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Arctic Reading for the Quarantine:
Newly shared reports this week.
(National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Arctic Program) Arctic Report Card, 2019. Issued annually since 2006, the Arctic Report Card is a timely and peer-reviewed source for clear, reliable and concise environmental information on the current state of different components of the Arctic environmental system relative to historical records. The Report Card is intended for a wide audience, including scientists, teachers, students, decision-makers and the general public interested in the Arctic environment and science.
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Sea Ice Below Normal Despite a Seasonal Bump. The 2019-2020 winter was warm for most of the middle latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere. Not so in the Arctic, where persistent cold air helped sea ice grow to a larger extent than in several recent years. Still, there was not enough growth during the fall and winter months to bring sea ice back to long-term average levels. NASA
Fragments of an Ancient Lost Continent Have Been Discovered in the Canadian Arctic. Rocks from a lost continent that broke up around 150 million years have been discovered deep beneath Baffin Island in northern Canada, providing new insights into the size and location of this ancient landmass. The remarkable discovery was made entirely by accident when a team of scientists rummaged through a bunch of kimberlite rock samples that had been collected from the Chidliak Kimberlite Province by a diamond exploration company. IFL Science
Arctic Deserts and Tundra Shrink 16% Over 65 Years. Over the past decades, the global climate change has led to a major transformation of the vegetation cover and terrain on a global scale. Similar changes are simultaneously occurring in many regions around the world, but they are especially noticeable in natural areas with the most extreme climatic conditions, such as the Arctic or the Sahara Desert. According to an American study, the Arctic tundra-glacier region shrank 16% during 1950-2015, while the northern border of the taiga climate zone became displaced about 50 km poleward. The Arctic
Russian Scientists Find Microplastics in Russian Barents Sea. The Russian part of the Barents Sea is heavily polluted with microplastics. According to specialists from the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute of the Federal Service for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring (Roshydromet), in terms of microplastics concentrations, the water area is comparable to the most polluted territories on the planet. The Arctic
American Polar Society Wants You! Since 1934, the American Polar Society has brought together scientists, entrepreneurs, explorers, contractors, military personnel and policy makers-people who make the polar regions matter. We publish a full-color journal, The Polar Times, and organize periodic symposia to keep our select community updated on trends and developments in the Arctic and Antarctic. We're in a rebuilding phase and need your energy, your enthusiasm and your skill sets. Whether you're already a member or a potential member, or just want to learn more, please let us hear from you at americanpolar1@gmail.com. And please check out our new, award-winning website, www.americanpolar.org. Let's expand horizons together in 2020!
NOAA Job Opportunity: Arctic Program Director. NOAA is seeking a physical scientist to serve as the Arctic Research Program Director, providing leadership, management oversight, direction, and overall day-to-day management for NOAA's Arctic Research Program (ARP). ARP provides support for carrying out a research program to develop, maintain and extend Arctic observing systems targeting the ocean, marine, and sea-ice environments. The Arctic Research Program Director develops the strategic vision and other planning and budget documents and presentations to guide the program in consultation with the GOMO Director; proposes, defends and manages the program budget; and monitors the performance of the ARP. She/he conducts long-range planning and sets goals and priorities; guides staff, and ensures effective, timely and economical accomplishment of program objectives. She/he contributes leadership for Arctic research within OAR and represents OAR and NOAA at scientific, intra- and inter agency, and international meetings. USAJobs
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Future Events
Ground Truth Briefing: Russia's Military Posture in the European Arctic, March 26, 2020 (By-phone meeting). The Arctic has been widely understood by coastal states to be an area of "low tension." However, the Arctic is not insulated from global security challenges, especially those around the impacts of climate change, and the period of Arctic exceptionalism is coming to an end. Mathieu Boulègue, Katarina Kertysova, and Michael Sfraga will consider Russia's military posture in the European Arctic and seek to explain Moscow's military build-up in the region, Russia's general force posture, and its impact for NATO and its allies.
