and Relocation, December 13-14, 2016 (Honolulu, HI USA)
.
The White House Council on Environmental Quality, NOAA's Office of Coastal Management, the Hawaii and Alaska Sea Grant College Programs, the William S. Richardson School of Law at the University of Hawai'i Manoa, and the Pacific Islands Climate Science Center are convening this symposium. The event will bring together stakeholders, policy makers, legal experts, academics, and others to discuss legal and policy options to assist individuals and communities considering relocation as an adaptation response to climate change, in both the domestic and international contexts.
Alaska Marine Science Symposium, January 23-27, 2017 (Anchorage, AK USA). The annual Alaska Marine Science Symposium (AMSS) is Alaska's premier marine research conference. It brings together roughly 800 scientists, educators, resource managers, students, and interested public to discuss marine research being conducted in Alaskan waters. Research will be presented by geographic theme, including the Gulf of Alaska, Bering Sea & Aleutian Islands, and the Arctic. Topic areas will include ocean physics, fishes and invertebrates, seabirds, marine mammals, local traditional knowledge and more. Keynote presentations will be held Monday, January 23rd; Gulf of Alaska presentations will be on Tuesday, Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands on Wednesday, followed by the Arctic on Thursday.
USARC will also do a "State of Alaska release" of its 2017-2018 "Goals Report" at this symposium. A prior release will be at the AGU meeting, described above, on December 15th.
Alaska Forum on the Environment, February 6-10, 2017 (Anchorage, AK USA). This statewide gathering of environmental professionals, community leaders, Alaskan youth, conservationists, biologists and community elders will be holding its 19th meeting to continue providing a strong educational foundation for all Alaskans and a unique opportunity to interact with others on environmental issues and challenges. As many as 1,800 people are expected to attend AFE this years meeting.
6th Annual Fletcher Arctic Conference, February 17-18, 2017 (Medford, MA USA). Fletcher Arctic VI, a TEDx-style event, will showcase the ideas, stories, and initiatives of people who live and work in the Arctic. The conference will bring together inspiring leaders, innovative business people, expert scientists, and artists from the pan-Arctic region. Building on The Fletcher School's interdisciplinary approach, Fletcher Arctic VI will be a forum to engage in conversation and spark open and constructive debate between speakers and participants, providing deep insights into this unique and rapidly changing region.
IV International Forum, March 2017 (Arkhangelsk, Russian Federation)
Arkhangelsk will host the Forum. The Forum will be titled Human in the Arctic and will be aimed at putting together joint efforts of the international community to promote effective development of the Arctic region as a territory for comfort life, work and leisure. The Forum will be attended by government officials, representatives of international organizations and prominent business communities, centers for political studies, Polar researchers and members of the international Arctic expeditions, foreign political scientists and economists, Russian and foreign journalists from leading international media organizations. The Forum will be attended by the President of the Russian Federation, Mr. Vladimir Putin. Additional information will be announced
here
.
- The Arctic Cryosphere
- Pollution in the Arctic
- Human Health Aspects of Pollution and Climate Change
- Global and Arctic Systems Feedback Mechanisms
- Resilience within Arctic Ecosystems
- Science and Plicy Making
- Socio-Economic Drivers and Impacts of Arctic Change
Organizers announce a call for abstracts which are due by December 2, 2016. The event is organized by the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program (AMAP).
Ninth International Congress of Arctic Social Sciences: People and Places (ICASS IX), June 8-12, 2017 (Umeå, Sweden).
ICASS IX's theme is People & Place. Research on social sciences and humanities have a great responsibility to address the challenges for sustainable development in the Arctic, with a specific focus on the many different parts of the Arctic and the people that live there. The multiple Arctics have lately been addressed by many policy makers and researchers. The purpose is often to counteract the stereotypic understanding of the Arctic too often represented by icebergs and polar bears. A focus on people and place highlights the many variances across the region in terms of climate, political systems, demography, infrastructure, history, languages, legal systems, land and water resources etc.
7th Symposium on the Impacts of an Ice-Diminishing Arctic on Naval and Maritime Operations, July 18-20, 2017, Naval Heritage Center, Washington, DC.
.
- Small and off-grid community energy solutions
- Oil and gas development
- Renewable energy
- Regulation and Financing
- Transportation and transmission
The AES is a multi-disciplinary event expected to draw several hundred industry officials, scientists, academics, policy makers, energy professionals and community leaders together to collaborate and share leading approaches on Arctic energy issues.
Polar Law Symposium 2017 and Rovaniemi Arctic Spirit, November 13-16, 2017 (Rovaniemi, Finland).
The purpose of the Polar Law Symposium is to examine, in detail, the implications of the challenges faced by the Polar Regions for international law and policy and to make recommendations on appropriate actions by states, policy makers and other international actors to respond to these emerging and re-emerging challenges. The Rovaniemi Arctic Spirit Conference is integrated with the Polar Law Symposium, which will be organized by the Northern Institute for Environmental and Minority Law at the Arctic Center of the University of Lapland.
POLAR 2018, June 15-27, 2018 (Davos, Switzerland).
POLAR2018 is a joint event from the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) and the International Arctic Science Committee (IASC). The SCAR meetings, the ASSW and the Open Science Conference will be hosted by the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL under the patronage of the Swiss Committee on Polar and High Altitude Research. The WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF is organizing POLAR2018.
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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.
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