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2014 Budget to be Released in mid-March, Memo Says. President Obama will not release his proposed fiscal 2014 budget for at least another month, according to a memo last week from Defense Department Deputy Comptroller John Roth. "We understand that the President intends to submit the top-level budget to the Congress in mid-March, with the delivery of all justification material later in the month," Roth said in a Feb. 5 memo to senior financial managers outlining the steps needed to wrap up work on DoD's portion of the request. Federal Times

Shell Oil Rigs in Alaska to be Repaired in Asia. Shell's two offshore rigs in Alaska are to go to Asia for repairs and upgrades, the Anglo-Dutch oil company said, casting doubts on its plan to do any drilling in Arctic seas this year. Shell said in a statement, issued late on Monday, that no decision had been made yet about its 2013 Alaska offshore drilling program. The Kulluk, the company's drillship which ran aground near Kodiak Island on 31 December after separation from its tow lines, will go to a shipyard in Asia, said Curtis Smith, Shell's spokesman in Alaska. "We haven't determined yet where in Asia," he said. The Guardian

"Arctic Flight" at Museum: Alaska's Aviation Story Finally Told. What is an Alaska bush pilot? That's perhaps the most important question asked-and answered-at the "Arctic Flight: a Century of Alaska Aviation" exhibition, which opened this weekend at the Anchorage Museum. Celebrating 100 years of Alaskan aviation history, the exhibit includes such artifacts as the 1928 Stearman C2B from the Anchorage Aviation Museum (which was dismantled and transported up three flights for display) that Harold Gillam flew in the search for Ben Eielson. There's also the first Alaska pilot license of Russ Merrill, for whom Merrill Field was named. Alaska Dispatch

Canada's Only Arctic Fishery Threatened by Lack of Research. Fisheries scientists say Canada has been expanding its Arctic fishery without understanding very much about it. And that ignorance could threaten the future of the $65-million turbot fishery off Baffin Island, one of the few bright spots in the Nunavut economy. "There's just too much guesswork," said George Rose of Newfoundland's Memorial University, whose co-authored work released in January in Iqaluit was contracted by one of Nunavut's fishing corporations and an environmental group. Alaska Dispatch

Begich Introduces Key Arctic Bills: Strengthen Arctic Science, Health, Diplomacy. Strengthening America's understanding of changes underway in the Arctic, the impacts of Arctic warming on the health of northern residents and strengthening the nation's international presence in the Arctic are the subjects of three bills being introduced in the Senate today by U.S. Sen. Mark Begich. "As we face an Arctic Ocean which is increasingly ice-free, our country has both an historic opportunity and enormous challenges," Begich said. "That's why we need to know more about the changes underway in the Arctic, what they mean for resource development and transportation in the North and how the changes impact people who live there." Senator Mark Begich

 

Sunlight Stimulates Release of Carbon Dioxide in Melting Permafrost. Ancient plant and animal matter trapped within Arctic permafrost can be converted rapidly into climate-warming carbon dioxide when melted and exposed to sunlight, according to a new study. In a report published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a team of environmental and biological scientists examined 27 melting permafrost sites in Alaska and found that bacteria converted dissolved organic carbon materials into the greenhouse gas CO2 40% faster when exposed to ultraviolet light. Study authors said that while it remained unclear just how much CO2 would be released as Arctic permafrost continues to melt, the findings were cause for concern. High latitude soils currently store twice the amount of carbon than is found in the atmosphere. Los Angeles Times 

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