** Updated ** Ice Core Science Community Planning Workshop 2020, April 2-3, 2020 (Virtual Meeting Only). Please note, this event is meeting virtually only now. Scientific discoveries achieved in the Arctic and Antarctic ice sheets and temperate glaciers are critical to society today, but they are not achieved without significant advance planning. The U.S. Ice Drilling Program (IDP) will sponsor an interdisciplinary ice community workshop to identify science driving future Arctic and Antarctic ice coring sites, the ice drilling technology that will be needed, and the timeline over the coming decade for advancing ice core science on multiple frontiers. The outcome of the workshop will be white papers describing community endeavors with associated timelines that will become part of the updated U.S. Ice Drilling Program Long Range Science Plan.
NOAA Deep Sea Coral Research and Technology Program Webinar Series, April 16, 2020 (Webinar). Deep-sea coral and sponge communities in the Aleutian Islands are important habitat features for many life stages of commercially important fish targets, including Atka mackerel, Pacific cod, and rockfish. The effects of commercial fishing activities on deep-sea corals and sponges has been difficult to quantify due to a lack of spatially-explicit fishery data, bottom contact by different gear types, undetermined location of corals and sponges, and the susceptibility and recovery dynamics these structure-forming invertebrates (SFI). To address these challenges, a fishing effects model was developed in the North Pacific to integrate spatially explicit VMS data with target-specific gear configurations for over 40,000 bottom trawls since 2003. Fishery observer coverage for Aleutian Island trawl fisheries is nearly 100 percent and records catch species composition. Species distribution models provide presence data for coral, sponge, Primnoidae, and Stylasteridae.
** Updated ** Securing S&T Success for the Coming Arctic, April 22-23, 2020 (Washington, DC USA). The Arctic Domain Awareness Center hosts this annual meeting. The meeting will review the Center's current research and discuss better leveraging ADAC. The agenda includes discussions regarding the transition of ADAC's mature research and the initiation of new research associated with ADAC's recently awarded projects from ADAC's Arctic Incidence of National Significance 2019 workshop. Cancelled
ICESAT-2 Cryospheric Science Hackweek, June 15-19, 2020 (Seattle, Washington USA). ICESat-2 Cryospheric Science Hackweek is a 5-day hackweek to be held at the University of Washington. Participants will learn about technologies used to access and process ICESat-2 data with a focus on the cryosphere. Mornings will consist of interactive lectures, and afternoon sessions will involve facilitated exploration of datasets and hands-on software development.
Arctic Circle Assembly, October 8-11, 2020 (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.
3rd Arctic Science Ministerial, November 21-22, 2020 (Toyko, Japan). Since the last Arctic Science Ministerial in 2018, changes in the Arctic ecosystem and the resulting impacts locally and globally have been severely felt. While the reasons for these changes in climate largely stem from activities outside of the Arctic, the Arctic is warming at a rate of nearly double the global average. Considering the need for climate change mitigation, adaptation, and repair measures, the relevance of an international Arctic Science Ministerial has never been greater. It is necessary to strengthen scientific cooperation and collaboration among both Arctic and non-Arctic States in order to develop our understanding of the rapid changes impacting the Arctic. The First Arctic Science Ministerial (ASM1) was hosted by the United States in 2016, and two years later, the Second Arctic Science Ministerial (ASM2) was co-hosted by Germany, Finland, and the European Commission. The Third Arctic Science Ministerial will be co-hosted by Iceland and Japan.
Arctic Science Summit Week, March 20-26, 2021 (Lisbon, Portugal). The Portuguese Minister of Science, Technology and Higher Education, the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) and the Local Organizing Committee will host the Arctic Science Summit Week 2021. The Conference is organized by FCT, Ciência Viva, AIR Center, the Portuguese Arctic Community and by IASC and partners. Framed by the overarching theme for the Science Conference "The Arctic: Regional Changes, Global Impacts," Lisbon invites International experts on the Arctic and Indigenous Peoples to discuss the "New Arctic" and also its impacts and interactions to and with the lower latitudes.
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