Work Unfinished Before Recess. As Congress returns home to campaign ahead of the November elections, they leave behind a raft of unfinished business that is likely to be revisited in the lame-duck session, including a defense authorization bill, a farm bill and domestic abuse legislation. Democrats, who hold the majority in the Senate with 53 votes, contend that these measures remain uncompleted because Senate Republicans have blocked their legislative plans in a strategy to create a dysfunctional Senate, for which they hope to score political points on which to campaign and win back the majority. "I am disappointed that this session of Congress has been so unproductive, but I know the reason why," Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said on the floor Friday. "It isn't for a lack of effort." Roll Call

Damaged Container Dome Makes Shell Limit Chukchi Sea Drilling. Shell Offshore Co. limited its Chukchi Sea activity after its spill containment dome was damaged during a final test on Sept. 14, Royal Dutch Shell PLC reported. It said its subsidiary will not penetrate hydrocarbon-bearing zones for the rest of the 2012 Arctic drilling season, but drill top holes instead. Shell emphasized that the accident occurred following several successful tests of its Arctic containment system. "It is clear that some days will be required to repair and fully assess dome readiness," it said Sept. 17 in a statement. "We are disappointed that the dome has not yet met our stringent acceptance standards, but, as we have said all along, we will not conduct any operation until we are satisfied that we are fully prepared to do it safely," the company said. Oil and Gas Journal  

New Research Links ADHD Diagnosis With Childhood Mercury, Lead Exposure. Canada's Inuit population in Quebec has among the highest levels of exposure to mercury and lead as any population around the world. Scientists have been studying their children since this became known and recently concluded that children with higher levels of contamination are more likely to be diagnosed with ADHD. About one in every ten children in the United States has been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, perhaps better known simply as ADHD. Over the last decade, prescriptions issued for attention deficit medications have increased nearly 50 percent. But now scientists at Laval University in Quebec say certain environmental pollutants may be to blame for increases in the incidence of attention problems. In a study just published in Environmental Health Perspectives Dr. Gina Muckle and her colleagues found an association between ADHD in children and exposure to mercury and lead. Public Radio International

Bowhead's Southern Adventure Intrigues Biologists: "Climate change would result in animals searching around a little more wildly." Why did the bowhead whale go to the city of Boston on the northeastern coast of the United States? That's just what scientists are still trying to figure out. Last winter, for the first time in recorded history, a bowhead whale was spotted with a group of right whales off the coast of Cape Cod in Massachusetts. "It was extraordinary and mind-blowing because no bowhead has been recorded at this low of a latitude in the Atlantic," said Dr. Charles "Stormy" Mayo, a senior scientist at the Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies, on Cape Cod. Nunatsiaq Online

Begich Introduces Revised Arctic Science Bill. U.S. Senator Mark Begich introduced a revised Arctic science bill Friday to address the nation's need for increased Arctic research. As the Arctic sees an expanded presence of industry activity like oil and gas exploration, marine shipping, and tourism and at the same time undergoes environmental changes, more must be understood about the region. Begich's bill, the Arctic Research, Monitoring and Observing Act of 2012, amends a previous bill he introduced on the subject by providing a stable revenue stream to pay for it by tapping an existing fund source intended for this purpose. "There is a greater demand to better understand the Arctic ecosystem as we enter the twenty-first century. As we see increased traffic in our northern waters and shores, we also see our polar ice caps melting, with a new all-time low in Arctic sea ice this year" said Begich. "This bill helps us better understand potential threats to marine mammals and other wildlife, impacts on subsistence resources, and spill prevention and response. The legislation will further fund this needed research using the expertise of the existing Arctic Research Commission and an established, but mostly untapped, endowment for the work." Alaska Native News 

Expedition to Study Methane Gas Bubbling Out of Arctic Seafloor. In the remote, ice-shrouded Beaufort Sea, methane (the main component of natural gas) has been bubbling out of the seafloor for thousands of years. MBARI geologist Charlie Paull and his colleagues at the Geological Survey of Canada are trying to figure out where this gas is coming from, how fast it is bubbling out of the sediments, and how it affects the shape and stability of the seafloor. Although Paull has been studying this phenomenon for a decade, his research has taken on new urgency in recent years, as the area is being eyed for oil and gas exploration. Phys.Org 

Arctic Undersea Cable Could End Nunavut's Dependence on Satellites: "We don't need any government subsidy." As Telesat Canada conducts a marketing blitz in Iqaluit this week to tout its fleet of satellites, an Ontario-based firm called Arctic Fibre Inc. is beavering away at a big, bold plan that could one day eliminate northern Canada's nearly total dependence on expensive satellite bandwidth for internet, voice telephone, television and other services. "We don't need any government subsidy. What we ask of the governments at the federal, territorial and local level is just to transition to fibre from satellite over time," Doug Cunningham, Arctic Fibre's president, told an audience at Iqaluit's Hotel Arctic this past June 25. Nunatsiaq Online

Climate Change Creates New Opportunities, Risks in Russia's North: Retreating Ice Spurs Russia to Drill for Oil and Gas in the Arctic Ocean. As climate change alters the Arctic landscape, shrinking the ice cover on sea and land, it opens up more of the region to resource exploitation. On Sept. 16, the ice cover in the Arctic Ocean reached the record for the smallest area since satellite tracking began. For decades, Russia has been the pioneer in Arctic development, and it continues to forge ahead. Some of the consequences of that development can be gleaned from a Russian government report that outlines its program for protecting the Russian Arctic Environment. CBC News

Sovereignty Disputes Intensify as Arctic Sea Ice Recedes. With rapidly shrinking Arctic ice and expanding interest in northern shipping and resource exploitation, issues of sovereignty loom ever larger over the northern landscape. The Arctic region is incredibly vast. While land boundaries between the Arctic nations are, for the most part, clearly established, ownership of more than 14 million square kilometers of Arctic Ocean -- an area equal to the size of Russia -- is not quite as clear. But one thing is certain. As Arctic ice disappears - a factor that is also at play in this summer's search for the lost ships of Sir John Franklin's 1845 mission - the world focus on the region's resources intensifies, and the question of who owns the Arctic becomes much more than an academic discussion. Alaska Dispatch