US Arctic Research Commission
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March 29, 2011

Today's Eventstodaysevents 

 

The Senate will continue to consider a small-business research bill which will include a vote on whether or not to limit EPA regulation of greenhouse gas emissions and a repeal of tax reporting requirements in the health care law.  The House will take up another short-term Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization.  The current FAA authorization expires this week.

Arctic Science Summit Week, Seoul, March 28-April 1, 2011. The purpose of Korean Flagthe Arctic Science Summit Week is to provide opportunities for international coordination, collaboration, and cooperation in all fields of Arctic science. The Arctic Science Week 2011 is supported by the Korean government, the Korean Research Council of Fundamental Science & Technology, and the Seoul Tourism Organization, among other groups. 

Media Reviewtodaysevents  

 

Climate Votes Promise to Echo on Stump. The Senate is heading for votes this week on Environmental Protection Agency rules regarding climate change that are certain to reverberate on the campaign trail in 2012. The chamber could vote on as many as three climate-related amendments to small-business legislation: a GOP plan that strips EPA's power to regulate greenhouse gases and a pair of Democratic amendments to delay the rules or limit their reach. The Hill

 

Heat Rises in Fight Over Spending. As the White House prepared an offer to cut an additional $20 billion to end the budget stalemate on Capitol Hill, House and Senate leaders ramped up their rhetoric over who would bear the blame if the government shuts down. The forthcoming White House proposal, which Republicans have yet to see, would look to cut about $30 billion in federal spending overall, $20 billion more than the $10 billion already cut by stopgap spending bills, according to Democratic aides. That's about half of the $61 billion included in the long-term spending plan approved by House Republicans earlier this year. Roll Call

 

CR Deal Elusive as Shutdown Looms. The White House and Republicans are within striking distance of a deal on spending cuts for this year, but policy differences and tea party pressures will make it difficult to reach closure before a threatened government shutdown April 8. The administration has moved within $6 billion of a $1.052 trillion target that House Republicans confirmed Monday had been suggested by their negotiators as part of the framework for a compromise. That number would effectively restore $26 billion in cuts enacted by the House last month, but the GOP said any such deal is contingent on substantial concessions by the White House on legislative riders attached to the same budget bill. Politico

 

Scientists: Arctic Ocean Has Become Less Salty, More Unstable: The amount of fresh water in the Arctic Ocean has increased by 20 percent since the 1990s. More fresh water is pouring into the Arctic Ocean as glaciers melt, raising concern among some scientists. The fresh water content of the upper layer of the Arctic Ocean has increased by about 20 per cent since the 1990s, say scientists from Germany's Alfred Wegener Institute. Nunatsiaq Online  
 
 

Scientists Gather at Arctic Ice Base to Study Climate Change. Just 675 nautical miles from the North Pole, the Catlin Ice Base is considered ground zero for climate change. Each spring, the ice base attracts scientists trying to figure out what impact the melting ice cap is having on the surrounding environment. CNN

 

What International Polar Year Discovered. With 50,000 student, scientists, crew and technicians from more than 60 nations working on 170 projects with a total budget of US$1.3 billion, the International Polar Year (IPY), which ran from March 2007 to March 2009, was the largest research effort ever undertaken in the Arctic and Antarctica. A summary report released today describes its wealth of findings. Nature 

 

House Urges Stronger Arctic Collaboration. The state House this morning urged closer participation in the Arctic Caucus of the Pacific Northwest Economic Region, a collaboration between northwest U.S. states and western Canadian provinces and territories. The caucus includes Alaska, the Yukon and the Northwest Territories. Fairbanks Daily News-Miner 

 

 

Legislative Actionfutureevents  

 

No Arctic-related legislation was formally considered yesterday. 

Future Eventsfutureevents    

       

HOUSE: Fiscal 2012 Appropriations: Homeland Security, March 30, 31; April 6, 7. The Homeland Security Subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee will hold hearings on the proposed fiscal year 2012 appropriations for departments, agencies, and programs under its jurisdiction.  

 

HOUSE: Fiscal 2012 Appropriations: Interior and Environment, March 30, 31; April 6, 7, 12. The Interior and Environment and Related Agencies of the House Appropriations Committee will hold hearings on the proposed fiscal year 2012 appropriations for departments, agencies, and programs under its jurisdiction.

 

The Arctic as a Messenger for Global Processes- Climate Change and Pollution, May 4-6, 2011. The Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP), the University of Copenhagen, and Aarhus University. The conference will include talks by invited keynote speakers, oral presentations selected on the basis of submitted abstracts, poster presentations, and short oral presentations of selected posters. A panel discussion will develop messages to be communicated to the Arctic Council Ministerial meeting that will take place in Greenland one week after the conference. 

  
Sixth International Conference on Arctic Margins, May 31-June 2, 2011 at the University of Alaska - Fairbanks. The International Conference on Arctic Margins (ICAM) will examine current geological and geophysical research on the Arctic. Topics include: hydrocarbon potential and gas hydrates; science issues relating to UNCLOS Article 76; geodynamic significance of Arctic magmatism; vertical motions in the Arctic, tectonic, and glacial; geology and palaeogeography of the Arctic continental margins; evolution of the Arctic Ocean basins, including plate reconstructions, magmatism, and sedimentology; modern Arctic environments, including geological, climatic, and oceanographic processes; recent advances in Arctic research technology. More information email.  

