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December 8, 2014
  

Arctic Change 2014, December 8-12, 2014 (Ottawa, Canada). The international Arctic Change 2014 conference aims to stimulate discussion and foster collaborations among people with a vested interest in the Arctic and its peoples. Coinciding with the pinnacle of Canada's chairmanship of the Arctic Council and marking ArcticNet's 10th anniversary, Arctic Change 2014 welcomes researchers, students, Northerners, policy makers, and stakeholders from all fields of Arctic research and all countries to address the numerous environmental, social, economical and political challenges and opportunities that are emerging from climate change and modernization in the Arctic. With over 1000 participants expected to attend, Arctic Change 2014 will be one of the largest trans-sectoral international Arctic research conferences ever held in Canada.  

 

capitalToday's Congressional Action:  

The House and Senate are in session and expected to consider non-Arctic legislation.

Media  

 

Mary Landrieu is Defeated by Bill Cassidy in Louisiana Senate Runoff. Mary L. Landrieu, the last Deep South Democrat in the United States Senate, was defeated in a runoff election here Saturday by Bill Cassidy, a Republican congressman who incessantly attacked the incumbent for her support of President Obama.

With Mr. Cassidy's victory in what had been the last undecided Senate race of the midterm elections, the Republicans gained a total of nine Senate seats, giving them 54 senators and firm control of the upper chamber when the 114th Congress convenes in January. New York Times

 

Coast Guard Proposes Bering Strait Shipping Route. With global warming leading to increased traffic to a vulnerable Arctic, the U.S. Coast Guard is proposing a 4.6-mile wide shipping route through the Bering Strait to try to protect the region. Any accident in the sensitive area can be a major problem and traffic has increased tremendously, so the Coast Guard mapped out a voluntary two-way route - akin to a highway for ships - said agency project officer Lt. Kody Stitz. "We see more traffic and envision more traffic to continue," Stitz said. Alaska Dispatch News

 

Greenland, Alaska Elections Bolster Arctic Resource Extraction. Voters in Greenland and Alaska went to the polls in November, electing politicians from parties in favor of natural resource extraction in both places. The elections in each Arctic polity were tightly contested, producing mind-bogglingly close results. In Greenland, the incumbent Siumut party, a big promoter of mining, captured a narrow victory with just 326 more votes than the defeated opposition party, Inuit Ataqatigiit (IA). Across the Arctic Ocean in Alaska, the race was so close that incumbent Sen. Mark Begich (D), who was up for reelection for a second term, did not concede defeat to Republican challenger Dan Sullivan until nearly two weeks after election day. He ended up losing by just a hair over 6,000 votes. The close results show that people in Greenland and Alaska -- two areas often deemed to be the next resource frontier within the Arctic -- have elected politicians in favor of resource extraction in the Arctic, but their victories are hardly resounding. Alaska Dispatch News

 

Pigeon Population- And Droppings- Increasing in Fairbanks. One of the places where pigeons congregate downtown is the parking garage on Lacey Street. Twice per year, a parking garage employee must put on a Tyvek suit, wear a respirator and scrape about 75 gallons of pigeon dung from the concrete floors. Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

 

russian flag Vladivostock to be Russia First 'Free Port.' In a move to help boost its ailing economy in the far east of the country, Russia's President Putin announced in his 'state of the nation' address that the Port of Vladivostok would be become a 'free port' by July 2015 - the first port in the country to be given that status. Designed to boost trade and bolster the economy, which has suffered as a result of Western sanctions following the Ukraine crisis, the move would allow more relaxed customs regulations, the introduction of tax incentives for port operators, and a lower cost for ships using the port. As the region is strategically placed with borders close to China and North Korea, the move will allow stronger ties to be developed with Asian nations, particularly China. President Putin told the Russian Federal Council that it was 'necessary' to pay attention to the far eastern parts of Russia because of its recent economic growth. His comments signaled that Siberia and the Russian Far East are pivotal to forging closer ties with neighboring Asian countries. Port News 

 

For New Coast Guard Head, Mission Still the Same. The commander of Alaska's Coast Guard may be new to town - he took over for outgoing Rear Admiral Thomas Ostebo in June - but the mission of District 17 isn't likely to change. In fact, the Coast Guard's three broad missions have essentially remained the same since it was formed, Rear Admiral Daniel Abel said Thursday during a speech at the weekly Juneau Chamber of Commerce luncheon. Juneau Empire

  

New Administration, New Opportunities for Rural Alaska to Move Forward. As the new governor's leadership team starts to take shape, it is obvious that the partnership between Gov. Bill Walker and Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott is different. Who knows what agreements were made when Mallott, a longtime Alaska Native leader, agreed to join forces with Walker, relinquishing his own bid as the democratic candidate for the state's top post. But if these early days are any indication, Native Alaskans and rural Alaskans will have more voice in this state administration than any since, perhaps, the late Gov. Jay Hammond. Alaska Dispatch News

 

Legislative Actionfutureevents  

 

The House and Senate did not formally consider Arctic legislation Friday.

