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Today's Congressional Action:
The House is expected to consider non-Arctic legislation. The Senate is expected to host a pro forma session.
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Media
 5-Year Plan Nixes Most Arctic Development. Drilling in two key Arctic seas is off the table, though one lease sale in the Cook Inlet off Alaska is allowed under the Interior Department's five-year leasing plan announced today. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) released its final offshore drilling lease schedule to cover the period from 2017 to 2022. In its interim plan that went up for public comment, BOEM proposed rescinding earlier scheduled lease sales in the Atlantic Ocean. Now the agency has also pulled leasing from the Arctic Ocean, in particular offshore acreage in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas. E&E News
As Winter Sets in, Air Quality Becomes Major Concern for Many Circumpolar Communities. As winter sets in, many communities in the far north like Fairbanks must again deal with the problem of poor air quality created by the pollution from cars and trucks, power plants and home-heating systems. "Y'know we look at Fairbanks as like the textbook (case) for a kind of a medium-sized community with emissions problems," says Jim Gamble, executive director of the Aleut International Association. The organization advocates for the indigenous peoples of western Alaska and eastern Siberia. KUAC  A New Look at Captain Cook Shows Just How Much the Arctic Has Melted. When Captain James Cook entered the Bering Strait in 1778, he did it with pride in his king and country, as evidenced by the Union Jack flying high over the HMS Resolution. The legendary explorer was on a special mission to find the Northwest Passage, which George III hoped would allow ships to pass through the pole. The passage would allow European and Asian traders to connect without going all the way around the horn of Africa. Popular Science UN Talks End with Vow to Take 'Urgent' Action on Climate Change. There's an "urgent duty to respond" to climate change: that was the message as global climate change talks wrapped up late Nov. 18 in Marrakech, Morocco. "Our climate is warming at an alarming and unprecedented rate," said the Marrakech Action Proclamation, issued at the end of COP22, the 22nd gathering of the 197 countries which have signed onto the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Nunatsiaq Online Impact of Climate Warming, Declining Sea Ice on Arctic Whale Migration. Declines in the Arctic sea ice are arguably the most dramatic evidence of the effects of current climate warming on ocean systems. While sea ice is perhaps the most defining feature of the habitat of Arctic whales, the relationship between them and sea ice is still largely a mystery, and there is increasing concern over how these species will adapt to climate related changes in sea ice. Science Daily
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Legislative Action.gif "futureevents")
No Arctic legislation was formally considered Friday.
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Future Events
 ArcticNet annual Scientific Meeting 2016, December 5-9, 2016 (Winnipeg, MP Canada). ArcticNet will host its 12th Annual Scientific Meeting. The ASM2016 will welcome researchers, students, Inuit, Northerners, policy makers and stakeholders to address the numerous environmental, social, economical and political challenges and opportunities that are emerging from climate change and modernization in the Arctic. As the largest annual Arctic research gathering held in Canada, ArcticNet's ASM is the ideal venue to showcase results from all fields of Arctic research, stimulate discussion and foster collaborations among those with a vested interest in the Arctic and its peoples.
 American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting, December 12-16, 2016 (San Francisco, CA USA). Anticipating about 25,000 attendees, AGU's Fall Meeting will again be the largest Earth and space science meeting in the world. 2016 marks the meeting's 49th year and there will be approximately 20,000 oral and poster presentations in over 1,700 sessions, many of which will focus specifically on Arctic science. Among the highlights, the "2016 Arctic Report" will again be released, IARPC will hold a "Town Hall Meeting" on Thursday, Dec. 15th, from 12:30 to 1:30 pm in Moscone West Room 2003, and NASA will have a Town Hall on Operation IceBridge on Dec. 14th, in Moscone Room 202 from 12:30 to 1:30 pm.
 Alaska Marine Science Symposium, January 23-27, 2017 (Anchorage, AK USA). The annual Alaska Marine Science Symposium (AMSS) is Alaska's premier marine research conference. It brings together roughly 800 scientists, educators, resource managers, students, and interested public to discuss marine research being conducted in Alaskan waters. Research will be presented by geographic theme, including the Gulf of Alaska, Bering Sea & Aleutian Islands, and the Arctic. Topic areas will include ocean physics, fishes and invertebrates, seabirds, marine mammals, local traditional knowledge and more. Keynote presentations will be held Monday, January 23rd; Gulf of Alaska presentations will be on Tuesday, Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands on Wednesday, followed by the Arctic on Thursday.
