Holyrood Urged to Act to Protect Arctic After 'Snub' by Westminster. Scottish ministers were not consulted by the UK Government when it drew up its first strategy on conservation and development in the Arctic last year. "Yet Scotland is the nearest part of the UK to the Arctic, with a larger proportional stake both in fishing and the hydrocarbon sector, and more natural ports of call for Arctic shipping," says former British diplomat Professor Alyson Bailes in a paper published today by the Scottish Global Forum think tank. Herald Scotland

Arctic City Hopes to Cash in as Melting Ice Opens New Sea Route to China. The city of Nadym, in the extreme north of Siberia, is one of the Earth's least hospitable places, shrouded in darkness for half of the year, with temperatures plunging below -30C and the nearby Kara Sea semi-permanently frozen. But things are looking up for this Arctic conurbation halfway between Europe and China. Over the next 30 years climate change is likely to open up a polar shipping route between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, cutting travel time to Asia by 40% and allowing Russia's vast oil and gas resources to be exported to China, Japan and south Asia much faster. The Guardian

Economist Goldsmith Predicts Steady Decline in Oil Revenue Warns of "Fiscal Cliff.' A University of Alaska economist is making a prediction that the state Department of Revenue won't make: Alaska's oil revenue will keep diminishing for decades. Scott Goldsmith, with the Institute for Economic and Social Research at the University of Alaska Anchorage, annually publishes a projection of future state revenues. Lately, he's been warning that Alaska is spending more than it will have. Alaska Dispatch

Cooperation Doesn't Mean Militarization, says Russian Ambassador. Russia's Arctic envoy has allayed concerns of military conflict in the region. Anton Vasilyev, the country's ambassador at-large and representative to the Arctic Council, told Tass newspaper in a recent interview that although the demand for improved military co-operation among Arctic countries is "evident", co-operation does not necessarily equate to increased militarization. Instead, he said, it is more a symbol of a changing world. "Formerly, Russia's 22,000 kilometer border on the Arctic Ocean was protected fully by the ice and severe climate," Vasilyev told Tass. "Now the climate is milder, and the ice is melting, creating a necessity that we increase our military presence there to secure the country from illegal border crossings, illegal emigration, organized crime and terrorists." Arctic Journal

NOAA Accepting Comments on New Noise Guidelines for Marine Mammals. As part of a new set of guidelines from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, a request for public comment is being issued on the effects of human-made sounds on marine mammals in Alaska. NOAA aims to discover more about how man-made sounds affect marine mammals in Alaska's coastal regions. The research will be used to implement the new set of guidelines that inform and educate those working in the oil, gas and construction industries about the effects that loud machinery can have on several endangered marine mammals. Alaska Dispatch

Alaska's Arctic Icy Lakes Lose Thickness. The ubiquitous shallow icy lakes that dominate Alaska's Arctic coastal plain have undergone a significant change in recent decades. These lakes, many of which are no more than 3m deep, melt earlier in the season and retain open water conditions for much longer. And 20 years of satellite radar also now show that far fewer will freeze right through to the bottom in winter. BBC News

Pan-Arctic Inuit Org Anoint Okalik Eegeesiak as Chair this July. Inuit Circumpolar Council is expected to anoint Okalik Eegeesiak, 52, of Iqaluit as its chairperson at the international organization's assembly in Inuvik this July, following a decision made Jan. 31 in Ottawa by ICC Canada's six-member board. Eegeesiak will succeed Aqqaluk Lynge, 66, the celebrated Greenlandic writer and political leader whose second four-year term as ICC chair expires this July, to become spokesperson for the 150,000 Inuit of Greenland, Canada, Alaska and Russia. Nunatsiaq Online