Timing a rise in sea level. "Thirty-five years ago, a scientist named John H. Mercer issued a warning. By then it was already becoming clear that human emissions would warm the earth, and Dr. Mercer had begun thinking deeply about the consequences. His paper, in the journal Nature, was titled 'West Antarctic Ice Sheet and CO2 Greenhouse Effect: A Threat of Disaster.' In it, Dr. Mercer pointed out the unusual topography of the ice sheet sitting over the western part of Antarctica. Much of it is below sea level, in a sort of bowl, and he said that a climatic warming could cause the whole thing to degrade rapidly on a geologic time scale, leading to a possible rise in sea level of 16 feet." NY Times 

If the Arctic booms, will Alaska's workforce be ready? "As some of the world's polar nations race to develop the melting Arctic, Alaska isn't doing enough to prepare for the coming jobs. That was a take-home message from the first of several events offered in conjunction with Week of the Arctic, a weeklong discussion looking at the changing region and the 'critical challenges and issues at stake,' according to organizer Institute of the North. One of those challenges is how to prepare for the new jobs that Arctic development will bring during the next 15 years, according to a panel discussion about workforce development that launched the week's events on Monday." Alaska Dispatch 

Editorial: Canada must continue to exercise its sovereignty in the North. "Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who made the Arctic a priority soon after coming to power in 2006, apparently needs to educate others in the federal government about how important the North is to the country's well-being. National Defence advisers have revealed there's too much infighting going on in the civil service and that departments are failing to embrace the Tories' so-called Northern Strategy. Their internal report, which was published last year but just now obtained by Postmedia News, is worrisome." Calgary Herald 

Canadian Forces Op Nanook exercise heads into Nunavut. "Operation Nanook, the Canadian Armed Forces' largest annual training operation in the North, shifted exercises to the Arctic Aug. 10. This year's exercises were scheduled to take place in four regions throughout the North, with four separate scenarios. Soldiers are now on Cornwallis Island in Nunavut's High Arctic for 'scenario 2,' after closing the first one in sub-Arctic Whitehorse, Aug. 9, which involved a simulated wildfire disaster-relief exercise." Nunatsiaq Online 

New Teachers Learn about Native Culture Before School Starts. "Teachers headed to the Northwest Arctic Borough School District spent some time learning Inupiaq language, crafts and culture at a traditional fish camp this summer in preparation for their new jobs. The camp is one of two in the state that's are part of an effort to improve cultural understanding among incoming teachers and to help with teacher retention. And it seems to be working." Alaska Public Media 

Huge sea ice loss changing entire arctic ecosystem. "The massive loss of sea ice in the arctic is happening so fast that species there cannot possibly evolve fast enough to adapt, says Ian Stirling, an adjunct professor at the University of Alberta and one of the co-authors of a study recently published in the journal Science. As a result, there will be winners and losers in the rapidly changing ecosystem." Eye on the Arctic 

Archaeologists dig Native village site that predates Europeans' Arctic arrival. "On the banks of the Kobuk River near Kiana, the history of a settlement of people who lived in the decades just before the white man first walked onto the shores of Alaska's Arctic has gradually been revealing itself in multiple ways. Archeologists from Brown University have been uncovering a Native village site known as Igliqtiqsiugvigruak over the last two years, and none too soon. The river has been uncovering the site, too, slowly eating away at some remarkable discoveries." Alaska Dispatch 

IMO Secretary-General goes Arctic. "Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organization Koji Sekimizu departs on a 5-day Arctic sea voyage with a Russian nuclear icebreaker as part of a fact-finding mission to the region. Sekimizu will be the guest of the Russian Government aboard the nuclear-powered icebreaker '50 years of Victory' as she voyages on the Northern Sea Route. He will commence his voyage on August 15 from the port of Dikson, in the Kara Sea, before undertaking a 1,680 nautical miles trip to Pevek, in the East Siberian Sea." Barents Observer 

Going Arctic, Rosneft eyes acquisition of Murmansk shipyard. "The state-owned oil company might take over control of the Zvezda yard in the Russian Far East, as well as the Roslyakovo yard outside Murmansk, as part of a government bid to boost Russian offshore capacities. The Russian government is reportedly highly dissatisfied with the way the United Shipbuilding Corporation is developing equipment for the offshore oil and gas industry and considers radical steps to change the situation. According to newspaper Kommersant, Deputy Premier Dmitry Rogozin might establish a new shipbuilding consortium which is headed by Igor Sechin's Rosneft." Barents Observer