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December 3, 2014
  

The Arctic Biodiversity Congress, December 2-4, 2014 (Trondheim, Norway). The Arctic Biodiversity Congress will present and discuss the main scientific findings of the ABA; facilitate inter-disciplinary discussion, action and status updates on the policy recommendations in the ABA; provide scientific, policy, management, NGO, academia, Indigenous peoples and industry audiences the opportunity to collaborate around the themes of the ABA; advise CAFF on national and international implementation of the ABA recommendations and on the development of an ABA Implementation Plan for the Arctic Council; highlight the work of CAFF and the Arctic Council on circumpolar biodiversity conservation and sustainable development; and, contribute to mainstreaming of biodiversity and ecosystem services, ensuring that the recommendations of the ABA are implemented by not just governments, but many organizations and people across disciplines.

 

BOEM - Chukchi Sea Oil and Gas Lease Sale, Barrow (3 December); and Fairbanks (4 December). The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) issued a notice stating that it has prepared a draft Second Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SSEIS) relating to the oil and gas lease sale in the Chukchi Sea Planning Area. Written comments must be received by December 22, 2014.  

 

capitalToday's Congressional Action:  

The House and Senate are in session and expected to consider non-Arctic legislation.

 

Media  

 

ringseal NOAA Proposes Critical Habitat for Ringed Seals. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced today that it's proposing much of the Bering, Chukchi and Beaufort seas within U.S. jurisdiction as critical habitat for ringed seals. Shaye Wolf is the climate science director of the Center for Biological Diversity. She says the habitat proposal is the largest in history. Alaska Public Radio

 

BOEM Report Says Chukchi Sea Drilling Runs Heightened Risk of Large Spill. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management is holding hearings around the state on lease sale 193, in the Chukchi Sea. In its latest Environmental Impact Statement, BOEM says there's likely more oil there, but also more risk of a large oil spill. Alaska Public Radio 

 

America Is An Arctic Nation: White House blog post by State Department's Special Representative for the Arctic, Admiral Robert J. Papp. There are only eight countries in the world whose territory above the Arctic Circle grants them the honored title of "Arctic Nation." The United States is one. The human story in the Arctic is defined by the intense and arduous relationship between people and the environment. Arctic residents know not just how to survive, but how to thrive in some of the harshest conditions on earth. Theirs is a story of adaptation and survival. The White House

 

Less Than 2 Weeks to Shutdown, Conservatives Cool to 'Cromnibus.' As House Republicans sort out how they will fund the government past Dec. 11, leadership is running into a problem: Many conservatives looking to block President Barack Obama's immigration plan contend the House must act now rather than wait until later. That's a more confrontational approach than the "cromnibus" proposal floated by GOP leaders Tuesday morning. The cromnibus - a portmanteau of continuing resolution and omnibus - would incorporate 11 of the 12 appropriations bills in the House, funding operations through the end of the fiscal year in September, and couple that package with a temporary CR for Homeland Security operations, likely to extend to March. Roll Call

 

$12M Approved to Put Science Back Into the Science Center. There will be a lot more science at the Telus World of Science, now that city has agreed to pay $12 million to begin the process of expanding the centre and bring in more permanent exhibits. "Now we get to the core science, which is what it's all about," said Alan Nursall, President and CEO of the centre on Tuesday. Nursall said the centre plans to expand to include an ambitious new early childhood education centre and new galleries related to the science of the Canadian arctic. CBC News

 

Shell in Chukchi An Open Arctic and Its Impact on Oil Drilling. Rising crude oil prices motivate not only technological innovators to explore cheaper alternative energy sources, such as solar panels and wind turbines, but also upstream oil and gas companies to explore new oil reserves which had not otherwise been economical. While the exact amount is less certain than highly developed areas, such as the North Sea or the Gulf of Mexico, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) estimated in 2008 that the Arctic contained about 412 billion barrels of undiscovered oil and oil equivalent. The Arctic Circle area, in particular, has approximately 90 billion barrels of undiscovered but technically recoverable oil, 1,670 trillion cubic feet of technically recoverable natural gas, and 44 billion barrels of technically recoverable natural gas liquids. MarineLink

 

Coast Guard Bill Looks to Arctic Shipping Future. The Coast Guard authorization bill, which committee chairmen unveiled on Monday is a nod to the reality that climate change could make Arctic commercial shipping viable. Even with climate change, trans-Arctic shippers would need icebreakers and the bill requires the Coast Guard to make a final decision about reactivating an icebreaker, called the Polar Sea, now mothballed in Seattle. Roll Call

 

Legislative Actionfutureevents  

 

The House and Senate did not formally consider Arctic legislation yesterday.

Future Events

  

Arctic Change 2014, December 8-12, 2014 (Ottawa, Canada). The international Arctic Change 2014 conference aims to stimulate discussion and foster collaborations among people with a vested interest in the Arctic and its peoples. Coinciding with the pinnacle of Canada's chairmanship of the Arctic Council and marking ArcticNet's 10th anniversary, Arctic Change 2014 welcomes researchers, students, Northerners, policy makers, and stakeholders from all fields of Arctic research and all countries to address the numerous environmental, social, economical and political challenges and opportunities that are emerging from climate change and modernization in the Arctic. With over 1000 participants expected to attend, Arctic Change 2014 will be one of the largest trans-sectoral international Arctic research conferences ever held in Canada.

