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September 8, 2014
 

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.


capital Today's Congressional Action:  

The House and Senate return from recess and are expected to consider non-Arctic legislation.

 

 

Media  

 

September Congressional Agenda: Must-Pass Bills and Messaging Gambits. With Congress back in town Monday after five weeks off, plenty of Republicans and Democrats have made it clear the session's No. 1 priority is passing a spending bill to avoid a government shutdown. There's also a lot of bipartisan consensus, it turns out, on No. 2 - which can be summed up fairly neatly under the heading "Make the Other Guys Look Bad Ahead of the Elections." Roll Call

 

Muskok Field Notes From Greenland: The Musk Ox Economy. "I just had muskox Thai curry at the only restaurant in town," I messaged my friend after dinner one night in Kangerlussuaq at the Polar Bear Inn. "Greenland has restaurants?" she replied. Yes, Greenland has restaurants. This isn't so surprising once you consider that 57,000 people inhabit this Arctic island. Those restaurants often serve musk ox, a staple of Greenlandic cuisine and an important element of many local economies in this corner of the world. Alaska Dispatch News

 

Despite Rhetoric, More Fossil-Burning Power Plants are Being Built Than Ever Before. Fossil fuel power plants are still on the increase -- and committed carbon emissions are rising fast. At first glance you might respond to that with "so what's new?" Well, a study is new, which indicates that in spite of all the political rhetoric in a lot of places about switching to renewable energies and moving away from fossil fuels, we are building more fossil fuel power plants than ever before. Unsurprisingly, that is leading to an increase of carbon dioxide emissions, which is bad news for plans to keep global temperature rise below 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit). It is extremely bad news for those of concerned about the cryosphere and the increasing melt rates of Greenland and parts of Antarctica. The main problem, the authors tell us, is that we have already committed to huge emissions by investing in polluting technologies. Alaska Dispatch News

 

Investigating Underwater Sound: Seismic Testing in Nunavut. From the aural click of a narwhal to the air gun of oil survey ships, a variation of sounds coexist underwater. While we wait for the upcoming 2015 seismic survey to take place at Baffin Bay and Davis Strait, Nunatsiaq News compared the sound people and marine mammals make under the sea and examined some of things the seismic company will have to do to mitigate the project's impact. Nunatsiaq Online

 

Russia Deploys Naval Convoy to Reopen Base in the Arctic. Tensions over claims to the Arctic Circle's energy resources have risen after Russia sent a naval convoy to reopen a military base in support of Vladimir Putin's claims to the area. The move was made yesterday following a ceasefire between the Ukrainian government forces and pro-Russian separatists after five-months of conflict riddled the area. This ceasefire is seen as a major advantage to Putin's supporters while Russia claims the right to the wealth of the Arctic alongside Canada, Denmark, Norway and the US. Energy Voice

 

Arctic Agriculture. Whether it's Alaskan garlic or Greenlandic potatoes, Arctic agriculture is no oxymoron. Historians will point out that growing food in the North is nothing new: European settlers in southern Greenland were farming the land a millennium ago. Conditions, however, appear ripe for agriculture to again become a viable economic activity in some areas. Modern farming in the North took root in southern Greenland over the past decade, where potato farming and sheep rearing has become an important economic activity. Arctic Journal

 

In Northwest Arctic, Teens to Lead the Way in Suicide Prevention. When you talk to Michelle Woods, the fiery leader of the Teck John Baker Youth Leaders program, she will readily admit that when it comes to preventing suicides in Northwest Alaska, she doesn't care about pissing people off. At times that has put her at odds with communities when she fights to keep them from falling back on old habits, she said. "Somebody has to stand up for these kids," Woods said. "I'm offended by suicide," she added. "Let's stop this from happening." Alaska Dispatch News

Legislative Actionfutureevents  

 

No Arctic legislation was formally considered yesterday.

Future Events

   

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.

 

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

 

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

 

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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