 

American Meteorological Society Summer Policy Colloquium, June 5-14. This policy colloquium brings together a group to consider atmospheric policy.  The colloquium will cover policy creation basics, interactions with congressional staff, and information on the current atmospheric policy issues. 

 

The Arctic Imperative, June 19-21, 2011. The Alaska Dispatch, Aspen Institute, Commonwealth North, and the Institute of the North will host a forum titled "The Arctic Imperative: Think of the Bering Strait as the Next Panama Canal."  The forum will bring together international policymakers, industry, and investment leaders to consider topics just as security, resources, port development, marine shipping, commerce, and trade.

 

 icediminisharctic 

4th Symposium on the Impacts of an Ice-Diminishing Arctic on Naval and Maritime Operations, June 20-21, 2011.  The symposium is co-hosted by the U.S. National Ice Center (NIC) and the U.S. Arctic Research Commission. This symposium addresses present and future impacts of rapid changes in Arctic Ocean sea ice cover on a wide range of maritime operations. The forum, the fourth in a series, is a key opportunity for federal entities to discuss their response to changes in both the Arctic environment and associated policies.

 

7th Congress of the International Arctic Social Sciences, June 22-26, 2011myvatnThe 7th Congress, "Circumpolar Perspectives in Global Dialogue: Social Sciences Beyond the IPY," will be held in Akureyri, Iceland. The International Congress of the Arctic Social Sciences is held every three years. 
 
Holocene Glacier Variability from the Tropics to the Poles, July 20-27, 2011. Glaciers respond sensitively to climate change. Recent (Holocene) glacier fluctuations are a valuable proxy for terrestrial interglacial paleoclimate conditions. A main challenge for interpreting paleoclimate from past mountain glacier extents is distinguishing local and regional patterns from global signals. Reconstructing Holocene glacier extents involves many disciplines including terrestrial and marine geology, geochronology and glaciology. Organizers hope to facilitate an inter-hemispheric comparison of glacier records including locations in the Tropics, European Alps, American Cordillera, Southern Alps of New Zealand, Himalaya and Polar Regions and to identify future research questions and directions. For additional information contact: Meredith Kelly.
 
13th Arctic Ungulates Conference (AUC), August 22-26, 2011. The theme of the conference will be "Challenges of Managing Northern Ungulates." The theme Muskokaddresses the difficulties of managing ungulate populations that are faced with the unpredictable effects of climate change and an ever-increasing human presence on the land. The conference will also focus on the challenges associated with developing recovery actions for declining caribou and reindeer populations that are an integral part of Aboriginal cultures and ways of life. 
 
9th International Symposium on Permafrost Engineering, September 3-7, 2011. The Melnikov Permafrost Institute (Yakutsk, Russia), the Institute of Northern Mining (Yakutsk, Russia), the Cold and Arid Regions Engineering and Environmental Research Institute (Lanzhou, China), and the Heilongjiang Institute of Cold Region  Engineering (Harbin, China) will host the Ninth International Symposium on  Permafrost Engineering to be held in Mirny, Yakutia. The aim of the Symposium is to provide a forum for discussion of permafrost engineering issues, as well as for exchange of practical experience in construction and maintenance of engineering structures on frozen ground. For additional information, please contact Lilia Prokopieva. 

 

4th International Sea Duck Conference, September 12-16. The conference is held to provide researchers and managers with opportunities to share information, research, and conduct workshops.

 

Lowell Wakefield International Fisheries Symposium, September 14-17, 2011. The 27th Lowell Wakefield International Fisheries Symposium, entitled "Fishing People of the North: Cultures, Economies, and Management Responding to Change," will be held in Anchorage, Alaska. This international symposium will provide a forum for scholars, fishery managers, fishing families, and others to explore the human dimensions of fishery systems and growing need to include social science research in policy processes. The conference is part of the University of Alaska Fairbanks Sea Grant program.   

 

Operating in the Arctic: Supporting the US Coast Guard Challenges Through Research, Sept. 21-23, 2011. This workshop, held at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, and co-sponsored by the Department of Homeland Security and the US Arctic Research Commission, explored and identified ways in which scientific research and development can improve the ability of the U.S. Coast Guard to operate and carry out its statutory missions in the Arctic region. Participation in this event included state, local and international stakeholders, academics and researchers, and USCG and other federal agency officials. A funding opportunity associated with this activity is described here.

 

The Tenth International Conference on Permafrost, June 2012. The conference permafrostwill be held in Tyumen, Russia, and is organized and hosted by Russia. The last conference was held in Fairbanks, Alaska, in 2008.  More details to follow. 

   

Arctic/ Inuit/ Connections: Learning from the Top of the World, October 24-28, 2012.  The 18th Inuit Studies Conference, hosted by the Smithsonian Institution, will be held in Washington, DC. The conference will consider heritage museums and the North; globalization: an Arctic story; power, governance and politics in the North; the '"new" Arctic: social, cultural and climate change; and Inuit education, health, language, and literature. For more information, please email Lauren Marr.

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