October 6, 2011

International

Russia grants €10 million to Arctic environment (October 6, 2011): We want the Arctic to be clean, says Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, Yuri Trutnev. The Russian government agrees to put cash on the table for implementation of the Arctic Council’s environmental priority projects. The funding will go to pollution preventing initiatives in the Arctic and the funds will be administrated by the Nordic Environment Finance Corporation (NEFCO).

To Rule the Arctic’s Waves, U.S. Can’t Waive the Rules (October 5, 2011): The melting of Arctic ice as a result of global warming has set off a race to capitalize on the polar region’s suddenly accessible resources and expanding navigable waterways. Yet even as Canada, Russia and others stake their claims to this potential bounty of economic and trade opportunities, the U.S. is choosing to sit on the sidelines. Why? Because it won’t sign on to the rules of the game: the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. The opponents justify their obduracy by citing a nonexistent threat to national sovereignty. The greater threat to the U.S. lies in its continued failure to ensure it will have a central role on this new frontier.

Canada Command Hosts Tabletop Arctic Search and Rescue Exercise in the Yukon (October 5, 2011): A two-day table top exercise begins in Whitehorse, Yukon for international search and rescue (SAR) specialists from the eight Arctic Council states. This will be the first ever gathering of international SAR delegations to discuss joint strategic and operational aspects of aeronautical and maritime search and rescue in the Arctic, according to Canada Command’s press release.

Russia claims new Arctic hydrocarbon finds effectively double nations reserves (October 5, 2011): Russia, currently vying for the title of world's top oil producer with Saudi Arabia, claimed that new findings in its offshore Arctic territories have effectively doubled the nation's energy reserves.

National

Vigils held for missing, murdered aboriginal women in Canada (October 5, 2011): Groups across Canada, including several communities in the northwestern Yukon territory, gathered yesterday to remember and honour missing or murdered aboriginal women,. The Sisters in Spirit campaign, part of the Native Women's Association of Canada, dedicated Oct. 4 as a day of vigil and will also hold events in nine provinces including Ontario, Alberta, British Columbia, Quebec and Nova Scotia as well as the Northwest Territories.

Regional

Inuktitut con artist preying on Baffin elders (October 5, 2011): Man phones elders, grabs credit card, banking info An Inuktitut speaking man is telephoning elders in the Qikiqtaaluk region of Nunavut and attempting to acquire personal credit card and banking information from them, the Qikiqtani Inuit Association said in a news release issued Oct. 5. “Elder abuse is not acceptable and must not continue. I urge the caller to stop such crime and I urge people in the communities to come forward if they have any information about the person making these calls,” QIA president Okalik Eegeesiak said.

Arctic resource development needs less talk, more communication: researcher (October 5, 2011): “Consultation has become the norm, but it’s not enough" While oil, gas and mineral exploration revs up across the Arctic, Inuit want to play a larger role in resource development, said Jessica Shadian, a senior researcher at Bodø University in Norway, speaking at this week’s Arctic in Transition conference in Montreal. But all too often they’re left out of the loop, she said during an Oct. 4 conference session. “While the Arctic is owned and governed by eight Arctic states, it’s also owned by the [Inuit] who call it home,” she said. “Their argument is that they’re the owners, they’re stakeholders. [So] should industry only be talking to the national governments?”

Nunavik women’s association gets back on its feet (October 5, 2011): Group elects a new president Lisa Koperqualuk After suffering months of upheaval, following the resignation of former president Lizzie Tukai, Saturviit, the Nunavik women’s association, now has a new board, elected during its recent annual general meeting in Kangiqsujuaq

Nunavik’s mining boom won’t bring profits to its people: Laval researcher (October 5, 2011): “The government has all kinds of pious intentions" The mining boom that’s gearing up in Nunavik will bring very little profit to the people who live in the region, says Laval university sociologist Gérard Duhaime. Quebec’s Plan Nord, which hopes to pave the way for mining development across the North, has promised billions of dollars and jobs for Nunavimmiut, Duhaime told the Arctic in Transition conference in Montreal Oct. 4. But, as it stands now, people there have very little control over resource local developments, he said.

Cape Dorset pulls out of social housing (October 5, 2011): Nunavut to form separate housing authority The Hamlet of Cape Dorset will get out of the management of social housing in the community by April 1, 2012, when an appointed local housing authority will take over, the Nunavut Housing Corp. announced Sept. 29. Cape Dorset first took responsibility for social housing in the mid-1990s, through an agreement with the Government of the Northwest Territories, under a territorial policy called “community empowerment.” But that arrangement, which Nunavut inherited in 1999, is no longer suitable for Cape Dorset, the community’s mayor said.

Aariak names Schell to Human Resources (October 5, 2011): South Baffin MLA Fred Schell, who MLAs chose Sept. 28 to fill a vacant cabinet seat, will serve as minister in charge of the Human Resources department, Premier Eva Aariak announced Oct. 5 “I am pleased to present him with responsibility for the Department of Human Resources. This department faces many unique challenges and opportunities…,” Aariak said in a news release.

Kivalliq Appoints Jonathon Singh Interim CFO (October 5, 2011): Kivalliq Energy Corporation CA:KIV +2.33%  (the "Company" or "Kivalliq") today provided a corporate update with respect to management changes. Kivalliq's board of directors has named Mr. Jonathan Singh as the Company's interim chief financial officer ("CFO").

