May 16, 2014

World Ocean Council Facilitating Industry Involvement in Arctic Research and Observations, May 16, 2014 (Webinar). The WOC and Arctic industry representatives will join Arctic scientists in a webinar to inform and encourage Arctic researchers to include industry in their proposals to the Belmont Forum, a consortium of major government science funders. The goal of the research program is to utilize Arctic observing systems, datasets and models to evaluate key sustainability challenges and opportunities in the region, to innovate new sustainability science theory and approaches to these challenges and opportunities, and support decision-making towards a sustainable Arctic environment.

Arctic Oil Spill Briefing, May 16, 2014 (Anchorage, Alaska). The chair and committee members of the National Research Council (NRC) will brief the NRC report on Responding to Oil Spills in the U.S. Arctic Marine Environment and engage in a discussion with briefing participants. Register here .

Begins this weekend:

Cumulative Impacts and Landscape Initiatives: A sustainability Check During Climate Change, May 18-22, 2014 (Anchorage, Alaska). US-IALE fosters landscape ecology in the United States, providing a link among practitioners in landscape ecology in the U.S. and the international community, and promoting interdisciplinary research and communication among scientists, planners, and other professionals concerned with landscape ecology. Program highlights will include plenary sessions with featured speakers, symposia and contributed papers, in-depth workshops on key topics, field trips, and networking events.

capital Today's Congressional Action:

The House and Senate are not in session.

Media

Documenting the Decline. Among the data and other imagery the scientists based their findings was the work of IceBridge, a NASA mission that is deeply engaged in determining the health of the world's polar ice, both in the Arctic and Antartic. According to the program website: "IceBridge, a six-year NASA mission, is the largest airborne survey of Earth's polar ice ever flown. It will yield an unprecedented three-dimensional view of Arctic and Antarctic ice sheets, ice shelves and sea ice. These flights will provide a yearly, multi-instrument look at the behavior of the rapidly changing features of Earth's polar ice." Arctic Journal

Iceland President: Climate Change Affecting Fish Stocks. Iceland President �lafur Ragnar Gr�msson has said climate change is hugely impacting the fish stocks in the Arctic. He explained that with the sea ice melting so quickly, a new ocean was being created that, for the first time since humans have inhabited the Earth, will result in a "monumental transformation". �lafur Ragnar, who was speaking at a Google Workshop Maritime Awareness conference in California, explained that climate change has already led to large migrations of fish stocks. Ice News

Russia to Claim More of Arctic Ocean. Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Sergei Donskoi has informed the press that before the end of November his office will have submitted to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs the renewed UN application for the expansion of the Russian Arctic sea shelf zone. The Russian Federation has been claiming those hydrocarbon-rich parts of the Arctic Ocean which include Lomonosov and Mendeleyev Ridges since 2001, but the previous application was rejected by the UN continental shelf commission because of the lack of geological information. So this summer Russia is going to undertake a new research in the Arctic seas and the Arctic Ocean to collect the scientific evidence that the abovementioned ridges - and this time the particular attention will be paid to the underwater Gakkel Ridge - are the continuations of the Russian sea shelf. If the task is fulfilled successfully, Russia will have the priority rights to develop the resources that, according to the Ministry of Natural Resources, can reach 10 billion tons of standard fuel. Barents Nova

US Coast Guard, Canadian Partners Conduct Joint Operations in SE Alaska. US and Canadian personnel began a three-day joint maritime exercise Tuesday near Juneau. The crews of the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Anacapa, a U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Sitka MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter and the Canadian royal navy vessels HMCS Brandon and HMCS Whitehorse tested search and rescue planning efforts and the coordination of rescue assets through a simulated a mass casualty and evacuation response from one vessel to the others in Stephens Passage. During the next two days, the HMCS crews will work with Coast Guard Station Juneau small boat crews to conduct law enforcement and escort training. Finally, both organizations will conduct briefings about operations in the Pacific Northwest and the Arctic at the district office in the Juneau federal building. Juneau Empire

Study Estimates Date of Polar Bears' Split from Brown Bears. A new polar bear genetics study has come up with a relatively recent estimate for the time when those bears separated into a species apart from brown bears. The study, conducted by an international team of scientists and published in the academic journal Cell and summarized in the journal Nature, puts the split date at about 400,000 years ago, much more recent than the dates postulated in other studies. Anchorage Daily News

Coast Guard to Move Slowly into the Arctic. The U.S. Coast Guard unveiled its draft plan for increased Arctic operations over the next decade at open houses held across Alaska May 12-16. The preferred alternative action in the draft environmental assessment of USGS Arctic Operations and Training Exercises matches the growth in maritime Arctic activity expected in the coming years with an appropriate USGS presence, 17th District Arctic Planner James Robinson said at an Anchorage open house May 13. Alaska Journal of Commerce

Legislative Action

No Arctic legislation was formally considered yesterday.

