April 30, 2014

capital Today's Congressional Action:

The House and Senate are in session and expected to consider non-Arctic legislation today.

Media

Report Outlines Emerging Arctic Research Issues. A report was out yesterday from the National Academy of Sciences outlining emerging Arctic research issues. The report says among other things that a refuge of Arctic sea ice is likely to remain in the summers into the foreseeable future, raising questions about shrinking rather than vanishing wildlife habitat. Alaska Public Radio

Shell: Not Entering New Russia Investments. Royal Dutch Shell PLC says it will not be entering new investments in Russia anytime soon as tensions rise over the country's confrontation with Ukraine. Chief Financial Officer Simon Henry said the company, Europe's largest oil company, will continue to oversee its existing operations and will cooperate with any sanctions placed upon Russia by Western powers. Amid the uncertainty, however, it will hold back on starting new projects. Anchorage Daily News

Early Bering Sea Breakup Causes Headaches. An early spring breakup is causing problems on Alaska's western coast. KNOM in Nome reports that the early breakup of Bering Sea ice left some winter gold-dredging operations scrambling to get equipment, people and gold back to shore. One operation was breaking down the winter operation when the shore ice cleaved Sunday. Alaska State Troopers got two people off the ice, and the wind shifted a chunk of ice into place long enough to create a temporary bridge to get all equipment except a pickup off the ice. The truck was later retrieved from the water. Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

New Study Helps Scientists Better Understand the World of Walruses. Behavior of Pacific walruses in the St. Lawrence Island Polynia -- a place of seasonal, shallow open water that is ringed by ice -- is described in a newly published study by scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey and other institutions. The area, south of the Bering Strait's St. Lawrence Island, is the primary winter breeding ground for Pacific walruses. It holds the biggest winter concentration of walruses, though there are other regions off Alaska and Russia where the mammals congregate in winter, says the study. Alaska Dispatch

As the World Warms, Navy Strategists Plan for an Arctic Rush. Approximately 25,000 polar bears live in and around the Arctic Circle. Climate change has put the majestic ursines, a longtime favorite of children's books and Christmas cards, in peril. In 2008, the United States listed them as a "threatened species" under the Endangered Species Act, and populations have been on the decline since then. So when is it acceptable for a Marine to shoot one? The Navy is still trying to figure that out. Newsweek

Scientists Claim Mendeleev Ridge is Russian Continental Shelf. A group of Siberian scientists have claimed that the Mendeleev Ridge in the Arctic Ocean is part of Russia's continental shelf, paving the way for a Russian claim to broader jurisdiction in the Arctic. Scholars from the Siberian branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences' Institute of Petroleum Geology and Geophysics found that the ridge's geological composition was not oceanic and concluded that it belonged to the continental shelf, Itar-Tass reported. The Moscow Times

Increased Arctic Presence Would Put Pressure on Coast Guard Budget, Ice Breaker Fleet. The U.S. Coast Guard will need to expand its presence in the Arctic year-round as oil and gas exploration and general maritime activity increase in the region, researchers say, but paying for such a presence is likely to be difficult as Congress wrestles with austere budgets. The resources the Coast Guard now has to respond to an oil spill are not sufficient for the Arctic, and its efforts to support planning and mitigation for a spill without a dedicated budget "are admirable but inadequate," the National Research Council said in a recent report. Roll Call

Accidents, Suicide Among Most Common Cause of Children's Deaths in Finland. Accidents such as drowning and road incidents were the leading cause of non-natural deaths among minors, according to Finland's Safety Investigation Authority. The accident investigators said suicides were the second most common cause of non-natural death and were committed mostly by boys. The Safety Investigation Authority said Monday that excluding cases of natural death, accidents accounted for the majority of child deaths in Finland. The investigators looked at data for the three-year period from 2009 to 2011 and reviewed 900 cases involving under 18-year-olds. Alaska Dispatch

Legislative Action

No Arctic legislation was formally considered yesterday.

Future Events

AAAS Forum on S & T Policy, May 1, 2014 (Washington, DC). The American Association for the Advancement of Science will host a forum on science and technology policy. On May 1, AAAS will host a breakout session on US Leadership in the Arctic Council: International Science Cooperation. Presenters include executive director of the US Arctic Research Commission John Farrell.

Alaska Policy Commission. May 6-7, 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 draft agenda is available here.

Responding to Oil Spills in the US Arctic Marine Environment, May 12. (Webinar) This webinar will provide a briefing on the new National Research Coucil report Responding to Oil Spills in the U.S. Arctic Marine Environment. Martha Grabowski, chair of the study committee, will discuss the report's main points regarding key oil spill research priorities, critical data and monitoring needs, mitigation strategies, and important operational and logistical issues. There will be an opportunity for questions at the conclusion of the briefing.

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.

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.

4350 N. Fairfax Drive, Suite 510

Arlington, VA 22203, USA

(703) 525-0111 (phone)
www.arctic.gov
[email protected]

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.