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 Coastal Response Research Center Requests Input on the State of Science on Dispersant Use in the Arctic. The Coastal Response Research Center (CRRC) recently collected statements and reports on five topic areas related to dispersant use in the Arctic: efficacy and effectiveness; physical transport and chemical behavior; degradation and fate; eco-toxicity and sublethal impacts; and, public health and food safety. CRRC request written input on the statements the scientists made on the state-of-the-science regarding dispersant use, particularly as it applies to Arctic waters. Written comments are requested by July 13th. More information on this initiative is available here.
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Media
Beavers are Moving into the Arctic-You Can See it from Space. The Arctic tundra in Northwest Alaska is being colonized by a new species: beavers. Historical records and previous studies indicated that Alaska's boreal forests were the northern edge of the species. But a new analysis of satellite data shows the animals expanding past the treeline and into the Arctic. Alaska Public Radio
 With Warming Temperatures, Canada's Arctic Glaciers are Melting Faster. Most of Canada's Arctic glaciers are shrinking-and some are already gone. A survey of 1,773 glaciers across northern Ellesmere Island in Nunavut, Canada has found more than three-quarters had lost area between 1999 and 2015. Overall, the glaciers lost about six per cent of their total ice coverage, the equivalent of 1,705 square kilometers. Adrienne White, from the Laboratory of Cryospheric Research University of Ottawa, and her colleagues used optical satellite imagery to inventory and measure the area of the glaciers on Canada's northernmost island. Nunatsiaq Online
 Late Snowpack Signals a Lost Summer for Greenland's Shorebirds. Millions of shorebirds descend on the Arctic each year to mate and raise chicks during the tundra's brief burst of summer. But that burst, which usually begins in mid-June, never arrived this year for eastern Greenland's shorebirds, a set of ground-nesting species. Instead, a record late snowpack-lingering into July-sealed the birds off from food and nesting sites. Without these key resources avian migrants to the region will not reproduce in 2018, experts say. Breeding failures like this may grow more common because some climate change models predict increased springtime snow in the shorebirds' nesting habitat. Snowmelt usually allows shorebirds to begin nesting on eastern Greenland's treeless tundra during the first half of June, says Jeroen Reneerkens, an avian ecologist at the University of Groningen who has studied these birds since 2003. Scientific American Scientists Capture Massive Iceberg Breaking-And It Comes With a Serious Reminder. Video captured by New York University scientists of a massive iceberg in Greenland breaking apart offers a spectacular view. Recently published by the university, the footage shows an approximately 6.4-kilometer-long chunk of ice breaking off the Helheim Glacier. It was captured by NYU scientists David and Denise Holland around 11:30 p.m. local time on June 22, while they were on a research expedition. Global News
How (and why) to teach a polar bear to walk on a treadmill.
Tatqiq seemed unsure about the treadmill. After all, the 580-pound polar bear had never even seen such an apparatus, let alone walked on one. The first time it moved, Tatqiq just stood there and watched herself slide backwards. Nate Wagner, senior zookeeper at the San Diego Zoo, tried enticing her with a dead fish. Tatqiq took a tentative step forward, and then another-she couldn't resist a fish-flavored bribe. Those first few steps marked the start of a five-month training process teaching Tatqiq to walk on a treadmill not for exercise, but for science. In a recent study published in the Journal of Experimental Biology, biologists put bears on treadmills to determine how much energy it costs them to walk. Polar bear habitats in the Arctic are rapidly diminishing due to climate change, and the study data could help predict how much stamina these animals need to find food and survive as sea ice continues to disappear. Popular Science
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Future Events
17th International Congress of Circumpolar Health (ICCH17), August 12-15, 2018 (Copenhagen, Denmark). The ICCH congresses are held every third year in different locations in the circumpolar area and represent the largest scientific meetings worldwide on circumpolar health. The ICCH congresses serve as the primary source of information exchange and scholarly communication in issues relating to circumpolar health. More than 750 participants generally register and participate in each Congress, and more than 400 scientific papers or posters are usually presented.
