Arctic Update Header
April 25, 2014

 

capital Today's Congressional Action:   

The House and Senate are not in session.

 

 

Media 

     

NOAA Investigating Rare Whale Beachings. Three rarely seen whales beached on Alaska's coast last year, and NOAA Fisheries is investigating whether human activity contributed to the strandings. The Stejneger's beaked whales beached last fall: one on St. Lawrence Island and two in Valdez. Neither of those places are where Stejneger's are usually found, and each animal showed indications of trauma. Alaska Public Radio

 

Carpe Arcticum. With all the talk of economic opportunities, climate change and technological development in the Arctic, there can be no doubt that the region is changing. And, as it is with any time there is a major social change, it will be the generation to come that faces the consequences - good or bad. "The Arctic that today's young people inherit will not look like the Arctic our parents and grandparents knew. There are huge changes taking place that will effect the future of the North and the future of the world," said Graham May, executive director of the Youth Arctic Coalition (YAC), about the importance of having such a platform. Arctic Journal

 

Judge Orders New Review for 2008 Chukchi Sea Lease Sale. Six years after Shell and other companies bought oil and gas leases in the Chukchi Sea, the Interior Department is embarking on a new study of potential development impacts to determine whether the lease sale should have been held in the first place. Interior's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management must complete the new analysis of the record-setting $2.66 billion lease sale and submit it for court approval before any new Chukchi Sea drilling is allowed, U.S. District Court Judge Ralph Beistline said in an order issued Thursday. Alaska Dispatch

 

UK to Build $340 Million Polar Research Ship. The UK government has announced it intends to build a $340 million ship with cutting-edge technology to boost research in the Antarctic and Arctic oceans, The Guardian reported Friday. "One of the final frontiers in the world where there is still much discovery to be done are the polar oceans. Britain must continue to have a presence in these parts of the world," chancellor George Osborne was quoted as saying. RIA Novosti

  

Northerners Seek More Input, Relevance in Arctic Research. Northerners want scientists to help them prepare for sweeping changes expected in the years ahead from resource development and climate change, suggests feedback collected from across the Canadian Arctic. In dozens of interviews from all three territories, the Canadian Polar Commission found northerners want researchers to focus more on issues relevant to their daily lives - from better education to get aboriginals into high-paying jobs to ways that communities can wean themselves off expensive diesel electricity generation. CBC News

 

Legislators Pass Fish Bills as Session End Nears. Fishers, processors and the general public will see changes to certain fisheries regulations under bills passed by the Alaska Legislature this session. In the final days of the 2014 session, lawmakers agreed to extend and expand a fisheries product development tax credit program for processors, change the fisheries landing tax for harvesters, authorize a new source of funding for fisheries infrastructure and alter the existing Commercial Fishing and Agriculture Bank. Alaska Journal of Commerce

 

NOAA US Agency Aims to Keep Better Tabs on Arctic Weather, Changing Climate. The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has announced a five-year-long project to help better understand and predict weather and changing climate in its Arctic region. The initiative is part of NOAA's newly-released Arctic action plan, a document that lays out how the agency plans to support the U.S.National Strategy for the Arctic Region. Nunatsiaq Online

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.

USARC header

Find us on FacebookFollow us on Twitter 

4350 N. Fairfax Drive, Suite 510
Arlington, VA 22203, USA 
(703) 525-0111 (phone)
www.arctic.gov
info@arctic.gov
 
External links in this publication, and on the USARC's World Wide Web site (www.arctic.gov) do not constitute endorsement by the US Arctic Research Commission of external Web sites or the information, products or services contained therein. For other than authorized activities, the USARC does not exercise any editorial control over the information you may find at these locations. These links are provided consistent with the stated purpose of this newsletter and the USARC Web site.