Rousing late-day thunderstorms are a staple of summer in the Lower 48 states, but not so much atop the sea ice in the Arctic Ocean, a hundred miles from the nearest landmass. The National Weather Service in Fairbanks, Alaska, confirmed early Tuesday that a freak Arctic thunderstorm had occurred Monday evening, producing between 100 and 200 lightning strikes as an exceptional pulse of heat visited Alaska’s North Slope. Thunderstorms in Alaska are a relatively common occurrence, flaring up annually over the remote wildness that makes up the North Slope. Some produce lightning strikes that ignite wildfires and require assistance flown in from other states.

Few things are easy in Utqiagvik, Alaska. Sandbag barriers hold back the tide of the rising Arctic Ocean, milk costs $10 a gallon, and during the winter months, 24 hours of darkness cloak this northernmost city in the United States. The 4,000 residents of this remote town struggle with many things most Americans take for granted, including affordable communications access. In fact, for many rural Alaska residents — some 30 percent of the state’s population — the ability to access modern services like telemedicine and remote education has never been a possibility.

At a Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) confirmation hearing today, U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Ranking Member of the SASC Seapower Subcommittee, pressed Carlos Del Toro, nominee to be Secretary of the Navy, about his support for North Dakota’s military priorities like the Arctic Mission, the nuclear triad, and Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities. Senator Cramer began by sharing with Mr. Del Toro how North Dakota could assist Naval operations in the Arctic, specifically as it relates to its use of the MQ-4C Triton, an unmanned aircraft system (UAS) similar to the RQ-4 Global Hawk housed at Grand Forks Air Force Base. 

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 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.

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.