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April 18, 2014

 

capital Today's Congressional Action:   

The House and Senate are not in session.

 

 

Media 

     

Polar Bear Eating Fish Fish with Elevated Mercury Found in Parts of Alaska, the West. Federal scientists have found elevated amounts of mercury in fish caught in remote areas of national parks in Alaska and the West, according to a study released Wednesday. Researchers for the U.S. Geological Survey and National Park Service said that most fish they caught had acceptable levels of mercury, but 4 percent exceeded healthy levels. Anchorage Daily News

 

Eight Ways That Climate Change Hurts Humans. It can be easy to think of climate change as a far-off, indirect threat that some future human population will have to overcome. And that even then, the effects of climate change won't be too bad, or that they won't hurt people. But as the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report, Climate Change 2014: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability, emphasizes, the effects of climate change already can be seen, and members of the current human population already are its victims. Climate change will hurt and even kill humans in a stunning variety of ways. Here are nine (sometimes unexpected) ways climate change will negatively affect people: heat waves, floods, drought, fire, crop declines and food shortages, infectious diseases, mental illness, and violence and conflict. Smithsonian Magazine

 

Iceland-United States Education Commission Announces Arctic Studies Opportunity. The Fulbright Commission is offering a grant, financed by the Icelandic Ministry for Foreign Affairs, for a US scholar to come to Iceland for 3-5 months to teach and do research. The agreement between the Commission and the Ministry is for a three-year pilot project, with one grant being offered per year. This project is an exciting innovation in the work of Fulbright in Iceland and is the perfect vehicle to strengthen the Arctic dimension of our work. US Fulbright Scholar Catalog of Awards

 

Moscow to Submit Arctic Shelf Claim to UN in Fall - Russian Official. The Russian Natural Resources Ministry is planning to submit a claim to the UN this autumn to extend the country's Arctic shelf, Ecology Minister Sergei Donskoi said Friday. "Our experts have been gathering evidence for the past decade. The fact that the Sea of Okhotsk was recognized as a Russian inland sea in March was a very significant breakthrough," the minister said. Voice of Russia

 

russian flag Russia Holds Key to Arctic Explorations, Expert Conference Highlights Impacts. Moscow is hosting the 4th Annual Adam Smith Conference "Russian Arctic Oil and Gas 2014" in partnership with The Analytical Center. The conference has brought together experts to discuss the Northern Sea Route and its role in the development of Arctic oil and gas projects. The meeting is being moderated by Leonid Azimov, Head of the Directorate for Transport Economics of The Analytical Center. Voice of Russia spoke with Danila Bochkarev, who was attending the conference, is a Brussels-based fellow with the East West Institute, a second-track diplomacy international think tank. Voice of Russia 

 

blueberries Alaska Inuit Circumpolar Conference Searches for Food Security Definition. Carolina Behe is the ICC Alaska Traditional Knowledge and Science Advisor. "When we say food security, we're talking about the entire environment, and there's so many changes occurring within that," Behe said. As those changes occur, Behe says, Alaska Natives want a role in the decision making, but she says their voices are often not being heard and their participation often excluded. Alaska Public Radio

Legislative Actionfutureevents  

 

No Arctic legislation was formally considered yesterday.

Future Events

 

The Arctic in the Anthropocene: Emerging Research Questions, April 29, 2014. (Webinar) This webinar will provide a briefing on the new National Research Council report "The Arctic in the Anthropocene: Emerging Research Questions". The co-chairs of the authoring committee will present emerging research questions that span traditional disciplinary boundaries as well as tools for meeting the challenges of understanding a rapidly changing Arctic. There will be an opportunity for questions at the conclusion of the briefing. 

 

AAAS Forum on S & T Policy, May 1, 2014. (Washington, DC) The American Association for the Advancement of Science will host a forum on science and technology policy. On May 1, AAAS will host a breakout session on US Leadership in the Arctic Council: International Science Cooperation. Presenters include executive director of the US Arctic Research Commission John Farrell.

 

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.

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