Arctic Daily Update: October 6, 2011

October 6, 2011

The Senate will continue to consider the currency manipulation bill. The House will consider legislation regarding EPA regulations of cement plants and industrial boilers.

USARC Commission Meeting: New Hampshire, October 5-7, 2011.

The US Arctic Research Commission will hold its 96th meeting in New Hampshire next week. The meeting will begin at the University of New Hampshire (Oct. 5th) and will then proceed to the US Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (Oct. 6th), and will end at Dartmouth College (Oct. 7th). A agenda (pdf) is available here.

Media Review

Arctic Sea Ice Continues Decline, Hits Second-Lowest Level. Last month the extent of sea ice covering the Arctic Ocean declined to the second-lowest extent on record. Satellite data from NASA and the NASA-supported National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) at the University of Colorado in Boulder showed that the summertime sea ice cover narrowly avoided a new record low. Science Daily

House Panel Bill Would Shield Border Agency From Environmental Laws.

The House Natural Resources Committee advanced contentious GOP legislation on Wednesday that, as amended, would exempt a Department of Homeland Security border agency from more than three dozen federal environmental protection laws while conducting border-security operations. The panel approved the amended bill (HR 1505) in a 26-17 party-line vote, despite objections from panel Democrats who characterized the bill as an attack on environmental regulations. The measure would give U.S. Customs and Border Protection the authority to patrol and build roads and fences and construct temporary offices in national parks, forests and other public lands within 100 miles of U.S. borders with Canada and Mexico. Congressional Quarterly

Coast Guard's Largest Icebreaker Commences Third of Four Arctic Science Missions. The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Healy have embarked on their third science mission of the 2011 season following a port call in Dutch Harbor Sept. 28 to resupply. On this mission the science team will deploy several types of hydrographic moorings and recover hydrographic moorings deployed on earlier missions. During the second mission, Healy and the Canadian coast guard ship Louis S. St. Laurent crews used seismic and bathymetric techniques to survey more than 4,600 miles of Arctic seafloor including the Nautilus Basin, Alpha-Mendeleev Ridge and the Extended Continental Shelf. The final mission will be a biology-based mission studying the behavior of copepods in the winter months. Alaska Native News

Why Can't Canadian Scientists Talk to the Media? Re: Arctic ozone hole twice the size of Ontario; Climate change scientist not allowed to discuss 'unprecedented' discovery with media, Oct. 3 Canadian scientists discovered a major event that has the potential to harm a great many people and animals on earth. Their findings have been published in one of the world's major scientific journals.

Then they are told by their government employer that they are forbidden to speak publicly about their work. Vancouver Sun

Changing Arctic: U.S. Should Be a Contender, Not a Pretender. On Sept. 15, the National Snow and Ice Data Center released data suggesting that 2011 was the second lowest Arctic Ocean ice extend year on record since 1979. Without question, diminishing Arctic ice is a reality. The only debate may be how much change is naturally cyclical and how much is anthropogenic. While the data may appear to suggest that maintaining polar icebreaking capabilities is inconsistent with a rapidly waning ice cap, the reality is that as long as the Earth remains tilted 23 and half degrees to the sun, the Arctic polar cap will accrete for half the year, resulting in greater demand for icebreaking services than in any other period in Arctic transportation history. Alaska Dispatch

Arctic Environmental Assessment Too Complex and Uncertain: Reports. More studies have concluded that environmental assessments on Arctic resource developments that northerners depend on to create jobs are slow, confusing and often more stringent than they would be in the south. "Processes are used as an open forum for all issues in the region and reviewers use (them) to forward organizational or individual agendas that may not be related to the specific application," says an environmental audit done for Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development. Canadian Business

Legislative Action

H.R. 3113, to ensure the icebreaking capabilities of the United States. (Young, introduced and referred to committee)

Future Events

Arctic Futures Symposium, October 12-14, 2011. The International Polar Foundation (IPF) and the Fondation Prince Albert II de Monaco will host Arctic Futures 2011. The event is a follow-up to last year's symposium, and will bring together international and interdisciplinary Arctic stakeholders including EU and foreign policymakers, scientists, representatives of industry, indigenous peoples and academics to discuss needs, address challenges, exchange ideas, and network.

From Knowledge to Action, April 22-27, 2012. The conference will bring together over 2,000 Arctic and Antarctic researchers, policy and decision-makers, and a broad range of interested parties from academia, industry, non-government, education and circumpolar communities including indigenous peoples. The conference is hosted by the Canadian IPY Program Office in partnership with the National Research Council of Canada, among other groups. Each day of the conference will feature a program of keynote speakers, plenary panel discussions, parallel science sessions, as well as dedicated poster sessions. The conference-wide plenaries will explore themes related to topics of polar change, global linkages, communities and health, ecosystem services, infrastructure, resources and security. Other sessions will provide the opportunity to present and discuss the application of research findings, policy implications and how to take polar knowledge to action.

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

The Arctic Imperative Summit, July 29-August 1, 2012. The summit will be hosted by Alaska Dispatch and will bring together leading voices in this conversation, including residents from the small villages that comprise Alaska's coastal communities; state, national and international leaders; the heads of shipping and industry; as well as international policymakers and the news media. The goal of the summit is to sharpen the focus on the policy and investment needs of Alaska's Arctic through a series of high-level meetings, presentations, investor roundtables and original research.

15th International Congress on Circumpolar Heath, August 5-10, 2012. This kivalina girl event is sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the American Society for Circumpolar Health, and the International Union for Circumpolar Health. The forum will consider community participatory research and indigenous research; women's health, family health, and well-being; food security and nutrition; social determinants of health; environmental and occupational health; infectious and chronic diseases; climate change-health impacts; health service delivery and infrastructure; and, behavioral health

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.

4350 N. Fairfax Drive, Suite 510

Arlington, VA 22203, USA

(703) 525-0111 (phone)
www.arctic.gov
info@arctic.gov