Arctic environmental assessment too complex and uncertain: report  (October 5, 2011): More studies have concluded that environmental assessments on Arctic resource developments that northerners depend on to create jobs are slow, confusing and often more stringent than they would be in the south. “Processes are used as an open forum for all issues in the region and reviewers use (them) to forward organizational or individual agendas that may not be related to the specific application,” says an audit done for Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development. “These uncertainties can lead to ‘public concern’ … and referral to environmental assessment for some projects that would not typically require such scrutiny.”

Research Sheds Light on Substance Abuse Among Nain and Postville Students (October 5, 2011): Some new research has shed some light on substance abuse among school students in Nain and Postville. Natasha Brunelle is a Researcher with the University of Quebec. She says they interviewed 107 students in Nain and Postville in 2009. The subjects ranged in age from 11-20-years-old. A questionnaire asked students about their alcohol and drug use habits.

Third crash underlines need for improved SAR in Arctic: analyst (October 5, 2011): "We need to have at least some type of enhanced search and rescue capability in the North" Three recent fatal air crashes in Canada’s North should put more pressure on federal government to create more search-and-rescue capacity for the region, an analyst said Wednesday. Although three recent crashes may simply come down to bad luck with no apparent common safety link, Robert Kokonis said the incidents continue to highlight the need for permanent rescue resources in the Arctic.

Climate Change

Climate change eradicating Arctic's oldest ice (October 5, 2011): The Arctic's oldest, thickest sea ice — much of which used to survive the year's warmest months — had all but disappeared by the end of this summer's near-record meltdown, according to new U.S. analyses that vividly show how the circumpolar region is being transformed by warmer temperatures and other features of climate change. In reports issued this week by NASA and the associated National Snow and Ice Data Center, the respective teams of U.S. scientists offered end-of-season overviews of the state of the northern cryosphere that emphasized not only the severe shrinkage of the ice cover for the fifth straight year, but also the widespread replacement of the Arctic's most mature ice masses by much younger, thinner and weaker sheets of ice.

Changing Arctic: U.S. should be a contender, not a pretender (October 5, 2011): On Sept. 15, the National Snow and Ice Data Center released data suggesting that 2011 was the second lowest Arctic Ocean ice extend year on record since 1979. Without question, diminishing Arctic ice is a reality. The only debate may be how much change is naturally cyclical and how much is anthropogenic. While the data may appear to suggest that maintaining polar icebreaking capabilities is inconsistent with a rapidly waning ice cap, the reality is that as long as the Earth remains tilted 23 and half degrees to the sun, the Arctic polar cap will accrete for half the year, resulting in greater demand for icebreaking services than in any other period in Arctic transportation history.

Consensus is Growing Around the Need for Geoengineering (October 5, 2011): Geoengineering -- deliberate, planetary-scale efforts to counter the impact of climate change -- is so controversial that a high-powered 18-member Washington task force that spent almost two years studying the idea couldn't decide what to call it. Most want to rename it "climate remediation." A few want to stick with geoengineering. But all agreed that, whatever you call it, the U.S. government should begin "a coordinated federal research program to explore the potential effectiveness, feasibility, and consequences of climate remediation technologies."

Staggering Arctic map shows how impassable Northwest Passage is opening up as polar ice caps melt (October 6, 2011): This staggering image shows how cracks in the ice big enough for ships to sail through have appeared across the Arctic. The near-record summer ice melt in the region has seen shipping channels of the Northwest Passage carved open. And scientific climate predictions have suggested that the Arctic could lose almost all of its summer ice cover by 2100 - forcing polar bears to swim more than they walk.

Other

US Moves Diplomatically Against Whaling (October 6, 2011): U.S. President Barack Obama has decided to impose diplomatic rather than trade sanctions on Iceland because of the country’s whale-hunting activities. He has implemented an instrument known as the Pelly Amendment, also known as Section 8 of the Fisherman's Protective Act. This is a law from 1978 that allows the U.S. President to ban the import of products from countries that allow fishing operations or trade that diminish the effectiveness of an international fishery conservation programme for endangered or threatened species.

Decline of Canada’s Arctic Ice Shelves: Canada’s Arctic ice shelves, which extend from land onto the Arctic Ocean, have lost about half of their size in the last six years, according to scientists at Carleton University in Ottawa. In these satellite images, taken at the end of August, 2005 and August, 2011, respectively, the Ellesmere Island ice shelves are outlined in black. In the 2011 image, the Serson shelf, located on the far left, has decreased in size significantly, while the Ward Hunt shelf, located on the far right, has split into two pieces.

BP delays Alaska offshore oil field for custom rig review (October 5, 2011): With drilling plans halted last year pending an equipment review, when will BP reach its Liberty offshore oil prospect in Alaska's Arctic? Around the same time the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, contracted by BP, disastrously attempted to set new depth records in the Gulf of Mexico, BP had another technologically remarkable project under way in the Arctic. From an island-based well in Prudhoe Bay in northern Alaska, BP's Liberty project was set to bore beneath the Beaufort Sea and snake through miles of bedrock to reach a 100-million-barrel reservoir. Whether BP will pull it off remains to be seen. No drilling has begun. No big profits have started to flow.