Future Events

International Congress of Arctic Social Sciences, May 22-24, 2014. ICASS is held every three years, bringing together people from all over the world to share ideas about social science research in the Arctic. ICASS VII, held in Akureyri in June 2011, attracted 450 participants from 30 different countries. ICASS VIII's theme is Northern Sustainabilities. By using the plural, ICASS underscores both that 'sustainability' has social, cultural, economic, political and environmental dimensions, and that definitions of the concept vary. Yet, while debating specific definitions, most would agree that working toward sustainable ways of living in the North and on approaches to sustainable engagement with the North, are critical both to the North's and to the world's future. Community sustainability in the North, whether for small settlements or large urban conglomerations, requires new models of food and energy security, and of access to employment, health care and social and cultural services for residents.

Arctic in the Athropocene. June 23-July 2, 2014 (Potsdam, Germany). Under the overarching theme "Arctic in the Anthropocene", this two-week interdisciplinary and interactive event will be the first in a series of Potsdam Summer Schools to be held annually. The goal is to bring together early-career scientists and young professionals from research departments, governmental and non-governmental agencies and organizations, as well as the private sector from all around the world. Participants will deal with global challenges and address urgent questions on how to shape sustainable futures in the Arctic and beyond from a scientific and socioeconomic point of view.

Alaska Policy Commission. August 26-27, 2014 (Kotzebue-Nome, Alaska). The Alaska Arctic Policy Commission (AAPC) has more important work to do in 2014. The Commission will strive to gather public input and engage with Alaskan communities, state agencies, federal partners, and the international organizations working in the Arctic. In order to meet our goals AAPC will convene three in-person meetings over the course of 2014 and focus on implementation and final recommendations.

2014 FAMOS School and Workshop #3, October 21-24, 2014 (Woods Hole, MA). The Forum for Arctic Ocean Modeling and Observational Synthesis (FAMOS) is an international effort to focus on enhancing collaboration and coordination among Arctic marine and sea ice modelers, theoreticians and observationalists synthesize major results from the field studies and coordinated numerical experiments. The major themes of workshop include but not limited by studies focused on: predictions; Arctic observational and modeling initiatives; fate of sea ice in models and observations; atmospheric, sea ice and ocean dynamics; process studies and parameterizations; model validation and calibration; numerical improvements and algorithms; ecosystems, biological issues, and geochemistry.

Arctic Circle, October 31-November 2, 2014 (Reyjavik, Iceland).

The Arctic Circle is nonprofit and nonpartisan. Organizations, forums, think tanks, corporations and public associations around the world are invited to hold meetings within the Arctic Circle platform to advance their own missions and the broader goal of increasing collaborative decision-making without surrendering their institutional independence. The Arctic Circle will organize sessions on a variety of issues, such as: Sea ice melt and extreme weather; Polar law: treaties and agreements; The role and rights of indigenous peoples; Security in the Arctic; Shipping and transportation infrastructure; The prospects and risks of oil and gas drilling; Clean energy achievements and sustainable development; Arctic resources; Business cooperation in the Arctic; The role of Asian and European countries in the Arctic; Greenland in the new Arctic; Fisheries and ecosystem management; The science of ice: global research cooperation; Arctic tourism; The ice-dependent world: the Arctic and the Himalayas.

Alaska Policy Commission. November 13-14, 2014 (Anchorage, Alaska). The Alaska Arctic Policy Commission (AAPC) has more important work to do in 2014. The Commission will strive to gather public input and engage with Alaskan communities, state agencies, federal partners, and the international organizations working in the Arctic. In order to meet our goals AAPC will convene three in-person meetings over the course of 2014 and focus on implementation and final recommendations.

The Arctic Biodiversity Congress, December 2-4, 2014. (Trondheim, Norway). The Arctic Biodiversity Congress will present and discuss the main scientific findings of the ABA; facilitate inter-disciplinary discussion, action and status updates on the policy recommendations in the ABA; provide scientific, policy, management, NGO, academia, Indigenous peoples and industry audiences the opportunity to collaborate around the themes of the ABA; advise CAFF on national and international implementation of the ABA recommendations and on the development of an ABA Implementation Plan for the Arctic Council; highlight the work of CAFF and the Arctic Council on circumpolar biodiversity conservation and sustainable development; and, contribute to mainstreaming of biodiversity and ecosystem services, ensuring that the recommendations of the ABA are implemented by not just governments, but many organizations and people across disciplines.

Arctic Change 2014, December 8-12, 2014 (Ottawa, Canada). The international Arctic Change 2014 conference aims to stimulate discussion and foster collaborations among people with a vested interest in the Arctic and its peoples. Coinciding with the pinnacle of Canada's chairmanship of the Arctic Council and marking ArcticNet's 10th anniversary, Arctic Change 2014 welcomes researchers, students, Northerners, policy makers, and stakeholders from all fields of Arctic research and all countries to address the numerous environmental, social, economical and political challenges and opportunities that are emerging from climate change and modernization in the Arctic. With over 1000 participants expected to attend, Arctic Change 2014 will be one of the largest trans-sectoral international Arctic research conferences ever held in Canada.

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