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The US Air Force Arctic Strategy, Alaska, and the New Arctic: A Conversation with Alaska's Senators Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan, 4:00 PM on September 14, 2020 (virtual). Wilson Center's Polar Institite. On July 21, 2020, the United States Department of Air Force released its Arctic Strategy. The strategy "recognizes the immense geostrategic consequence of the region and its critical role for protecting the homeland and projecting global power," stated Secretary of the Air Force Barbara Barrett. The Secretary also underscored the region's elevated importance to the Air Force and Department of Defense. Please join Polar Institute director Dr. Mike Sfraga for a conversation with Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Senator Dan Sullivan (R-AK) regarding the Air Force's Arctic Strategy and its implications for the United States, the North American Arctic, and the unique role Alaska plays in our new, global Arctic.
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High Sensitivity of Bering Sea Winter Sea Ice to Winter Insolation and Carbon Dioxide Over the Last 5500 Years, Science Advances (September 2020). Anomalously low winter sea ice extent and early retreat in CE 2018 and 2019 challenge previous notions that winter sea ice in the Bering Sea has been stable over the instrumental record, although long-term records remain limited. Here, we use a record of peat cellulose oxygen isotopes from St. Matthew Island along with isotope-enabled general circulation model (IsoGSM) simulations to generate a 5500-year record of Bering Sea winter sea ice extent. Results show that over the last 5500 years, sea ice in the Bering Sea decreased in response to increasing winter insolation and atmospheric CO2, suggesting that the North Pacific is highly sensitive to small changes in radiative forcing. We find that CE 2018 sea ice conditions were the lowest of the last 5500 years, and results suggest that sea ice loss may lag changes in CO2 concentrations by several decades.
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Media
 Climate Change Recasts the Insect Communities of the Arctic. Through a unique collaboration, researchers at the University of Helsinki have exposed major changes taking place in the insect communities of the Arctic. Their study reveals how climate change is affecting small but important predators of other insects, i.e. parasitoids."Predators at the top of the food web give us a clue to what is happening to their prey species, too. These results increase our understanding of how global warming is changing nature. At the same time, they suggest new inroads for finding answers to big questions in the field of ecology," says Professor Tomas Roslin from the University of Helsinki and the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU). Phys.org
First Ever Preserved Grown Up Cave Bear- Even Its Nose is Intact- Unearthed on the Arctic Island. Separately at least one preserved carcass of a cave bear cub found on the mainland of Yakutia, with scientists hopeful of obtaining its DNA. More details of the finds are to be announced soon. Until now only the bones of cave bears have been discovered. The new finds are of 'world importance', according to one of Russia's leading experts on extinct Ice Age species. Scientist Lena Grigorieva said of the island discovery of the adult beast: 'Today this is the first and only find of its kind - a whole bear carcass with soft tissues. Siberian Times
 Heated Rivalries for Pollinators Among Arctic Plants. Insect pollination is as important to Arctic plants as it is to plants further south. When flowers abound, the plants have to compete for pollinators. Researchers reveal that higher temperatures cause the flowering periods of different plant species to pile up in time. As a consequence, climate change may affect the competitive relationships of plants. Science Daily
Snow Studies: How to Control Drifting Snow in Arctic Regions. Experts of the Siberian Federal University in Krasnoyarsk addressed the problem of snowdrifts along the road between Norilsk and the Alykel Airport in the Taimyr District. Six-meter snowdrifts are not a rare phenomenon there. Local authorities await recommendations on managing drifting snow, experts told TASS. "In complicated weather conditions - strong winds, snowstorms, ice - when weather alert is issued, traffic stops, causing major inconveniences for people in Kaierkan, workers at the Nadezhdinsky Metallurgical Plant, everyone living in Greater Norilsk as well as those who travel to or from the Alykel airport," the University's Head of Arctic Studies and the project's leader Yuri Zakharinsky told TASS. TASS Russian News Agency
NOAA Taps David Legates, Professor Who Questions the Seriousness and Security of Global Warming, for Top Role. The Trump administration has tapped David Legates, an academic who has long questioned the scientific consensus that human activity is causing global warming, to help run the agency that produces much of the climate research funded by the U.S. government. Legates, a University of Delaware professor who was forced out of his role as that state's climatologist because of his controversial views, has taken a senior leadership role at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The Washington Post
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Future Events
2021 Alaska Marine Science Symposium, January 26-28, 2021 (virtual). The Alaska Marine Science Symposium (AMSS) has been bringing together scientists, educators, resource managers, students, and interested public for over twenty years to discuss the latest marine research being conducted in Alaskan waters. Over 700 people attend this 4-day long conference held annually during the month of January. Each day of the conference highlights important Alaskan marine ecosystems: Gulf of Alaska (Tuesday), Bering Sea & Aleutian Islands (Wednesday), and the Arctic (Thursday). Research topics discussed range from ocean physics, fishes and invertebrates, seabirds, marine mammals, to local traditional knowledge. Since its inception, NPRB has been a proud sponsor and one of the leading organizers of AMSS.
Arctic Frontiers 2021, February 1-4, 2021 (virtual). Arctic Frontiers started out in 2006 assembling the first global scientific conference on economic, societal and environmental sustainable growth in the north. In February 2021, we will arrange the 15th conference with the theme "Building Bridges". The conference has a pan arctic perspective and builds new partnerships across nations, generations and ethnic groups. Arctic Frontiers provides a forum for dialogue and communication between science, government and industry in the Arctic.
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.
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.
3rd Arctic Science Ministerial, May 8-9, 2021 (Toyko, Japan). The Japanese and Icelandic organizers of this ministerial continue to plan for an in-person ministerial, in Tokyo, but have moved the dates from November 21-22, 2020 to May 8-9, 2021 because of Covid-19. Since the last Arctic Science Ministerial in 2018, changes in the Arctic ecosystem and the resulting impacts locally and globally have been severely felt. 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. ASM3 will be co-hosted by Iceland and Japan.
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