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The State Department and NASA, in cooperation with the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, and the Council for Environmental Quality will host this event, streamed online, in coordination with the US Center for COP21.
Moderator: Christy Goldfuss, Managing Director at the White House Council on Environmental Quality
Speakers: Dr. John Holdren, Assistant to the President for Science and Technology; and Dr. Patrick Taylor, Research Scientist, National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
Today's Congressional Action:
The Senate is expected to consider non-Arctic legislation. The House is expected to consider H.R. 4188, the Coast Guard Authorization Act, and H.R. 3578, the Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Reform Improvement Act.
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Ikaarvik Project Aims to Connect Arctic Researchers and Inuit Youth. Inuit researchers want Arctic scientists from other parts of Canada to connect with Inuit communities and understand how climate change can affect remote communities. Arctic scholars are gathering this week for the ArcticNet conference in Vancouver. Two people from Nunavut are also attending to talk about the Ikaarvik Project, a program that aims to connect communities in Canada's Far North with scientists who want to do research there. CBC News
COP21 Dairy: Climate Science is Ahead of Policy But, Thankfully, the Fear is Behind. All the way across Northern Eurasia and the Northern reaches of the Americas, groves of trees have started to take on an odd appearance. Their trunks are bent at harsh angles, as if strained against the wind. In truth, it is the ground itself that has begun to buckle and sink, a major problem for local communities and wildlife. Roads break, houses must be abandoned to the shifting earth, lakes appear where there were none before. These outlandish events have a rather simple - if chilling - explanation: from Siberia to Canada, the permafrost is beginning to thaw. This event has the potential to release large volumes of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, speeding the progress of climate change well beyond what most current models predict. The Wire
Ian Stirling, Polar Bear Scientist, Wins $50k Lifetime Achievement Award. It says something about the impact of a scientist's work that when he goes to talk to school children about his research, they already know the story. You probably do too: Sea ice is melting, and that's hurting polar bears who need the ice to hunt seals. The science demonstrating that relationship to the world was led by a Canadian researcher, Ian Stirling, who today was awarded $50,000, chosen by his fellow scientists for the Weston Family Prize for lifetime achievement in northern research. CBC News
Coast Guard to Finalize Icebreaker Acquisition Strategy by Spring; Production by 2020. The Coast Guard intends to develop an acquisition strategy for its heavy endurance icebreaker program by the spring and reach production-related activities by 2020, after President Barack Obama announced in September that the United States should accelerate the icebreaker program to support increased activity in the Arctic. Coast Guard acquisition chief Rear Adm. Mike Haycock said at an American Society of Naval Engineers chapter meeting that his office would begin "aggressive industry outreach" in January to help inform both the acquisition strategy and the physical requirements for the ship. USNI News
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Legislative Action
No Arctic legislation was formally considered yesterday.
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Future Events
Arctic Encounter Paris (AEP 2015), December 11-12, 2015 (Paris, France) (During the UN Convention on Climate Change - COP21). The Arctic Encounter Paris (AEP) will take place at the French Senate at Luxembourg Palace and the French Military College, École Militaire, in Paris, France, on the final days of the monumental United Nations Convention on Climate Change (COP21) where thousands of global citizens and government delegates will be gathered to deliberate the world's response to our changing planet in Paris. The AEP is the only Arctic policy and economics side event currently planned to take place during the UN Convention. A reception will take place following the closing panel.
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Fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union, December 14-18, 2015 (San Francisco, California). The 48th meeting of the union brings together nearly 24,000 attendees, and lots of Arctic research results. The scientific program is here. There will be several Arctic-related "Town Hall" meetings, including those sponsored by NASA, DOE, NSF, ISAC, IARPC, and SEARCH.
"Arctic Matters" day at the National Academy of Sciences, January 14th, 2016 (Washington, DC, USA) This symposium is part of an ongoing initiative of the National Academies of Science Polar Research Board to expand public understanding of why the dramatic changes affecting the Arctic region ultimately matter to us all. The agenda features engaging presentations and discussions with top Arctic science and policy experts, and displays and interactive exhibits that illustrate Arctic change and its global impacts. The event is free and open to the public. There are sponsorship opportunities, and a call for exhibitor applications. Audience space is limited, so register today; and please encourage your friends, neighbors, and colleagues to participate-as our goal is to reach well beyond the small circle of specialists who typically attend Arctic-themed events in the DC area. The U.S. Arctic Research Commission is the primary sponsor of this event.
Building upon the preceding Arctic Encounter event in Paris, the third annual Arctic Encounter Symposium (AES) in Seattle, Washington will convene policymakers, industry leaders, and leading experts to confront the leading issues in Arctic policy, innovation, and development. The AES mission is to raise awareness, engage challenges, and develop solutions for the future of a region and a people. The two-day program includes two keynote luncheons, expert plenary sessions, break out sessions, a networking cocktail reception and seated dinner. A closing reception will take place at the conclusion of the program.
2016 Arctic Frontiers, January 24-29, 2015 (Tromso, Norway).The Arctic is a global crossroad between commercial and environmental interests. The region holds substantial natural resources and many actors are investigating ways to utilise these for economic gain. Others view the Arctic as a particularly pristine and vulnerable environment and highlight the need to limit industrial development. Arctic Frontiers 2016 will discuss the balance between resource utilisation and preservation, and between industrial and environmental interests in the Arctic. Envisioning a well-planned, well-governed, and sustainable development in the Arctic, how can improved Arctic stewardship help balance environmental concerns with industrial expansion? How can the industrial footprints from future business activities be minimised? And last, but not least, what role will existing and emerging technologies play in making industrial development profitable and environmentally friendly, securing a sustainable growth scenario for Arctic communities?
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5th Annual Fletcher Opening Arctic Conference, March 12, 2016. The Opening Arctic Conference builds on the Fletcher School's Warming Arctic International Inquiry series, to bring together high-level thought leaders from across disciplines, Fletcher's hallmark. Staged annually, Fletcher's event continues to address the foreign policy, economic, environmental and security implications of the opening Arctic, while dispelling myths.
14th IATS Seminar, June 19-25, 2016 (Bergen, Norway). The University of Bergen (UiB) is honoured to host the 14th IATS Seminar in Bergen, Norway, from Sunday 19 to Saturday 25 June 2016 in co-operation with the Network for University Co-operation Tibet-Norway, an academic network with the universities of Oslo, Bergen and Tromsø as partners. The convenor is Professor Hanna Havnevik, Department of Culture Studies and Oriental Languages, University of Oslo, and Chair of the Network.
ICETECH 2016, August 15-18, 2016 (Anchorage, Alaska, USA). The Arctic Section of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers (SNAME) together with Alaska's Institute of the North (ION) will host the International Conference and Exhibition on Performance of Ships and Structures in Ice (ICETECH 16), the premiere international conference on ships and structures in ice. The conference will take place in Anchorage starting with an opening icebreaker reception on the evening of Monday, August 15, and concluding in the afternoon on Thursday August 18, with a possible workshop on Arctic EER on Friday August 19.
Inuit traditions are a repository of Inuit culture and a primary expression of Inuit identity. The theme for the 2016 Inuit Studies Conference invites Elders, knowledge-bearers, researchers, artists, policy-makers, students and others to engage in conversations about the many ways in which traditions shape understanding, while registering social and cultural change. The institutional hosts of "Inuit Traditions," Memorial University of Newfoundland and the Nunatsiavut Government, invite you to contribute to an exchange of knowledge to be held in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, October 7-10, 2016. Presentations on all aspects of Inuit studies will be welcome.
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