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March 7, 2014

capital Today's Congressional Action:   

The House and Senate are not in session.

 

 

Media 

 

Faroese Close in on Oil. A decade-long effort by the Faroe Islands to establish the country as a petroleum economy appears to be close to paying off. As the search for oil in the far North Atlantic intensifies, the country, a self-governing member of the Danish kingdom, has been able to register two promising developments in recent weeks. Arctic Journal

 

Nordic Nations Report High Levels of Abuse Against Women. Nearly half of all Swedish women have suffered physical and/or sexual abuse, according to a new study by the European Union's Agency for Fundamental Rights, which found the Nordic nations reporting some of the highest rates of violence against women in Europe. Agence France-Presse reports that 46 percent of women in Sweden have suffered abuse and 81 percent said they had been harassed at some point after the age of 15. In neighboring Denmark, 52 percent of women suffered abuse, while the rate was 47 percent in Finland. Alaska Dispatch

 

Oil Whale Exxon Exxon Valdez 25th Anniversary: Lessons Learned, Lesson Lost. In recognition of this month's 25-year anniversary of the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska (March 24), this seems a good time to reflect on lessons learned, and lessons lost. 1. Oil spill "cleanup" is a myth: Once oil has spilled, the battle is lost - it is impossible to effectively contain, recover, and cleanup. Exxon spent more than $2 billion trying to clean up its Alaska spill, but recovered less than 7 per cent. BP spent $14 billion trying to clean up its 2010 Deepwater Horizon spill, and although they collected some at the wellhead, burned and dispersed some (with toxic chemicals), it recovered only 3 percent from the sea surface and beaches. Seldom is more than 10 per cent of a marine oil spill recovered. We should insist that industry and government are prepared to respond to a spill, but we should not expect any spill response to be effective. And, this is particularly true for spills in ice-covered Arctic waters. Eco Business

 

Salmon Five Nations Tentatively Agree to Arctic Fishing Ban. The Canadian Press reports that Canada, Denmark, Norway, and Russia signed on to the ban after three days of meetings in Greenland last week. The measure was originally pitched by the United States, and it didn't have support from Norway or Russia until now. The details of the ban are still being worked out. But the basics are clear: The countries have to do more scientific research on Arctic fish stocks. In the meantime, they will not engage in commercial fishing in the Arctic Ocean outside their 200-mile exclusive economic zones. Alaska Public Radio

 

Warmer Rivers Speed Arctic Sea Ice Loss. The downward trend in Arctic sea ice -- in both extent and volume -- is an unmistakable and oft-cited early sign of the impact of climate change. But of course, while the trend lines are clear, there are variations from year to year. For example, 2013 saw the sixth-lowest Arctic sea ice minimum on record, but because that extent was 1.69 million square kilometers (653,000 square miles) above the record minimum -- which was set just the year previously -- climate-change deniers promptly bounced up and down with glee and claimed that Arctic sea ice was "recovering." In contrast, 2012 was not only the lowest extent on record, it was the lowest by a lot, much lower even than the previous-record low of 2007, which had itself shattered existing records. The ultimate cause of this sharp decline, of course, was rising temperatures; but according to new research by NASA scientists, the approximate cause was the influx of warm water from Arctic rivers. Discovery News

Legislative Actionfutureevents  

  

No Arctic legislation was formally considered yesterday.

Future Events

 

Arctic 2050, March 12, 2014 (Brussels, Belgium). The 4th European Marine Board Forum will bring together Arctic stakeholders from multiple sectors (science, industry, policy & governance, NGOs, etc.) to: discuss current trends and patterns of change in Arctic Ocean ecosystems, including human activity; identify possible "2050" scenarios for Arctic Change and the corresponding implications for human health and well-being; highlight key research gaps, needs and challenges in support of understanding, mitigating against, or adapting to Arctic change; stimulate dialogue across sectors to aid common understanding, collaborative actions and sustainability targets; promote a vision for a sustainable ecosystem-based management of the Arctic Ocean by 2050.
 
New Vision for Sea Shipping Between Europe-Asia-USA, March 12-14, 2014 (Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Kamchatka Region, Russia). The Tranzit-DV Group, with the participation of the Ministry for the Development of the Russian Far East, is holding a conference in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. The conference theme is the creation of a logistics complex - MILC (Multimodal Industrial-Logistics Complex) in the Asia-Pacific Region with developed infrastructure and traffic network. Topics include: Seaports in the Primorsky and Kamchatka regions: experience, opportunities, prospects and development of sea transport; use of the Northern Sea Route in the global transport services market; state programs for investment support and development of the Russian Far East; analysis of the situation on the Russian and global container transport and bunkering markets; prospects for port hub development and multimodal carriage; and, maritime insurance issues.

 

44th Annual International Arctic Workshop, March 14-16, 2014 (Boulder, CO). The Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research of the University of Colorado will host the workshop. This year's theme is "Arctic's New Normal." The workshop will consider shifting environmental baselines over decades to millennia and comparisons with the Antarctic. Previous workshops have included presentations on Arctic and Antarctic climate, atmospheric chemistry, environmental geochemistry, paleoenvironment, archeology, geomorphology, hydrology, glaciology, soils, ecology, oceanography, Quaternary history and more.
 

Navigational Developments and the Viability of Commercialized Shipping in the Arctic, March 20, 2014. (Washington, D.C.). The Federal Maritime Commission's Maritime Environmental Committee will be hosting a Brown Bag Speaker Series with a presentation by Dr. John Farrell, Executive Director of the U.S. Arctic Research Commission, and Captain David Murk, Senior Maritime Safety and Security Advisor to the Secretary of Transportation at the U.S. Department of Transportation. The speakers will discuss the environmental impact commercial shipping may have in the Arctic, United States' interests in the Arctic, and the viability of commercial shipping in the region.

 

Association of American Geographers Polar Geography Sessions, April 8-12, 2014 (Tampa, Florida).  Polar Geography Sessions are being planned in areas such as Sustainable Development in the Arctic, Urbanization and Transportation in the Arctic, etc. Contact Scott Stephenson (stephenson@ucla.edu) for more information, and see attached flyer. 

 

Arctic Science Summit Week April 5-8, 2014 and Arctic Observing Summit, April 9-11 (Helsinki, Finland). ASSW is a gathering for Arctic research organizations. Any organization engaged in supporting and facilitating arctic research is welcome to participate. The ASSW meeting in 2014 will be arranged during April 5-8 in Helsinki Kumpula Campus, in the facilities of FMI and Physics Department of the University of Helsinki. Second circular here

 

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