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June 1, 2012
 

Today's Eventstodaysevents 

  

The House will consider FY 2013 Energy-Water appropriations. Consideration of the bill is expected to last into next week. The Senate is in recess.

 

Arctic Policy Commission Needs Public Members: Deadline TODAY. This session the legislature created a 20 member Alaska Arctic Policy Commission. Over the course of two years, the Alaska Policy Commission will hold meetings in Arctic areas of the state as well as Anchorage, Fairbanks and Juneau. The Commission is tasked with providing preliminary recommendations on an Alaska's Arctic policy by January 30, 2014 and delivering a final Arctic Policy by January 30, 2015. Applications to be a commissioner are due TODAY at noon.

 

Number of subscribers to "Daily Arctic Update" hits 700. Thanks for your interest! 

 

 

 

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USSR's Arctic Reign Began 75 Years Ago. There are many glorious pages in the history of the discovery and study of the Russian Arctic. But there is a special chapter that started the heroic polar development. 75 years ago, on May 21, 1937, polar air expedition of the USSR reached the North Pole and landed research station "North Pole-1" on drifting ice for the long nine months. This expedition began systematic exploration of the Arctic basin, making navigation through the Northern Sea Route regular. Its members were to gather data on atmospheric phenomena, meteorology, geophysics, and hydrobiology. The research was led by Ivan D. Papanin, his coworkers were a hydrologist Peter Shirshov, geophysicist and astronomer Eugene Fedorov, and radio operator Ernst Krenkel. The expedition was led by Otto Schmidt. Mikhail Vodopyanov, a hero of the Soviet Union, was the pilot of the flagship N-170 aircraft. Pravda 

  

Greenland's Loss of Ice Mass During the Last 10 Years is Unusually High Compared to Last 50 Years. Loss through melting and iceberg calving during the last 10 years is unusually high compared to the last 50 years. The Greenland ice sheet continues to lose mass and thus contributes at about 0.7 millimeters per year to the currently observed sea level change of about 3 mm per year. This trend increases each year by a further 0.07 millimeters per year. The pattern and temporal nature of loss is complex. The mass loss is largest in southwest and northwest Greenland; the respective contributions of melting, iceberg calving and fluctuations in snow accumulation differing considerably. Science Daily 

 

hillary clintonClinton Lands Amid Protocol Conflict. US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton landed in Oslo Thursday night and planned to stay into the weekend with a trip up to northern Norway, escorted by Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre. The ministry itself was left denying that Clinton's visit didn't involve a snub to officials in the northern city of Tromsø. Foreign ministry officials announced late last week that Clinton would arrive May 31 and stay in Norway until June 2. They later claimed that US authorities didn't confirm Clinton's visit until last Friday. She was spending most of this Friday morning, June 1, in meetings with both Støre and Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg. Clinton was also to meet King Harald V at the Royal Palace in Oslo in the mid-afternoon. News and Views from Norway 

 

BSEEBSEE Oversees Arctic Spill Response Exercise. Officials from the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) recently participated in an all-day table top exercise designed to simulate the response to a well blowout in the Chukchi Sea. The exercise, planned over the past several months, included representatives from the US Coast Guard, US Environmental Protection Agency, Fish and Wildlife Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, State of Alaska and the North Slope Borough, as well as officials from Shell. Offshore Shipping Online 

 

canadian flagCanada's Security Agenda. With their shared border, strong trade relationship and participation in NATO, the United States and Canada have long had a close security relationship. As the two countries work to secure their borders, they need to ensure that trade isn't hampered, says Canadian Rear Adm. David Gardam, who participated with the Canadian Navy in the 2012 U.S. Fleet Week, which commemorates the bicentennial of the War of 1812. Gardam says that the transition in Afghanistan, where Canada has committed "blood and treasure," is proceeding as expected. He notes that "per capita, Canada has lost more soldiers, sailors, and airmen than any other nation in that fight," and says that Canada will continue to help foster the conditions for a successful transition. Though Canada is in the midst of a major naval upgrade, Gardam--noting the increasing number of failed states, many of which are coastal--says Western navies are downsizing, which creates the need for greater coordination among countries for security. Council on Foreign Relations 

 

Canada- More of the Great White North Up for Energy Development? Quick - which is the U.S.'s biggest supply of non-OPEC oil? Canada - according to the U.S. Energy Administration. The United States' total crude oil imports now average 9.033 million barrels per day (mbpd), with Canada sending 2.666 mbpd southward to the U.S., making it America's top source of oil imports. CNBC 

 

Safety Officials to Investigate Gas Leak at North Sea Platform. The cause of a large gas leak on a Heimdal Field platform is to be investigated by Norway's Petroleum Safety Authority. The PSA has decided to conduct an investigation due to, among other factors, the significant potential of the incident. The leak occurred in connection with valve testing on the drilling, production and accommodation facility HMP1 on the Heimdal field. It has not yet been determined how much gas leaked out, but the gas leak was substantial and resulted in a serious situation on the facility. Marine Link

Legislative Actionfutureevents  

 

No Arctic legislation was formally considered yesterday.

Future Events               

          

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. Click here.  

 

The Institute of the North hosts Arctic-related events. For details, go here. Three upcoming events, all in Anchorage, AK are: (a) Commercial Applications of Northern Airships, July 31-Aug 2, Federal Research: Priorities and Processes, August 13, and Northern Energy Technology and Science Fair, August 15.

 

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 healthmeetinglogoindigenous 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. Click here.

 

98th meeting of the US Arctic Research Commission. Aug. 9-10. Fairbanks, AK. More info coming soon. 

  

The Arctic Imperative Summit, August 24-28, 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. Click here

   

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 inuitconferencelogomuseums 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.   

 

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