Arctic Update Header
September 10, 2014
 

Art & Science: An Exhibition of Arctic Climate Change, September 10, 2014 (Washington, DC). Communicating the hard science of Arctic climate change is often a difficult task through language alone. Art, however, is an effective vehicle to communicate the complexities of climate change science to a broad audience. How do Arctic science and the art about it interact, and how does each influence the public perception of Arctic climate change?  Please join the Atlantic Council's Young Atlanticist Program for a roundtable discussion with prominent artists and scientists to discuss the role of visual arts in communicating Arctic climate change science to the public, and the next generation of scientists. Presenters include  Dr. John Farrell, executive director of the US Arctic Research Commission.

 

World Trade Center Alaska: Arctic Ambitions Trade Mission to Northern Europe, September 4-14, 2014 (Finland-Norway-Iceland). The Trade Mission will visit Northern and Arctic Europe starting September 4th in Finland and ending September 14 in Iceland, with an intermediary stop in Norway. The itinerary includes three days in each country and features visits to Arctic communities. Familiarization with Northern Europe's economies, and in particular commercial development in the Arctic, is the main goal of this trade mission. The participants will gain useful networking opportunities and a wealth of information on these three countries. For registration and information, please contact WTCAK at (907) 278-7233.

 

Conference of Parliamentarians of the Arctic Region, September 9-11, 2014 (Whitehorse, Canada). The Conference of Parliamentarians of the Arctic Region is a biennial conference for parliamentarians representing the eight Arctic countries and the European Parliament. The biennial conference is attended by representatives from the national parliaments of the Arctic states and the European Parliament. The Arctic indigenous peoples are permanent participants to the cooperation. Observers participate from governments and inter-parliamentary organizations as well as from observer states and relevant international organizations.


capital Today's Congressional Action:  

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

 

 

Media  

 

lame duck The Lamest Lame-Duck Session. December will be the lamest lame-duck session in a long time. Senate Democrats and House Republicans are privately saying that the post-election work period will be completely uneventful, a marked shift from the past two lame-duck sessions, which resulted in a pair of major fiscal deals. Politico

 

House Tries to Rein in EPA, to Dismay of Conservationists. An EPA effort to protect wetlands and small streams upriver from its established haunts on "navigable waters" is winning praise from outdoors groups as a way to ensure water quality, but U.S. House Republicans, including Alaska Rep. Don Young, say it's "federal overreach." To emphasize the point, the House titled a bill to hold back the EPA, "Waters of the United States Regulatory Overreach Protection Act of 2014." Young was one of its dozens of co-sponsors, and it easily passed the Republican-led House Tuesday, 262-152. One Republican voted no and 35 Democrats voted yes. Alaska Dispatch News

 

Study: Alaska Has Nation's Highest Rate of Women Murdered by Men. Alaska has the nation's highest rate of men murdering women, more than double the U.S. average, according to a study released Monday by Violence Policy Center. The study said that 2.57 of every 100,000 women in the Last Frontier were murdered by men in 2012 -- more than double the national average of 1.16. That represents nine women murdered in Alaska under circumstances involving only one female victim and one male murderer. "One is too many," Gov. Sean Parnell said in response to the numbers. Alaska Dispatch News

 

russian flag Arctic Affairs Change Supervisors. Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree "On the Abolition of the Ministry of Regional Development of the Russian Federation." The specific northern issues will be solved in the general order. The functions of the dismissed Ministry consisted in formulating and implementing public policy and legal regulation in the sphere of socio-economic development of the Russian regions and municipalities, the Far North and the Arctic, and also in the implementation of cross-border and inter-regional cooperation. According to the text of the Decree, that work now will be distributed among the Ministry of Economic Development, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Culture, and the Ministry of Construction Industry, Housing and Utilities Sector. Barents Nova

 

NASA Announces Media Briefing on Arctic Climate Change Campaigns. Earth's northern polar region, one of the most rapidly changing areas of our planet, is the focus of three recent NASA research campaigns and will be discussed in detail during a media teleconference at 3 p.m. EDT Tuesday, Sept. 16. The airborne field campaigns will examine changing glacier elevations in Alaska, thawing permafrost and the impact of sea ice retreat on the Arctic climate. SpaceRef

 

Arctic Research Gets $500k Data Boost. University of Calgary researchers are launching a new online platform to connect millions of pieces of information about the North. By collecting satellite reports and scientific analysis, accounts from local residents and even photographs and artwork in one location, ArcticConnect is designed to make it easier for scientists to manage and access information about the changing conditions in the Arctic. Steve Liang, AITF-Microsoft industry chair in open sensor web in the Department of Geomatics Engineering in the Schulich School of Engineering, and Maribeth Murray, executive director of the Arctic Institute of North America and professor of Anthropology and Archaeology, have received $500,000 from Canada's Advanced Research and Innovation Network (CANARIE) for the project. Lab Product News