Future Events

  

"The Melting Arctic... What the Science Says, and What it Means for Our Future" December 10, 2014. (Remote access, see here.) The National Weather Service; Office of Climate, Weather, and Water Services; Climate Division is sponsoring this webinar. This talk probes the loss of ice in the Arctic Ocean from three aspects -- 1) what the science says, 2) why it is important, and 3) what it means for our future, and makes the case that as transport drives the patterns of human civilization, a melting Arctic will move population centers in the far north. This talk, which puts climate science in a social and historical context, was presented previously at the AMS Annual meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, in February 2013. 

 

Subcommittee Hearing: The United States as an Arctic Nation: Opportunities in the High North, December 10, 2014 (Washington, D.C., USA). The House of Representatives Subcommittee on Europe, Eurasia and Emerging Threats will hold a hearing on "The United States as an Arctic Nation." US Special Representative Admiral Robert Papp is expected to testify.

 

"Arctic Modeling: Improving Models and Predictions in the Arctic" January 13, 2015. (Remote access, see here). The Modeling, Analysis, Predictions, and Projections (MAPP) program will host this webinar. Additional information will be released soon.

 

AGU Fall Meeting, December 15-19, 2014 (San Francisco, CA, USA). With nearly 24,000 attendees, the AGU Fall Meeting is the largest Earth and space science meeting in the world. The AGU Fall Meeting brings together the entire Earth and space sciences community for discussions of emerging trends and the latest research. The technical program includes presentations on new and cutting-edge science, much of which has not yet been published.

 

Arctic Frontiers: Climate and Energy, January 18-23, 2015. The earth is in the midst of major climate changes. The Arctic is experiencing the impact of these changes more and faster than other parts of the globe. Processes starting in the Arctic may have deep and profound impacts on other parts of the globe. At the same time the Earth's population is rising and with it the global energy demand. New and greener energy sources are gaining market shares, but still the energy mix of the foreseeable future will have a substantial fossil component. The Arctic is expected to hold major oil and gas resources, while the regions green energy potentials are less explored. The Arctic Frontiers conference is a central arena for discussions of Arctic issues. The conference brings together representatives from science, politics, and civil society to share perspectives on how upcoming challenges in the Arctic may be addressed to ensure sustainable development. Arctic Frontiers is composed of a policy section and a scientific section. 

  

Alaska Marine Science Symposium, January 19-23, 2015 (Anchorage, Alaska, USA). The symposium will feature a session on the Communicating Ocean Sciences, keynote addresses, poster sessions, and workshops. As in past years, the main content of the symposium is organized by large marine ecosystem. The 2015 schedule will be: Tuesday, January 20 - Gulf of Alaska; Wednesday, January 21 - Bering Sea; and Thursday, January 22 - Arctic Ocean. The details of the 2015 Alaska Marine Science Symposium program will be available in mid-November.

 

Symposium on Law and Governance in the Arctic, UCI LAW, January 30-31, 2015 (Irvine, California, USA).  The symposium will explore the effectiveness of existing governance in the Arctic region, strategies for improving effective implementation, and possible alternative governance regimes. A segment of the presented papers will be published in the UCI Law Review as a symposium. Presenters include: Betsy Baker, Michael Byers, Joseph DiMento, Tore Henriksen, Brian Israel, Timo Koivurova, Tullio Scovazzi, and Oran Young. 

 

Arctic Encounter Symposium 2015: Charting a Path to US Leadership in the Far North, January 30-31, 2015 (Seattle, Washington, USA). The second annual Arctic Encounter Symposium will focus on the role of the U.S. as an Arctic nation and the challenges it will confront in its upcoming chairmanship of the Arctic Council, including: climate change, natural resources, investment opportunities, and international relations. The goal of the 2015 Arctic Encounter is to facilitate a creative environment for the development of a proactive agenda, short and long-term domestic and international priorities, and a strategic execution plan.The two-day program will take place at the University of Washington with a dinner reception on January 30, 2015 at the Museum of History and Industry.

 

Polar Shelves and Shelf Break Exchange in Times of Rapid Climate Warming, March 15-20, 2015 (Lucca, Italy). The GRCs provide an international forum for the presentation and discussion of frontier research in the biological, chemical, and physical sciences, and their related technologies. The guiding principle of a GRC is to encourage communication and discussion of ideas and new unpublished results at the very frontier of a particular field of research, by bringing together outstanding scientists from academia, industry, and government, ranging from senior experts to Ph.D. students. With the increasing impacts of reduced sea ice and warming seawater conditions in both the Arctic and Antarctic, this conference can act as a forum for potentially transformative discussions for interdisciplinary, international and compare/contrast evaluation of polar sciences. In addition, the Gordon Research Seminar (GRS) will precede the GRC to provide a forum for graduate students and post-docs to present and exchange new data and cutting edge ideas with experts in the different polar fields of science.


The Polar Geography and Cryosphere, April 21-25, 2015 (Chicago, IL, USA). The Polar Geography and Cryosphere Specialty Groups of the Association of American Geographers will host its annual meeting in Chicago to consider: current topics in human-environment interactions; current topics in politics, resource geographies, and extractive industries; current topics in Antarctic research; advances in cryosphere research; high latitude environments in a changing climate; an mountain ice and snow.

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