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Today's Congressional Action:
The House and Senate are not in session.
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Media
The US-Lead Arctic Council is Still Trying to Get Americans to Care About the Arctic. When the United States took over chairmanship of the eight-nation Arctic Council a year ago, officials articulated some lofty goals under a theme of "One Arctic." The council would promote "Arctic ocean safety, security and stewardship," improve economic and living conditions in the Arctic and address the impacts of climate change, according to the U.S. plan. Alaska Dispatch News
Inuit Circumpolar Council Calls for Tribal Consultation. When it comes to relationships between the federal government and Alaska Native people, conversations need to start at the beginning. That's a message that's been repeated time and time again in recent years from a host of Native groups, corporations, and organizations. In its current newsletter, Inuit Circumpolar Council-Alaska called for the same notion of equality in decision-making by way of consultation. The Arctic Sounder
Scientists Create New Model to Map Warming-Related Threats. Global warming could reshuffle forests in North America as southern species move north, and now scientists have create a model to map out the changes. Subtropical species could colonize the forests of the Cascade Mountain range on the United States-Canada border. The U.S. Gulf Coast's woodlands could start looking more like Cuba, and Texas like the hot, dry forests in Mexico. The Pacific Northwest could start looking like southeastern China or sub-Saharan Africa. E&E News
Pentagon Already Preparing for Sea-Level Rise. More than 1,170 American coastal military installations worldwide may grapple with sea-level rise, and a new Pentagon report gives local planners the most detailed projections yet. The Department of Defense has previously recognized the risks of increased flooding and storm surges to its installations due to climate change. The latest report and online database, released late last month, is a technical analysis targeted at planners. But the document also represents the most significant interagency effort to assess coastal vulnerability of military installations to date. E&E News
Sustaining Arctic Observing Networks Review Survey. The process for developing the Sustaining Arctic Observing Networks (SAON) was initiated by the Arctic Council and has been underway since early 2007. It was formally established following a decision of the Arctic Council Ministerial Meeting in 2011. The SAON Board has established an External Review Committee to conduct an external review of SAON. The plan for the review states that the Committee should organise a survey among Arctic stakeholders. The survey will be conducted using two different versions: a general version for those less familiar with the inner workings of SAON, and a version that also asks about internal processes and structures of SAON. The outcomes of the survey will be used to inform the External Review Committee's deliberations and be part of the report that the External Review Committee delivers to the SAON Board in 2016. To take the survey, please see here.
Rare Seal Pups Stranded on Shrinking Arctic Ice. Mikhail Verevkin points his spyglass toward the Gulf of Finland and squints into the distance. "One, two, three. ..." He counts 19 animals lounging on rocks before looking up. They are all gray seals. The Baltic ringed seal is nowhere to be found. It's April 20, the time of year when seal scientists like Verevkin, who works for the Russian Academy of Sciences, fly over the Baltic Sea to count numbers of the Baltic ringed seal, a marine mammal that, unlike the gray seal, is totally dependent on sea ice for raising pups. National Geographic
Greenlanders Getting a Little Healthier. Greenlandic Inuits, the country's native people, experience many of the same health and social issues as other indigenous peoples like the Aborigines in Australia and Sami in Sweden and 5,000 other indigenous populations listed by the UN around the world. A new study by a scientific journal, the Lancet, has collected information on the health and social conditions of 28 of those indigenous groups' health and social conditions. The welfare of the natural population is compared to that of the colonial power that took control of their countries: Greenlanders are compared to Danes, Aboriginals to Australians and the Canadian Inuit to Canadians. The Copenhagen Post
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Legislative Action
No Arctic legislation was formally considered Friday.
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Future Events
ARCUS DC Arctic Research Seminar Series, May 19, 2016 (Washington, DC, USA). Mark Brzezinski, executive director of the Arctic Executive Steering Committee, will provide an update on the activities of the U.S. Arctic Executive Steering Committee and the upcoming White House Arctic Science Ministerial being planned for this fall. This event is part of the ARCUS Arctic Research Seminar Series which brings some of the leading Arctic researchers to Washington, D.C. to share in person and via webinar the latest findings and what they mean for decision-making. The seminars are open, and will be of interest to Federal agency officials, Congressional staff, NGOs, associations, researchers, and the public.
High North Dialogue 2016: The Blue Future of the Arctic, May 25-26, 2016. HND is an annual conference hosted by the High North Center at Nord University, engaging a wide audience of researchers and future leaders of the region. It will address the necessary questions to effectively promote dialogue between interested stakeholders on how to sustainably develop the different realities of the many Arctics. PhD and Masters students can also participate in a week long credit awarding graduate course.
14th IATS Seminar, June 19-25, 2016 (Bergen, Norway). The University of Bergen (UiB) is honored 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.
Arctic Ambitions V, June 23-24, 2016 (Anchorage, Alaska, USA). Arctic Ambitions V conference focuses on commercial opportunities in the Arctic, such as engineering, construction, architecture, natural resource development, environmental services, maritime shipping and logistics, and international trade. This event is sponsored by World Trade Center Alaska.
Bridging the Future of Arctic Social Science Research, September 23-24, 2016 (Monticello, Virginia, USA). The event is sponsored by Arctic Horizons. The event will reassemble the members of the National Steering Committee and a small but diverse selection of representatives from the five regional workshops, to total about 15 people. The aim will be to identify and synthesize the core threads of the previous workshops and public contributions proffered between workshops. The target output for the workshop will be a final report draft and outline of steps leading to the final report release in June 2016. The Jefferson Institute will manage production of the publication.
Second International Conference on Natural Resources and Integrated Development of Coastal Areas in the Arctic Zone, September 27-29, 2016 (Arkhangelsk, Russia). The Conference is organized by FASO of Russia, Russian Academy of Sciences, Government of Arkhangelsk region, Arkhangelsk Scientific Center and International Arctic Science Committee (IASC). Conference is aimed at elaboration of research-based practical measures and instruments for realization of human, natural and transport-logistical potential of the Arctic zone, including development of the Northern Sea Route and implementation of models of integrated coastal areas management. For additional information, please email.
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.
Arctic Technology Conference, October 24-26, 2016 (St. John's, Canada). Founded in 1969, the Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) is the world's foremost event for the development of offshore resources in the fields of drilling, exploration, production and environmental protection. The Arctic Technology Conference (ATC) is built upon OTC's successful multidisciplinary approach, with 14 technical societies and organizations working together to deliver the world's most comprehensive Arctic event.
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