This study (sponsored by federal agencies including the USARC) is designed to provide guidance on future research questions in the Arctic over the next 10-20 years, identify the key scientific questions that are emerging in different realms of Arctic science and exploring both disciplinary realms (e.g., marine, terrestrial, atmosphere, cryosphere, and social sciences) and cross cutting realms (e.g., integrated systems science and sustainability science). The study will also help identify research infrastructure needs (e.g., observation networks, computing and data management, ship requirements, shore facilities, etc.) and collaboration opportunities. 

 

Arctic Sea Ice Shatters Previous Low Records; Antarctic Sea Ice Edges to Record High. This September, sea ice covering the Arctic Ocean fell to the lowest extent in the satellite record, which began in 1979. Satellite data analyzed by NSIDC scientists showed that the sea ice cover reached its lowest extent on September 16. Sea ice extent averaged for the month of September was also the lowest in the satellite record. Science Daily

 

Canada-Russia Ties Warm in Arctic: Rescue helps to smooth waters. About 20 Russian scientists on a floating research station that drifted to less than 100 kilometres from islands in Canada's Arctic archipelago were retrieved last month by a Russian nuclear-powered icebreaker, according to Russians familiar with the mission. "NP 39 (the station) spent more than three months in the Canadian (sovereign economic) zone," before the scientists were taken off the platform, Alexander Danilov, deputy director of Russia's Institute of Arctic and Antarctic Research, said about Russian projects in the High Arctic, where there are overlapping territorial claims by Russia, Canada, Denmark (for Greenland) and the United States. Windsor Star

 

Canadian Company Pitches $600M Fiber Optic Cable Project: Project would also cut transmission time between Asia and Europe. An Ontario company has applied for permits that would allow a fiber optic cable through the Northwest Passage to bring vastly improved data service to much of the North. Arctic Fiber has asked Industry Canada for submarine cable landing licenses that would serve seven communities in Nunavut and just over half the territory's population. The plans are part of a $600-million proposal to stretch a cable from Japan through to Newfoundland, where it would connect to the northeastern United States. CBC News

 

Russian Arctic Ocean Patrol: Mission complete. Two Tupolev TU-95 MS have practiced featureless terrain navigation and mid-air refueling. The official stated that the patrol fully conformed to the international air traffic regulations over international waters and didn't violate other countries' borders. Voice of Russia

 

EU Calls Global Attention to Arctic. While national policies drive arctic decision-making, more shipping and energy development there requires global attention, an EU leader said from Brussels. Warmer temperatures are leaving parts of the arctic ice-free for longer periods during the year. This has exposed vast unexplored areas through to hold oil and natural gas reserves and is opening shipping lanes north of Russia. Maria Damanaki, European commissioner for maritime affairs and fisheries, speaking at an EU conference on arctic policy, said oil and natural gas reserves in the arctic could help meet the world's appetite for energy resources. UPI

 

Analysis: The Arctic Council, lead sled dog of the High North. A 16-year-old squadron of eight nations in a brand new, minuscule headquarters in a remote city well north of the Arctic Circle is becoming an exemplar of how groups of countries can relate and interrelate over issues of territory, security and resources. The Arctic Council comprised of Russia, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Greenland, Canada and the US was established in 1996 and, to date, has been populated more by scientists and scholars than by statesmen. Now like a very good dog sled leader, the Council is breaking new trails for the Arctic and the High North. The representative countries operate by consensus regarding the primary opportunities and pitfalls of the harsh-weathered circumpolar Arctic, its resources, and its inhabitants. Global Post

 

US Far Behind in Race for Arctic Assets. There is a battle at the top of the world for oil and minerals, and many observers of this competition in the Arctic believe the United States is lagging far behind. "In some ways, we're not even in the race," said Alaska's Lt. Governor Mead Treadwell.  "If we're not there, it is up to the Russians and the Canadians to set the rules. If we're not more aggressive in the Arctic, we're missing the boat," he added in an interview with Global Post. At stake are what economists predict could be trillions of dollars in profit in the coming decades, not only for the oil companies but also in the form of revenue for the state and the small villages and towns of native populations that stand to benefit. And, as Treadwell points out, there lots of jobs in Alaska and elsewhere that come with those profits as well. Global Post

 

Norway: "EU Has No Jurisdiction in the Arctic." Oslo brushes aside the European Parliament's Environmental Committee's vote to enter a moratorium on Arctic oil drilling. Petroleum Minister Ola Borten Moe sees no reason to stop now, pointing to the fact that "Norway's boundaries end almost right up at the North Pole."Deputy Oil and Energy Minister Per Rune Henriksen says to the newswire NTB: " The EU has no jurisdiction in the Arctic, no member country has a Continental Shelf in the Arctic." In another interview on the issue with Nationen, quoted by the Foreigner, the Deputy Minister says: "The EU is free to argue what it wants, but this would almost be like us commenting on a camel operations in the Sahara, which we do not have anything to do with." Oil and Gas Eurasia

 

Arctic Alaska: Scientists Seeing Fewer Sick Seals, Walrus, Polar Bears. The mysteries behind what made Alaska seals and walrus sick last year and caused bald spots on polar bears this spring largely remain unanswered. For all of its advances, science isn't a silver bullet in this human quest for knowledge. Hunters in Alaska's Arctic want assurances that the animals they harvest are safe to handle and eat. And they are not alone. The collective stewards of Alaska marine life -- hunters, state and federal managers, academics and researchers -- want to know why the animals got sick. The illness struck seals in 2011, causing hair loss, oozing lesions, lethargy, organ problems and, in some cases, death. It showed up in high enough numbers across Alaska's Arctic coastline that that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) declared it an UME, or "Unusual Mortality Event" late last year. Alaska Dispatch

 

Pentagon Study Cites Climate Change as National Security Threat. Even before recent predictions that Arctic sea ice would melt by the summer of 2016 in a "final collapse," setting off a "global disaster," the Pentagon and the Center for Naval Analyses's (CNA) Military Advisory Board had already gone on record warning about the impacts of climate change as a threat to national security. To better understand the impact of global water challenges on U.S. national security interests, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton requested the intelligence community to produce a National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) which resulted in an unclassified Intelligence Community Assessment (ICA) prepared by the National Intelligence Council (NIC). Huffington Post