With Warming, Peril Underlies Road to Alaska. In February 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt gave the Army Corps of Engineers an assignment: Build a road from British Columbia across the Yukon to Alaska - in eight months, before winter sets in. Japan had just destroyed much of the Pacific fleet at Pearl Harbor. Alaska was vulnerable to invasion (in fact, the Japanese occupied two Aleutian Islands that June). If Americans did not build a supply road linking Alaska to the heart of North America, the thinking went, invading Japanese would do it for them. But prospects for success were poor. The road would traverse 1,500 miles of mountainous subarctic terrain, most of it unsettled, heavily forested and unmapped. Engineers would face fierce cold, fierce heat, vicious insects, and vast stretches of permafrost and boggy terrain called muskeg that swallowed bulldozers whole. New York Times

Ice Damages Hull of Sealift Ship Near Iqaliut: Two other cargo ships struck at mouth of Frobisher Bay. Ice buildup in parts of the Eastern Arctic are causing sealifts to delay unloading their cargo, meaning people and companies expecting cargo by ship will have to wait a bit longer. According to officials with Desgagnés Transarctik, two cargo ships are stuck at the mouth of Frobisher Bay, near Iqaluit, and even with the help of Coast Guard icebreakers they can't get through. One ship that made it through recently, the Zelada Desgagnés, suffered significant damage to its hull. It has been anchored in Iqaluit's harbour, and will need an escort back to Montreal when the ice allows it. CBC News 

A Russia Lake Helped Scientists Reveal the Reasons of Climate Change. Studies of sediments from the bottom of Lake Elgygytgyn in Chukotka, conducted by an international team of researchers, have revealed two "super" interglacial warming periods that took place above the Arctic Circle. The scientists also discovered a clear interaction between the Arctic weather and melting of the ice in Antarctica. The researchers adopted a shorter name for the lake, "Lake E." It is a deep, circular bowl, surrounded by a ring of low hills. The lake developed at the site of what scientists say is most likely the impact crater from a large meteor strike over 2.8 million years ago. The meteorite fell in a convenient location for scientists, because it is one of the few places in the Arctic that is not glacier, so the lake-bottom sediments have accumulated, undisturbed. By drilling into the lake bottom and studying the cores, scientists reached thirty times deeper into the past than they could with ice cores from Greenland, which can reveal approximately the past 110,000 years. Russia: Beyond the Headlines

Barents Sea Rock Atlas Aids Arctic Energy Exploration. RSI recently completed several late sales of its 79-well Barents Sea Rock Physics Study and Atlas of Seismic Expression; in total 17 companies have now licensed this product. The total value of the Barents Sea late sales and Mid-Norway exceeds $900,000. RSI CEO Richard Cooper stated, "It is clear that the recent high impact discoveries made by Statoil and partners at Skrugard and Havis have reinvigorated interest in the Barents Sea. With more than 70 blocks available as part of the 22nd licensing round in the Barents Sea, we are delighted that many E&P companies view our comprehensive rock physics study as a key tool for assessing the prospectivity of the region. In addition, significant interest has been shown in our recent proposal to launch a research project that investigates the causes and effects of electrical anisotropy and its impact on controlled source electromagnetic (CSEM) data." MarineLink MarineLink

Are Alaska Regulators Ready to Respond to an Arctic Oil Spill? From the hallways of Congress to Alaska's northern shores, the hype over offshore oil development in the U.S. Arctic continues as Royal Dutch Shell awaits federal permission to launch the first exploratory drilling there in more than a decade. Shell's summer plans to tap five exploratory wells remain delayed as the EPA, the U.S. Coast Guard and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar review permits and other aspects of the project. On Wednesday, Dow Jones cited unnamed sources to report that Shell officials approached the Obama Administration about extending the company's summer drilling window in the Arctic, a period that shrinks daily in part because sea ice has been unusually slow to leave the region. Shell spokesman Curtis Smith said in an email Wednesday that Shell officials made no such request. Alaska Dispatch 

Circumpolar Leaders to Gather at 2nd Arctic Imperative Summit. A thought-provoking mix of Alaska, U.S. and international luminaries will have the opportunity to meet face-to-face with Alaskans at the second annual Arctic Imperative Summit. This intimate gathering of industry, investment, government and Arctic community leaders convenes August 24-27, 2012, in Anchorage and Girdwood, Alaska. The Summit aims to sharpen the world's focus on the Arctic by providing a cross-disciplinary forum to discuss history that hasn't been written yet. Presenting a broad selection of topics and challenges, the Summit is a unique opportunity for Alaskans to engage with Arctic world leaders in their home state and discuss Arctic development. Although such development is inevitable, there is an opportunity to shape it responsibly. Through conversation and engagement with the world's Arctic leaders, Alaskans will be in a stronger position to determine how future development decisions will be made. Alaska Dispatch 

Law of the Sea Treaty Heads Arctic Challenges for US. The melting polar ice cap is presenting both opportunities and challenges for the United States and other Arctic nations, as well as other nations with interests in the region. Arctic ice cover has declined consistently over the past few decades.  Increased accessibility, dubbed an "emerging maritime frontier" by U.S. Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Robert J. Papp, Jr., presents a host of opportunities for oil and gas development, fishing, tourism, and transportation.  It also creates myriad challenges related to Arctic governance, marine safety, indigenous populations, scientific research, and environmental stewardship. This article reviews the state of play regarding claims to the Arctic and the U.S. Coast Guard's efforts to develop a strategy to meet its increasing responsibilities in the Arctic. MarineLink