NOAA grant will aid in species recovery. "The Alaska Department of Fish and Game has been awarded more than $1.3 million in federal funds to aid recovery of endangered western Steller sea lions listed under the Endangered Species Act. ADF&G will receive a total of $1,385,410, of which $527,810 is allocated for this fiscal year... ADF&G was among 10 coastal states and two federally recognized tribes awarded grants by the National Marine Fisheries Service for conservation projects designed to recover marine mammals, sea turtles and fish species listed under the Endangered Species Act." Cordova Times 

Opinion: Global warming, Arctic ice loss, and armchair scientists. "As humans put more and more heat-trapping gases into the atmosphere, the Earth's climate changes; we all know that. Some of the trickier questions are, how fast is it changing, what can we expect in the future, what are the costs of slowing emissions (compared to the costs of doing nothing), and what changes are we already observing that give us such confidence in our predictions? Perhaps the poster child of climate change is in the Arctic, where sea ice has been declining at an astonishing rate. Over the past few decades, satellite information has been gathered which shows huge declines in ice extent (the area covered by ice)." The Guardian 

Arctic sea ice loss dramatically slows; record minimum unlikely in 2013. "Since shrinking at a torrid pace in the first half of July, the Arctic sea ice meltdown has slowed markedly. 'I've seen slowdowns before, but this is out of this world,' writes the Arctic Sea Ice blog. The blog notes Arctic sea ice actually expanded by 20,000 square kilometers for 10 days at the end of July. 'That's so crazy for this phase of the melting season that I barely have words for it,' the blog says. 'It's unique as far as the record goes.'" Washington Post 

Heat flow from Earth's mantle contributes to Greenland ice melting. "The Greenland ice sheet is melting from below, caused by a high heat flow from the mantle into the lithosphere. This influence is very variable spatially and has its origin in an exceptionally thin lithosphere. Consequently, there is an increased heat flow from the mantle and a complex interplay between this geothermal heating and the Greenland ice sheet. The international research initiative IceGeoHeat led by the GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences establishes in the current online issue of Nature Geoscience (Vol 6, August 11, 2013) that this effect cannot be neglected when modeling the ice sheet as part of a climate study." Phys.org 

Canadian Arctic - New fractures in centuries-old ice shelf. "The last fully intact ice shelf on northern Ellesmere Island in Canada's Arctic may soon be slipping away. Ice shelves found in the island's North are formed from sea ice and glacier ice and measure some 100 metres thick. While other ice shelves nearby have long since broken up, the Milne ice shelf remained intact blocking the mouth of the Milne Fjord. But this year, scientists have noticed fractures to the Milne ice shelf that indicate it may be reaching the end of its life cycle." Eye on the Arctic 

Chinese cargo ship sets sail for Arctic short-cut. "A Chinese cargo ship is attempting the country's first ever commercial transit of the Northeast Passage above Russia, as global warming opens a short-cut that promises to reduce shipping times between China and Europe. The Yong Sheng, a 19,000-ton vessel operated by state-owned Cosco Group, set sail on August 8 from Dalian, a port in northeastern China, bound for Rotterdam. According to an announcement on Cosco's website, the journey via the Bering Strait could shave as much as 15 days off the traditional route through the Suez Canal and Mediterranean Sea." CNBC (For further information, please see articles from the China Daily and Siberian Times.)

The (Russian) Arctic is open for business. "In the 1990 thriller The Hunt for Red October, the rogue captain of a Soviet submarine evades the U.S. and Soviet navies by threading his way through a narrow - but precisely charted - mid-ocean trench. In real life, the Soviet navy's charting efforts extended to the heart of the Canadian Arctic. Soviet-era charts, available today, show more depth soundings in the Northwest Passage than Canada's most recent charts do." The Globe and Mail 

Oil hunger not reason for Barents treaty. "Delimitation agreement with Norway was part of a broader Russian strategy to secure stability in the Arctic, argues researcher Arild Moe as the Nansen Expedition sails through the waters in question." Barents Observer 

A voyage of marine discovery: Young scientists exploring the Arctic. "In 2011, a new and exciting educational project called the Arctic Floating University was founded - an innovative endeavor that allows young Arctic researchers to gain knowledge sailing the northern seas. The concept began in Archangelsk and is now attracting interest from Norway, Finland, Sweden, the United States, Canada and Germany. RBTH took a trip to Archangelsk and met with the third expedition of the Floating University." Russia Beyond the Headlines 

Catching Copepods: Charismatic Microfauna of the Arctic. "Planktonic crustaceans are not charismatic megafauna. Polar bears and walruses, up here in the Russian Arctic, get all the glory. But the little scuttering beasties known as copepods play a hugely important role within the Arctic marine ecosystem, filling a transformational niche near the base of the food web, turning single-cell marine algae and microbial prey into animal flesh by the millions of tons. Some experts consider them 'keystone components.'" National Geographic 

Hip-hop heats up Arctic to preserve language, culture. "More and more attention is being paid to indigenous hip-hop from around the Arctic, especially as it relates to language preservation and cultural pride. The latest group in the spotlight is SlinCraze, a Sami hip-hop group from Norway's Arctic." Alaska Dispatch 

US, Canadian militaries attempt Arctic Ocean ship tow. "As news that more than 200 ships are approved by Russia to travel the Northeast Passage this summer spreads, members of the U.S. Coast Guard and the Canadian Coast Guard tested their ability to respond to the ever-increasing risk of a vessel in distress in Arctic waters last month. Crewmembers from the Coast Guard Cutter SPAR as well as the Canadian coast guard ship Sir Wilfrid Laurier met in Port Clarence, testing their ability to collaborate in emergency response efforts and strengthening the relationship between the two services." Alaska Dispatch 

State, DOE map out plan for methane hydrate testing. "State and U.S. Department of Energy officials are working toward on a plan for a long-term production test of methane from hydrates on the North Slope. The state Department of Natural Resources announced July 31 it was setting aside 11 tracts of unleased state lands on the slope for methane hydrate research. Methane, the main component of natural gas, is locked in immense quantities in ice-type formations held in permafrost. The U.S. Geological Survey estimates resources of 84 trillion cubic feet across the North Slope." Alaska Journal of Commerce