 Alaska Forum on the Environment, February 6-10, 2017 (Anchorage, AK USA). This statewide gathering of environmental professionals, community leaders, Alaskan youth, conservationists, biologists and community elders will be holding its 19th meeting to continue providing a strong educational foundation for all Alaskans and a unique opportunity to interact with others on environmental issues and challenges. As many as 1,800 people are expected to attend AFE this years meeting.
6th Annual Fletcher Arctic Conference, February 17-18, 2017 (Medford, MA USA). Fletcher Arctic VI, a TEDx-style event, will showcase the ideas, stories, and initiatives of people who live and work in the Arctic. The conference will bring together inspiring leaders, innovative business people, expert scientists, and artists from the pan-Arctic region. Building on The Fletcher School's interdisciplinary approach, Fletcher Arctic VI will be a forum to engage in conversation and spark open and constructive debate between speakers and participants, providing deep insights into this unique and rapidly changing region.
IV International Forum, March 2017 (Arkhangelsk, Russian Federation) Arkhangelsk will host the Forum. The Forum will be titled Human in the Arctic and will be aimed at putting together joint efforts of the international community to promote effective development of the Arctic region as a territory for comfort life, work and leisure. The Forum will be attended by government officials, representatives of international organizations and prominent business communities, centers for political studies, Polar researchers and members of the international Arctic expeditions, foreign political scientists and economists, Russian and foreign journalists from leading international media organizations. The Forum will be attended by the President of the Russian Federation, Mr. Vladimir Putin. Additional information will be announced here.
- The Arctic Cryosphere
- Pollution in the Arctic
- Human Health Aspects of Pollution and Climate Change
- Global and Arctic Systems Feedback Mechanisms
- Resilience within Arctic Ecosystems
- Science and Plicy Making
- Socio-Economic Drivers and Impacts of Arctic Change
Organizers announce a call for abstracts which are due by December 2, 2016. The event is organized by the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program (AMAP).
 Ninth International Congress of Arctic Social Sciences: People and Places (ICASS IX), June 8-12, 2017 (Umeå, Sweden).ICASS IX's theme is People & Place. Research on social sciences and humanities have a great responsibility to address the challenges for sustainable development in the Arctic, with a specific focus on the many different parts of the Arctic and the people that live there. The multiple Arctics have lately been addressed by many policy makers and researchers. The purpose is often to counteract the stereotypic understanding of the Arctic too often represented by icebergs and polar bears. A focus on people and place highlights the many variances across the region in terms of climate, political systems, demography, infrastructure, history, languages, legal systems, land and water resources etc.
- Small and off-grid community energy solutions
- Oil and gas development
- Renewable energy
- Regulation and Financing
- Transportation and transmission
The AES is a multi-disciplinary event expected to draw several hundred industry officials, scientists, academics, policy makers, energy professionals and community leaders together to collaborate and share leading approaches on Arctic energy issues.
 **New this week** Polar Law Symposium 2017 and Rovaniemi Arctic Spirit, November 13-16, 2017 (Rovaniemi, Finland). The purpose of the Polar Law Symposium is to examine, in detail, the implications of the challenges faced by the Polar Regions for international law and policy and to make recommendations on appropriate actions by states, policy makers and other international actors to respond to these emerging and re-emerging challenges. The Rovaniemi Arctic Spirit Conference is integrated with the Polar Law Symposium, which will be organized by the Northern Institute for Environmental and Minority Law at the Arctic Center of the University of Lapland.
 POLAR 2018, June 15-27, 2018 (Davos, Switzerland). POLAR2018 is a joint event from the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) and the International Arctic Science Committee (IASC). The SCAR meetings, the ASSW and the Open Science Conference will be hosted by the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL under the patronage of the Swiss Committee on Polar and High Altitude Research. The WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF is organizing POLAR2018.
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