Canada's Role in Arctic Science Slipping, US Official Says. An American official says she senses "a diminishment of the priority" of science and research under Canada's chairmanship at the Arctic Council, and pledged that the United States will ensure science is a key focus when it takes over the chair position from Canada in two years. U.S. senior Arctic official Julia Gourley also cautioned that Canada's renewed focus on Arctic shipping should not include the main route itself, the Northwest Passage, while Canada and the U.S. are at odds over its legal status. The Globe and Mail

Heavy Air Pollution in Canadian Area With Cancer Spikes. Levels of contaminants higher than in some of the world's most polluted cities have been found downwind of Canada's largest oil, gas and tar sands processing zone, in a rural area where men suffer elevated rates of cancers linked to such chemicals. Science Daily  

Earth is Still Getting Hotter, and So Are the Financial Risks. What is it about the hottest decade in recorded history that's so hard to understand? The first decade of this millennium -- 2001 to 2010 -- was the warmest since measurements began 160 years ago. The earlier hottest decade was during the 1990s. And the record-breaker before that? The 1980s. These are undisputed facts. Nothing about this steady rise suggests that our planet is doing anything but warming. Yet  some people who have long resisted the consistency of this trend are now saying that climate change has "paused." In doing so, they ignore the longer trend, miss the big picture and distort the public conversation about the strength of the evidence for climate change. Alaska Dispatch 

Interview: China Backs Arctic Council Agenda of Environment Over Development. China agreed with the Arctic Council that development in the Arctic region should abide by local regulations and environmental requirements, according to a senior official. China pledged to make a greater contribution through its new official observer role in the council, Jia Guide, deputy director-general with the Department of Treaty and Law under China's Foreign Ministry, said Tuesday in an interview with Xinhua. Xinhua

Russia to Ignore Greenpeace Court Hearings in Hamburg. The Russian government has said it will not attend international court hearings in Hamburg over the detention of a Greenpeace ship by its border guards. Russia opted out of UN Law of the Sea dispute procedures that infringe upon sovereignty in 1997, the foreign ministry pointed out in a statement. BBC News

Norway Returns Inuit Artifacts to Arctic Canadian Community. People in Gjoa Haven, a community in Canada's eastern Arctic territory of Nunavut, are celebrating the official opening of the Nattilik Heritage Center today, the new home for a number of Inuit artifacts taken from the area by a Norwegian explorer in the last century. Along with displays showing traditional Inuit living, as well as soapstone and ivory carvings, the center houses items such as traditional oil lamps, harpoons and snow knives collected by Roald Amundsen in the early 1900s. Alaska Dispatch

Climate Change Opens up New Era of Commerce in Alaska. Looking to train for the job of the future? Get a box of those heat packs you stick in your boots and head north of the 60 degree parallel. You may prefer your Arctic pristine, but melting ice from climate change coupled with ships equipped with new ice-breaking technology could spark a new era of commerce in the far north. But shipping in Arctic waters takes special skills. That's why Scott Hamilton, department head for the Alaska Maritime Training Center at Alaska's Institute of Technology, says it's time for more people to consider careers navigating the Arctic waters. Marketplace