Arctic Update Header
April 14, 2014

 

capital Today's Congressional Action:   

The House and Senate are not in session.

 

 

Media 

     

For HHS Hot Seat, Obama Chooses Burwell, a Budget Wonk. In selecting Sylvia Mathews Burwell to direct the government's largest domestic agency, President Obama did not turn to the ranks that have often filled the post of secretary of health and human services - members of Congress, governors, experts in health policy. After the political tumult and technical defects that have hindered the Affordable Care Act, Obama selected a trusted budget wonk with a reputation for management acumen and a rapport with lawmakers on Capitol Hill. Washington Post 

 

Inuit Circumpolar Council Discussing Food Security. The Inuit Circumpolar Council is holding a meeting in Nome next week. The topic is food security, and the goal is to create a framework to understand the issue from an Inuit perspective. Carolina Behe is the ICC Alaska Traditional Knowledge and Science Advisor and is organizing the event. "Overall, it's to teach how to take a food security lens to the entire environment," Behe said. "Food security is synonymous with environmental health." Alaska Public Radio 

 

Kerry Kerry: Climate Report a Wake-up Call. Secretary of State John Kerry on Sunday said a major United Nations report on climate change is a "wake-up call about global economic opportunity." "We've already had wake-up call after wake-up call about climate science," Kerry said in a statement. "This report is a wake-up call about global economic opportunity we can seize today as we lead on climate change." The Hill 

 

HAARP Research Facility to Shut Down. It's been both praised and maligned. Praised by scientists as a tool to gain knowledge about Earth's ionosphere; maligned as a secret means to develop an ultimate weapon. The HAARP resembles a giant radio antennae. It's 180 towers are 78 feet tall and  have been beaming radio waves into the atmosphere since 1997. The facility covers about thirty acres of Department of Defense land just off the Tok Cutoff, not far from Gakona Junction. The news of its imminent shutdown has alarmed the scientific community. Bob McCoy directs the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute. Alaska Public Radio 

 

Charting Dangerous Waters. Ships in the Arctic face an exaggerated risk of accident, but improved safety can be achieved by taking simple measures, a study by DNV GL, a Norway-based certification and classification agency, concludes. The report, based on two case studies - a cruise ship sailing off the coast of Greenland and a bulk carrier transiting the Northern Sea Route - estimated that the risk of accident was 30 percent higher for a cruise ship and 15 percent higher for a bulk carrier compared with conventional routes. Arctic Journal 

 

In Some of Alaska's Most Pristine Parks, Fish Show Traces of Banned Pesticides. Traces of pesticides that were likely never used in Alaska and have -- in some cases -- long been outlawed are showing up in some Alaska fish, new research shows. A study led by the National Park Service found "historic-use" contaminants in fish at three Alaska parks famous for their wilderness qualities and reputations of being pristine and protected: Lake Clark National Park, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Katmai National Park. Alaska Dispatch 

 

Teachers in Remote Northern Communities Face Higher Workloads, Says Canadian Study. A new report on teachers' workloads across Canada's North says those working at rural or remote schools are at the greatest risk for burnout. The report, called "Understanding Teacher Workloads," found the teachers in the study averaged a 54-hour work week, similar to teachers in the rest of the country. They spend about 15 hours a week outside of school on work-related activities and about three hours a week on extra-curricular activities. Alaska Dispatch 

 

Arctic Ports Became Less Busy. The ports of the Arctic basin in January-March 2014 handled 8.7 million tons of cargo, which is 18.2% less than in the same period last year. The structure of the cargo passed through the ports has changed: the volume of dry cargo increased by 11.6 % and amounted to 6.2 million tons, while the bulk of liquid cargo decreased by half to 2.5 million tons. The geography of shipping changed too: the reducing of the Arctic freight turnover occurred at the background of 5.7 % (to 144.5 million tons) increase for the whole Russia in the 1st quarter of this year. Barents Nova 

 

Sharks are More Polluted Than Polar Bears. Polar bears are well-known to store many deadly pollutants in their fat. They store chemicals such as PCB's from the food that they eat. Being at the top of the food chain leads them to have high concentrations of toxins. New research indicates that polar bears are no longer some of the most polluted species in the Arctic. The Greenland shark is even more contaminated. While PCB contamination of the ecosystem in the Arctic is beginning to ease following the banning of the chemical 30 years ago new pollutants - especially those used in fire-retardants - are becoming more widespread in the region. The new pollutants are also accumulated throughout the food chain and can be particularly damaging to wildlife as they can interfere with hormone production. Some polar bears in the Arctic are already recorded to be hermaphrodites - with both male and female sex organs - because of the action of the chemicals. Wildlife News 

 

Arctic Port Project Delayed Indeterminably. The release of the Arctic Deep Draft Port feasibility study has been put on hold, indeterminably. The Alaska U.S. Army Corps of Engineers had said the study would be issued for public review the first week of March. However, in a recent Joint Transportation Committee meeting, Lorraine Cordova, Project Technical Lead, said the entire port project is being pushed back a "few months." Alaska Public Radio 

Legislative Actionfutureevents  

 

No Arctic legislation was formally considered yesterday.

Future Events

 

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

 

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.

USARC header

Find us on FacebookFollow us on Twitter 

4350 N. Fairfax Drive, Suite 510
Arlington, VA 22203, USA 
(703) 525-0111 (phone)
www.arctic.gov
info@arctic.gov
 
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.