In research published in 2017, scientists reported that summer pulses of freshwater from melting glaciers along Greenland’s southwest coast often coincide with phytoplankton blooms. The flow of fresh meltwater out to sea carries nutrients that can sustain and promote abundant growth of the floating, plant-like organisms that form the center of the ocean food web. That appears to be what was happening in the waters off of Nuuk, Greenland, when the Operational Land Imager (OLI) on Landsat 8 flew over on July 8, 2021.

Thick-billed murres are feeling the heat from climate change — more so than other Arctic species, new research has found. The black-plumed Arctic sea birds nest for hours on exposed cliffs, making them particularly vulnerable to sun and warming temperatures, according to Emily Choy, a McGill University biologist.

Researchers have discovered a population of Bombus glacialis bumblebees, an endemic High Arctic subspecies, on Wrangel Island in the Arctic Ocean. Earlier on, it was believed that this bumblebee subspecies was only endemic to the Novaya Zemlya Archipelago, part of the Arkhangelsk Region. However, Mikhail Berezin, Head of the Moscow Zoo’s Entomology Department, found a similar bumblebee 3,600 kilometers away from Novaya Zemlya, on Wrangel Island, affiliated with the Chukotka Autonomous Area.

Chinese icebreaking research vessel Xuelong 2 departed from Shanghai on Monday for the country's 12th Arctic expedition. The scientists it is carrying will monitor the North Pole area's environment, sea water and ice, micro plastics and other aspects to learn more about climate change and ecological protection.

A scientific expedition to study the climate and its influence on regional landscapes began working in the Yamalo-Nenets Region. Before the end of July, scientists will collect samples at six research fields, the Scientific Center for Arctic Studies’ press service said. Earlier, the center’s representative, Roman Kolesnikov, told TASS during the expedition experts would define modern landscape structures to see how the local landscapes react to the climate changes.

Climate change is manifesting in the Arctic three times faster than the global rate of change. These changes present both risks and opportunities. Without proper risk mitigation and climate adaptation efforts, however, the opportunities will likely be undermined by the destabilizing, compounding effects of runaway climate change. Risks from climate change come not only from the direct impacts but also from the way it interacts with other factors to challenge human and civil security, ecosystem health, and the geopolitical environment. Countries with authoritarian characteristics, such as Russia, are sensitive to domestic unrest challenging regime strength. 

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 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.