 

Defense Ministry [Canada] Drastically Cut Plan to Overhaul Arctic Base in Attempt to Escape Soaring Price Tag, Documents Reveal. The Defence Department balked after the cost of a long-delayed docking and refueling station in the Arctic ballooned to more than twice its original estimate, a newly released document shows. The soaring price tag is the reason federal government decided to scale back its original plans for the Nanisivik naval base, at the eastern entrance to the Northwest Passage. National Post

 

aurora borealis Aurora Education Project Receives $1.4 Million Grant. A project to develop educational material on the aurora borealis that showcases the Inupiat language and culture received a three-year, $1.4 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education this week. The team developing the material will be led by an outreach team at the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute. The group will be tasked with producing a northern lights video, a museum exhibit on Inupiat cultural connections to the earth and sky and instructional kits. The material will provide material to 19 rural communities, more than 1,600 students. Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

Legislative Actionfutureevents  

 

No Arctic legislation was formally considered yesterday.

Future Events

   

AOOS Film Contest, Submission Deadline September 15, 2014. 

In celebration of its 10th Anniversary, Alaska Ocean Observing System (AOOS) is seeking short films highlighting Alaska's coast or oceans.   AOOS welcomes films of any genre relating to the ocean (i.e. people using the ocean and coast, marine research, marine wildlife, ocean-related policy issues, etc).  You don't need to be a professional to submit a film!   

 

102nd US Arctic Research Commission Meeting, September 15-16, 2014 (Anchorage, Alaska, USA). The 102nd USARC meeting will be held in Anchorage. Draft agenda available here

 

Ocean Obs and Ecological Forecasting Webinar, September 16, 2014 (Webinar). The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is developing an Ecological Forecasting Roadmap and program manager Allison Allen will be in Anchorage on Tuesday Sept. 16 to hear from key researchers and stakeholders about existing efforts and needs across Alaska. Please join us in person or remotely (log-in info below) to hear the latest state of the science on Harmful Algal Blooms, pathogens and other environmental change. Discussion will focus on identifying priorities for developing operational tools in Alaska, scenario modeling, early warning systems and forecasts of marine events. We invite you to join us for lunch following the formal presentation for an opportunity to continue the conversation informally with Allison. Please RSVP to tyler@aoos.org by Sept 10.  

 

2014 Week of the Arctic, October 6-11, 2014 (Nome, Kotzebue and Barrow, Alaska, USA). The Institute of the North will host the 2014 Week of the Arctic. The 2014 Week of the Arctic is a platform for community leaders, subject matter experts and interested stakeholders to learn about the Arctic while contributing to a growing list of priorities and perspectives. Presentations, roundtable discussions and workshops will be held in Nome, Kotzebue and Barrow. Throughout the week, presentations and interviews will be captured on video for distribution through social media and web-based sharing.

 

2014 FAMOS School and Workshop #3, October 21-24, 2014 (Woods Hole, MA). The Forum for Arctic Ocean Modeling and Observational Synthesis (FAMOS) is an international effort to focus on enhancing collaboration and coordination among Arctic marine and sea ice modelers, theoreticians and observationalists synthesize major results from the field studies and coordinated numerical experiments. The major themes of workshop include but not limited by studies focused on: predictions; Arctic observational and modeling initiatives; fate of sea ice in models and observations; atmospheric, sea ice and ocean dynamics; process studies and parameterizations; model validation and calibration; numerical improvements and algorithms; ecosystems, biological issues, and geochemistry.

 

Transatlantic Science Week 2014, October 27-28, 2014 (Toronto, Canada). The purpose of the annual Transatlantic Science Week (TSW) is to promote enhanced cooperation between Canadian, American and Norwegian stakeholders in research, innovation and higher education. TSW is an arena where different stakeholders can meet with the purpose of developing long-term collaborations or partnerships. The conference also hopes to strengthen the linkages that currently exist between the research and education domains. Finally, TSW also provides an excellent arena for dialogue between the research communities and policymakers. 

 

Arctic Circle, October 31-November 2, 2014 (Reykjavik, 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. 
 

US- Canada Northern Oil and Gas Research Forum, November 4-6, 2014 (Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada). Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada and the Canadian Polar Commission in partnership with the U.S. Department of the Interior, are hosting the fourth Canada - United States Northern Oil and Gas Research Forum. The Northern Oil and Gas Research Forum is a biennial meeting with representation from government, industry, academia, Aboriginal groups and Northerners from both Canada and the United States. The Forum provides an opportunity to discuss current and future priorities for northern oil and gas research. The Forum will showcase the value of northern research in support of sound decision-making for oil and gas management.

 

Alaska Policy Commission. November 17-18, 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.

 

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. 

 

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. 

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