Arctic research meeting announcement. The U.S. Arctic Research Commission will hold its 98th meeting in Fairbanks, Alaska, on August 9-10, 2012. The business sessions will be open to the public. The most recent draft agenda is available here. See also: Public Inspection Desk (NB: the public session on Aug. 10th begins at noon, not 11:30 am as indicated in the public notice)   

Russia Offers Economic Opportunity. Our respective Senate committees are charged with overseeing the engines of America's unique role in the world: as global trading partner, the leading democracy and a force for international peace. We clearly see how our global economic interests and our foreign policy values are closely tied - which makes a persuasive case for us to seize the opportunity presented by Russia joining the World Trade Organization this summer. For U.S. businesses to take advantage of this opportunity to increase exports and create jobs our economy needs, Congress must establish permanent normal trade relations, or PNTR, with Russia. That is why we introduced a bill last month with our colleagues Sens. John Thune (R-S.D.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) to do just that. Politico

Russia Experiments with Alternative Sources of Power. If it is a success this project could be used to provide electricity to remote areas of Yakutia, a republic in the north-east of Siberia, the Siberian branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences has told ITAR-TASS. The site of the experiment will be an island in the delta of the River Lena where strong winds blow incessantly. The construction of a new research station, the most powerful one in the Russian Arctic, will be completed there in the next two months. Voice of Russia 

Profiteers of Climate Change in the Arctic. Four million people inhabit the Arctic, spread over an area of 21 million square kilometers - about 500 times the size of Switzerland. The region's isolated location and tough climate meant that for a long time it was a blind spot on the map, both politically and economically, known at best for its polar bears and the infamous Soviet penal colonies. But this situation has changed drastically in recent years on account of climate change. In its 2004 'Arctic Climate Impact Assessment', the Arctic Council found for the first time that the Arctic sea ice was melting dramatically. This trend has continued into the present, with researchers measuring the second-lowest level of ice cover since 1979 in September 2011. Climate activists and scientists warn that less ice leads to less reflection of the sun's rays, which heats up the atmosphere even more. In turn, melting land ice accelerates the rise in sea levels. Yet this is a vicious circle that gives rise not only to fears, but also to hope. The United States Geological Survey estimates that 13 percent of all petroleum which can be extracted using conventional means and 30 percent of all natural gas is located in the Arctic, with 84 percent thereof in the sea, i.e. offshore. The increasing pace at which the ice has been melting in recent years will make it possible to access some large oil and gas fields for the first time. At the same time, several states neighboring the Arctic are now more willing to extract fossil fuels, even under difficult conditions in some cases. PhyOrg 

 Coast Guard Moves Two Helicopters to Barrow. The Coast Guard has stationed two helicopters in Barrow in anticipation of increased activity in the Arctic. The Coast Guard says two Kodiak-based MH-60 Jayhawk helicopters were stationed Monday at a seasonal forward operating location in Barrow. Support air, ground and communication crews also are in Barrow. Rear Adm. Thomas Ostebo says in a statement that the Barrow location allows the Coast Guard to react more quickly to an emergency in the Arctic because the closest base is 900 miles away, in Kodiak. Anchorage Daily News