5.8 Quake Hits Southcentral [Alaska]. A moderate earthquake shook Southcentral Alaska Monday afternoon. At 5.8 on the Richter scale -- revised upward from an initial magnitude of 5.7 -- it was strong enough to knock objects from shelves, but no serious damage was reported, said Guy Urban, senior watchstander at the Tsunami Warning Center in Palmer. The quake struck at 4:42 p.m. The Tsunami Warning Center said the quake occurred at a depth of 33 1/2 miles and was located 25 miles west of Anchorage and 55 miles southwest of Palmer. It was widely felt across the region. Anchorage Daily News 

Iceland Issues Offshore Licenses. Iceland's government has provisionally awarded Faroe Petroleum operatorship of offshore exploration licenses under the country's second licensing round. These are in the Dreiki area, and comprise seven blocks south of the Jan Mayen ridge offshore northeast Iceland, within the Arctic Circle. The Jan Mayen microcontinent is between the conjugate margins of East Greenland and the Norwegian continental shelf. Offshore Oil and Gas Magazine

Want to Slow the Arctic's Collapse? Stop flying over the North Pole. As the world keeps warming up, sea ice in the Arctic has been disintegrating rapidly. We've reached the point where scientists are now mostly just debating whether it will take a few years or a few decades before we start seeing ice-free summers up north. So is that it? Is the Arctic doomed? Perhaps not just yet. A new study suggests one way that humans could slow the melting of the sea ice - by preventing international flights from crossing over the Arctic circle. These cross-polar flights are a surprisingly large source of black carbon pollution in the region. And if those planes diverted course, that could help fend off the day when the Arctic sea-ice collapses for good. Washington Post

Uncovering the Secrets of Greenland's Ice. For hundreds of years the Arctic has fascinated explorers and scientists who wonder what treasures may lie under the massive ice plains that occupy much of the territory here. Adventurers from across the globe have been coming to Greenland for years to try and uncover what secrets lay beneath the massive ice shield here, which is more than twice the size of the U.S. state of Texas. It turns out that many of the riches are not hidden under the frozen and compressed snow layers, but right in them. CNN

Detecting the Dangers of Greenland's Giant Icebergs. Every year, we hear stories of global warming advancing and the effects that has on the earth's climate patterns. One phenomenon that is often used to illustrate ice melt in the Arctic is giant icebergs, often the size of whole towns or even small countries, breaking off the ice shield and drifting south. In reality, icebergs constantly break off both the arctic ice shield and Greenland's inland glaciers, a process that scientists call calving. CNN

Battle for Arctic Key for Russia's Sovereignty-Rogozin. Russia may lose its sovereignty in about 40 years if it fails to clearly set out its national interests in the Arctic, believes the country's Vice Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin. "It's crucially important for us to set goals for our national interests in this region. If we don't do that, we will lose the battle for resources which means we'll also lose in a big battle for the right to have sovereignty and independence," Rogozin stated at the Marine Board meeting in Moscow. RT

Russian Oil Industry at Crossroads as Infrastructure Ages. The Russian oil industry is at a crossroads. In the aftermath of the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russian oil output plummeted from an all-time high of 11.4 million barrels a day in 1987 to a low of 6 million barrels a day in 1996. But with the start of the new century, a stunning rebound began. And in the past few years, output has returned to a level close to its Soviet-era peak. New York Times

Canada to Protect Its Policies. Canada will use its two years as leader of the circumpolar world to promote development and defend its policies, suggest federal politicians and documents. But Arctic experts and those involved with the Arctic Council worry that's the wrong approach at a time when the diplomatic body is dealing with crucial international issues from climate change to a treaty on oil spill prevention. Regina Leader-Post

Alaskan Black Guillemots Fight Ice Retreat. The Cooper Island birds feed their young on cod that hug the underside and edges of the polar pack ice. But their access to this prey source is being limited by the big retreat in seasonal ice cover now under way. How the guillemots respond will turn a lens on the wider changes taking place in Arctic ecosystems, biologists say. BBC News

Ottawa Approved Nunavut Iron Project. The federal government has approved construction of the massive Mary River iron ore project in Nunavut, a move that could jump-start development of the Canadian Arctic. Once built, Mary River could triple the territory's annual economic growth rate and provide nearly $5-billion in taxes and royalties to the territory over its 21-year life. The Globe and Mail