UArctic Congress 2018, September 3-7, 2018 (Oulu and Helsinki, Finland). The UArctic Congress 2018 will bring together key UArctic meetings and a science conference into one single gathering, including business meetings of the Council of UArctic, Rectors' Forum, Student Forum, and Thematic Networks & UArctic Institutes Leadership Team. The Congress is an integral part of the Finland's Arctic Council chairmanship program, and open to the public. The event will highlight the themes and priorities of the Finnish chairmanship, including the goals of the United Nations' 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and the Paris Agreement under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.
Scientific Exploration of the Arctic and North Pacific (SEA-NorP), September 25-27, 2018 (Mt. Hood, Oregon USA). This workshop will include discussion of hypotheses that can be tested by scientific drilling in the region, the technology necessary to achieve those goals, ideal sites for drilling based on existing data, and where additional site survey data is needed. The goal of the workshop organizers is that multiple proposals will be initiated at the workshop, both for full cruise legs and for shorter, targeted expeditions around the following themes: ocean gateways, geohazards, volatile cycling, ice histories at transition zones, biosphere and climate.
The second Arctic Biodiversity Congress is hosted by the Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna (CAFF), the biodiversity working group of the Arctic Council, and the Ministry of the Environment, Finland. The second Arctic Biodiversity Congress will build on the success of the first Congress, held in 2014 in Trondheim, Norway, and will bring together scientists, policymakers government officials, Indigenous representatives, Traditional Knowledge holders, industry, non-governmental organizations, and others to promote the conservation and sustainable use of Arctic biodiversity.
** New this week ** Arctic Circle Assembly, October 2018 (Reykjavik, Iceland). The annual Arctic Circle Assembly is the largest annual international gathering on the Arctic, attended by more than 2000 participants from 60 countries. It is attended by heads of states and governments, ministers, members of parliaments, officials, experts, scientists, entrepreneurs, business leaders, indigenous representatives, environmentalists, students, activists and others from the growing international community of partners and participants interested in the future of the Arctic.
** New this week ** Arctic Science Forum Associated with the 2nd Arctic Science Ministerial, October 25, 2018 (Berlin, Germany and via webcast). How vulnerable and how resilient are nature and the people of the Arctic region? How well do we understand the regional and global dynamics which are driving change in the Arctic? What impact will change in the Arctic have on us? These and other questions are the focus of this two-day conference. It will take interdisciplinary research in the Arctic to gain an understanding of past and future processes - a complex and cost-intensive venture. This makes an international network of Arctic research so important for delivering better results. Cooperation in research, the exchange of data, collaborative observation and monitoring schemes - international cooperation is imperative in research on the Arctic. Only the Science Forum on October 25th will be webcast.
** New this week ** American Geophysical Union Fall meeting, December 10-14, 2018 (Washington, DC USA). The AGU 2018 Fall Meeting will mark another dynamic year of discovery in Earth and space science, serve as the advent of AGU's Centennial year, and provide a special opportunity to share our science with world leaders in Washington, D.C. As the largest Earth and space science gathering in the world, the Fall Meeting places you in the center of a global community of scientists drawn from myriad fields of study whose work protects the health and welfare of people worldwide, spurs innovation, and informs decisions that are critical to the sustainability of the Earth.
** New this week ** Arctic Frontiers, January 20-25, 2019 (Tromso, Norway). The Arctic Frontiers started out in 2006 assembling the first global scientific conference on economic, societal and environmental sustainable growth in the north. In January 2019, the hosts will arrange the 13th conference with the theme "Smart Arctic". The conference has a pan arctic perspective and builds new partnerships across nations, generations and ethnic groups. Arctic Frontiers provides a forum for dialogue and communication between science, government and industry in the Arctic. In 2019, the Arctic Frontiers plenary program will have five main sessions with the following tentative working titles: State of the Arctic, Blue Growth, Smart Solutions, Bridging the gap and Arctic business prospects. Following the plenary, we will organize an abstract driven science program addressing Plastics in the Ocean, the Future of Governance and Handling Vulnerability in Arctic Ecosystems, State of the Arctic and A Smart Arctic Future.
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