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Today's Events
The House will consider the FY 2013 foreign relations authorization. The Senate will continue work on campaign fiancé disclosure legislation. |
Media
Science and Technology Conference. The presentations from the 2012 USEUCOM and USAFRICOM Science and Technology Conference are now available online. Several of the presentations include: CDR Curtiss C. Potter, USCG Liaison, ECJ5-S, presentation on "US European Command: Arctic Strategy;" Captain (N) Timo Junttila, Finnish Defense Forces, presentation on "Finland's Arctic Policy, Strategy & Activities;" Mr. John Farrell, Executive Director, U.S. Arctic Research Commission (USARC), presentation on "US Arctic Policy, Research & Collaboration;" Dr. Jon Zufelt, U.S. Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering Lab (CRREL), presentation on "Technologies for Arctic Activities: CRREL Contributions;" etc. The Patuxent Partnership
 Law of the Sea Treaty Sinks in Senate. It appears the Law of the Sea treaty is dead in the water - at least in this Congress. Two Republican senators declared their opposition on Monday to the international agreement, bringing the total number of Senate opponents to 34 - enough to sink the measure. A two-thirds majority of 67 votes was required for ratification. Sens. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) and Rob Portman (R-Ohio) pushed the opposition movement over the top, citing concerns about U.S. sovereignty. In a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (R-Nev.), the two Armed Services Committee members declared: "No international organization owns the seas." Politico
 Alaska Coast Guard Opens Arctic Base of Operations. FOL Barrow is part of Arctic Shield 2012, which focuses on operations, outreach and an assessment of the Coast Guard's capabilities above the Arctic Circle. The FOL in Barrow consists of two Kodiak-based MH-60 Jayhawk helicopters with supporting air, ground and communications crews. "The Coast Guard crews will provide a vital forward deployed presence in the Arctic during the summer operational period," said Rear Adm. Thomas Ostebo, Coast Guard 17th District commander. "Air Station Kodiak is more than 900 miles away from Barrow; having the FOL in place significantly increases our readiness and allows us to respond quicker to an emergency." Alaska Native News
People on the Move. Thomas D. Thompson has been hired as director of the Indian Affairs office of budget management at the Interior Department. Thompson was a senior adviser at Arizona's Indian Health Service. He also has served as superintendent of the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Montana. He was finance director at the national center for toxicological research at the Agriculture Department. He also was financial controller, executive director of tribal operations and CEO of gaming operations and secretary and treasurer for the Cherokee Nation. Congressional Quarterly
Glacier Break Creates Ice Island Twice Size of Manhattan. An ice island twice the size of Manhattan has broken off from Greenland's Petermann Glacier, according to researchers at the University of Delaware and the Canadian Ice Service. The Petermann Glacier is one of the two largest glaciers left in Greenland connecting the great Greenland ice sheet with the ocean via a floating ice shelf. Science Daily
 Northern Hemisphere Warmest on Record, Arctic Ice Has Biggest Melt in June. Globally, June was 4th warmest on record, NOAA announced today. And over the Northern Hemisphere, for the second consecutive month, temperatures were as warm as they've been in 133 years of records. Notably, the Arctic experienced its largest June sea ice loss since the start of satellite records in 1979. It was the 36th consecutive June and 328th consecutive month with temperatures warmer than the 20th century average, NOAA said. Across the globe, land areas were relatively warm compared to the oceans - in the midst of a transition from their cool (La Nina) to warm (El Nino) phase. The Washington Post
 NOAA, Partners, Meet to Explore Climate Change and Coastal Tribes. How climate change affects U.S. indigenous coastal cultures is the focus of the First Stewards symposium starting today at the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C. The coastal treaty tribes of Washington state - the Hoh, Makah, Quileute tribes and the Quinault Indian Nation - are hosting the event and collaborating with NOAA and other partners. Native leaders, including American Indians, Alaska Natives and Pacific Islanders, will join climate scientists, policy-makers, and representatives of non-government organizations to discuss ways indigenous peoples and cultures may be able to increase their ability to adapt to predicted climate change. Participants also will discuss how to include indigenous traditional knowledge in U.S. climate change science, education, and governance. National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration: National Marine Sanctuaries
Delegation Announces Grants and Contracts to Alaska Programs. Grants included:
- $129,000 to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game to develop an estimate of the subsistence harvest of halibut in Alaska for 2012, primarily through a mailed survey and supplemented by interviews. (NOAA)
- $338,885 to the University of Alaska Fairbanks for focused studies on the synthesis, modeling, and publication of results gathered and previous 10 years' studies of the seasonal distribution, residency, and foraging patterns of marine mammals in waters of the Kodiak Archipelago (NOAA) Alaska Delegation
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Legislative Action
No Arctic legislation was formally considered yesterday. |
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Future Events
 15th International Congress on Circumpolar Health, August 5-10, 2012. This 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.
98th meeting of the US Arctic Research Commission, August 9-10, 2012. Fairbanks, AK. For more information, go to USARC 98th Meeting Draft Agenda
Week of the Arctic, August 13-18, 2012. The Arctic is front and center in peoples' minds. Increased maritime traffic and new opportunities for development have brought about more reasons to understand and work toward safe and secure operations both on land and off Alaska's coast. To help Alaskans understand these critical challenges and issues at stake in the Arctic, the Institute convened the first Week of the Arctic last year, drawing over 550 participants to five events in four days. The 2012 Week of the Arctic will take place August 13-18 in Anchorage, Alaska. Week of the Arctic events will include:
The Week of the Arctic's signature event is the annual Robert O. Anderson Sustainable Arctic Award Dinner on Friday, August 17th. This year we'll be recognizing Red Dog Mine for their sustainable development in the North.
2nd Cargo Airships of Northern Operations Workshop, August 22-24, 2012. Researchers from NASA Ames Research Center will provide insights into the new technologies that form the solid engineering basis for modern cargo airship systems. Speakers from the mining, oil, and gas industries will describe their transportation challenges and how they plan to exploit cargo airships in support of their businesses. Local Alaskan air freight firms will discuss how cargo airships can complement existing air transport fleets by providing additional capability and expanding air shipping services. The world's leading developers of airships will provide design and operational details on new cargo airships they're currently developing and preparing to deploy for commercial service. Representatives from the financial community will present the many options available for what has often been the missing element of airship development and operations, funding. The website will soon be updated.
 The Arctic Imperative Summit, August 24-27, 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.
 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.
Responses of Arctic Marine Ecosystems to Climate Change, March 26-29, 2013. This symposium seeks to advance our understanding of responses of arctic marine ecosystems to climate change at all trophic levels, by documenting and forecasting changes in environmental processes and species responses to those changes. Presentations will focus on collaborative approaches to understanding and managing living marine resources in a changing Arctic, and to managing human responses to changing arctic marine ecosystems. Hosted by Alaska Sea Grant and sponsors. |
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