Fighter jets have been stationed at Bodø since 1955 and the airbase was Norway’s most important throughout the Cold War and until today. Located some 80 km inside the Arctic Circle, Bodø is strategically placed on the coast to the Norwegian Sea and in short flying distance to guard the northern air space against Russian military aviation flying out from the Kola Peninsula.

In the frozen Arctic, lightning has long been shockingly rare. Typically, it’s a warm-weather phenomenon — a steamy summer is the perfect breeding ground for the electric charge released during a bolt of lightning and a clap of thunder. Researchers now recognize lightning as another tool to understand our warming planet, as new data reveals that strikes in the Arctic have skyrocketed in the past decade.

The super-powerful icebreaker on the 1st of January arrived in the remote Russian town together with cargo vessels Inzhener Trubin and Yuri Arshenevsky. Also diesel-engined icebreaker Kapitan Dranitsyn was part of the convoy.

2021 marked a milestone for the Coast Guard’s Marine Safety Task Force initiative in Alaska. MSTF teams operated with new partners, visited more communities, and strengthened relationships in the Arctic and Western portions of Alaska, due to unprecedented planning, action and support.

The authors of the Alaska chapter of the Fifth National Climate Assessment will host a virtual workshop to receive comments on climate change-related issues. The information gathered will help authors decide which topics to cover in their chapter of the Fifth National Climate Assessment, a US government report on how climate change affects people and places in the United States.

This event will convene Arctic leaders and voices from around the world. The Arctic Encounter has brought together thousands of Arctic stakeholders since its inception in 2013. Following two years of cancellation due to COVID-19, the Arctic Encounter is eager to welcome participants to Alaska for dialogue and presentations with elected leaders, business leaders, scientists, and more.

The participants in the forum will focus on improving the living standards in the Arctic region, preserving its unique ecological potential, ensuring sustainable socioeconomic development in polar territories, and strengthening international cooperation to this end. The IAF is a unique space for constructive cooperation with international and regional organizations and an opportunity to focus on Russian and international priorities, including climate change, the environment, economic cooperation in the Arctic, sustainable development of transport infrastructure, and human capital development.

Arctic Symposium 2022 continues momentum in Arctic defense and security collaboration established in prior ALCOM-hosted events. AAS22 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. AAS22 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.

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.

The events during the week of August 1st, 2022, will include Enhancing Arctic Science and Engineering Workshop along with Regional Development Tours and forums on the Arctic science to plan for the next 25 years of Arctic research. Participants will include scientists and engineers, Indigenous leaders, Arctic community members, policymakers, government organizations and businesses to celebrate past research success, take stock of current challenges and opportunities and plan for the next generation of collaboration and knowledge co-production that will keep Utqiagvik and Indigenous knowledge at the forefront of Arctic science and contribute to a safe and sustainable future for

the Arctic.