 

"The Melting Arctic... What the Science Says, and What it Means for Our Future" December 10, 2014. (Remote access, see here.) The National Weather Service; Office of Climate, Weather, and Water Services; Climate Division is sponsoring this webinar. This talk probes the loss of ice in the Arctic Ocean from three aspects -- 1) what the science says, 2) why it is important, and 3) what it means for our future, and makes the case that as transport drives the patterns of human civilization, a melting Arctic will move population centers in the far north. This talk, which puts climate science in a social and historical context, was presented previously at the AMS Annual meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, in February 2013. 

 

Subcommittee Hearing: The United States as an Arctic Nation: Opportunities in the High North, December 10, 2014 (Washington, D.C., USA). The House of Representatives Subcommittee on Europe, Eurasia and Emerging Threats will hold a hearing on "The United States as an Arctic Nation." US Special Representative Admiral Robert Papp is expected to testify.

 

"Arctic Modeling: Improving Models and Predictions in the Arctic" January 13, 2015. (Remote access, see here). The Modeling, Analysis, Predictions, and Projections (MAPP) program will host this webinar. Additional information will be released soon.

 

AGU Fall Meeting, December 15-19, 2014 (San Francisco, CA, USA). With nearly 24,000 attendees, the AGU Fall Meeting is the largest Earth and space science meeting in the world. The AGU Fall Meeting brings together the entire Earth and space sciences community for discussions of emerging trends and the latest research. The technical program includes presentations on new and cutting-edge science, much of which has not yet been published.

 

Arctic Frontiers: Climate and Energy, January 18-23, 2015. The earth is in the midst of major climate changes. The Arctic is experiencing the impact of these changes more and faster than other parts of the globe. Processes starting in the Arctic may have deep and profound impacts on other parts of the globe. At the same time the Earth's population is rising and with it the global energy demand. New and greener energy sources are gaining market shares, but still the energy mix of the foreseeable future will have a substantial fossil component. The Arctic is expected to hold major oil and gas resources, while the regions green energy potentials are less explored. The Arctic Frontiers conference is a central arena for discussions of Arctic issues. The conference brings together representatives from science, politics, and civil society to share perspectives on how upcoming challenges in the Arctic may be addressed to ensure sustainable development. Arctic Frontiers is composed of a policy section and a scientific section. 

  

Alaska Marine Science Symposium, January 19-23, 2015 (Anchorage, Alaska, USA). The symposium will feature a session on the Communicating Ocean Sciences, keynote addresses, poster sessions, and workshops. As in past years, the main content of the symposium is organized by large marine ecosystem. The 2015 schedule will be: Tuesday, January 20 - Gulf of Alaska; Wednesday, January 21 - Bering Sea; and Thursday, January 22 - Arctic Ocean. The details of the 2015 Alaska Marine Science Symposium program will be available in mid-November.

 

Symposium on Law and Governance in the Arctic, UCI LAW, January 30-31, 2015 (Irvine, California, USA).  The symposium will explore the effectiveness of existing governance in the Arctic region, strategies for improving effective implementation, and possible alternative governance regimes. A segment of the presented papers will be published in the UCI Law Review as a symposium. Presenters include: Betsy Baker, Michael Byers, Joseph DiMento, Tore Henriksen, Brian Israel, Timo Koivurova, Tullio Scovazzi, and Oran Young. 

 

Arctic Encounter Symposium 2015: Charting a Path to US Leadership in the Far North, January 30-31, 2015 (Seattle, Washington, USA). The second annual Arctic Encounter Symposium will focus on the role of the U.S. as an Arctic nation and the challenges it will confront in its upcoming chairmanship of the Arctic Council, including: climate change, natural resources, investment opportunities, and international relations. The goal of the 2015 Arctic Encounter is to facilitate a creative environment for the development of a proactive agenda, short and long-term domestic and international priorities, and a strategic execution plan.The two-day program will take place at the University of Washington with a dinner reception on January 30, 2015 at the Museum of History and Industry.

 

Polar Shelves and Shelf Break Exchange in Times of Rapid Climate Warming, March 15-20, 2015 (Lucca, Italy). The GRCs provide an international forum for the presentation and discussion of frontier research in the biological, chemical, and physical sciences, and their related technologies. The guiding principle of a GRC is to encourage communication and discussion of ideas and new unpublished results at the very frontier of a particular field of research, by bringing together outstanding scientists from academia, industry, and government, ranging from senior experts to Ph.D. students. With the increasing impacts of reduced sea ice and warming seawater conditions in both the Arctic and Antarctic, this conference can act as a forum for potentially transformative discussions for interdisciplinary, international and compare/contrast evaluation of polar sciences. In addition, the Gordon Research Seminar (GRS) will precede the GRC to provide a forum for graduate students and post-docs to present and exchange new data and cutting edge ideas with experts in the different polar fields of science.


The Polar Geography and Cryosphere, April 21-25, 2015 (Chicago, IL, USA). The Polar Geography and Cryosphere Specialty Groups of the Association of American Geographers will host its annual meeting in Chicago to consider: current topics in human-environment interactions; current topics in politics, resource geographies, and extractive industries; current topics in Antarctic research; advances in cryosphere research; high latitude environments in a changing climate; an mountain ice and snow.

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