Polar bears are being exposed to toxic 'forever' chemicals used in non-stick pans and cosmetics as a result of global warming, a study has found. High concentrations of the synthetic substances are being released into the atmosphere by manufacturing sites and carried by the wind from the UK and other highly-populated areas to the Arctic.

The Romuald Muklevich hydrographic vessel has gone to the Barents Sea to take part in the final stage of the expedition of the Northern Fleet and the Russian Geographical Society. “The vessel’s expedition to the Arctic will last through early September. The seamen will operate in Arctic seas for 1.5 months without replenishing supplies. It will be the first maximum-endurance voyage of the Romuald Muklevich after its repair and upgrade. The vessel’s endurance is 45 days. Earlier, the vessel went to the Barents Sea to carry out hydrologic survey, which lasted less than two weeks.”

During the late Pilocene, Arctic sea ice began to expand rapidly. The new ice created changes to sea level, albedo, the thermohaline circulation, and a host of other factors that still drive the planet’s climate today. But piecing together what caused the ice to expand rapidly has remained an elusive goal for scientists. Now, a new study by Ma et al. shows that the sea expansion coincided with the formation of Siberia’s Irtysh River 2.77 million years ago.

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will hold hearings to examine the nominations of Geraldine Richmond, of Oregon, to be Under Secretary for Science, and Asmeret Asefaw Berhe, of California, to be Director of the Office of Science, both of the Department of Energy, and Cynthia Weiner Stachelberg, of New York, to be an Assistant Secretary of the Interior.

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will hold a hearing to examine the role of the programs within the US Department of Energy’s Office of Science.

The Government of Nunavut is hosting a leadership forum in August to build capacity among Nunavummiut women. The GN’s department of Family Services is hosting the four-day event with funding provided through the federal government’s Women and Gender Equality Canada department. The forum aims to empower Nunavut’s women and girls using traditional knowledge, skills, and their roles as natural leaders.

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. 

For the first time, a Regional Conference on Permafrost will be combined with the bi-annual 19th International Conference on Cold Regions Engineering. This conference is hosted by the US Permafrost Association, the American Society of Civil Engineers, the International Permafrost Association, the Permafrost Young Researchers Network, and the University of Colorado Boulder. A complete list of planned sessions is available here.

The Maritime Risk Symposium is an annual three-day conference in which government and maritime industry leaders, port representatives, researchers, and solution providers convene to examine current and emerging threats to maritime security. Government agencies, commercial entities, institutions of research, and higher education come together to discuss various threats, challenges, and risks to international and domestic maritime sectors.

The European Commission and the European External Action Service will organize a high-level EU Arctic Forum and the Annual Arctic Indigenous Peoples’ Dialogue. The EU Arctic Forum will bring together key Arctic players and stakeholders to assess recent developments in the region and discuss challenges ahead. The event will provide a strategic outlook for the updated EU Arctic policy and delve into topics that are of particular significance for the Arctic’s inhabitants.

The New England Arctic Network (NEAN) will host its 2021 meeting at the University of New England in Portland, Maine. Additional information will be published soon. 

Arctic Symposium 2021 continues momentum in Arctic defense and security collaboration established in prior ALCOM-hosted events. AAS21 seeks to address the challenges faced by the U.S. military and our allies and partners in understanding and responding to our respective national interests. AAS21 is planned and organized by the Arctic Domain Awareness Center at the University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA) in support and in compliance to guidance from Alaskan Command (ALCOM) Staff and Commander. More information available soon.

Hosted entirely online the ArcticNet Virtual Annual Scientific Meeting 2021 (ASM2021) is a hub for Arctic research in Canada. The ASM2021 brings together researchers from the natural, health, and social sciences to meet the challenges and opportunities of a rapidly changing Arctic region, shaped by climate change and modernization. This conference will push the boundaries of our collective understanding of the Arctic and strengthen our ability to address the Arctic issues of today and tomorrow.

The National Academies’ Polar Research Board is convening the following session at the Fall AGU meeting (Dec. 2021), and we welcome proposals for presentations in this session.  Abstract submission deadline is August 4, 2021.  Submissions to this session can be made at: AGU Fall Meeting 2021 (confex.com), and general submission instructions at: Abstracts | AGU Fall Meeting 2021.

Organizers announce, that due to the coronavirus outbreak, the 2nd Symposium on Polar Microbes and Viruses has been postponed to 2022. 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.