September 2, 2011

Arctic Sovereignty

Operation Nanook: Flexing Canadian Muscle in the Arctic (September 1, 2011): Climate change is causing consternation in aboriginal and environmental circles alike. But for some it represents opportunity, and the Arctic is becoming a proving ground for these issues as the five nations that claim boundaries within the Arctic Circle—Canada, the U.S., Russia, Denmark (Greenland) and Norway—jockey for position economically and politically. To this end Canada is more dependent than ever before on partnership with the Inuit, and they play a major role in the annual military exercises, Operation Nanook, that Prime Minister Stephen Harper has been conducting since first taking office in 2006.

National

Fisheries Ministers Renew Commitment to Sustainability and Prosperity of Canadian Fishing and Aquaculture Industry (September 1, 2011): The Canadian Council of Fisheries and Aquaculture Ministers concluded their annual meeting today with discussions on the need for Canada to maintain a leading position in a changing global fishing industry. The meeting was co-chaired by the Honourable Keith Ashfield, federal Minister of Fisheries and Oceans and the Honorable Daniel Shewchuk, Minister of Environment for the Government of Nunavut.

Fisheries officials meet in Iqaluit for federal talks (September 1, 2011): Maintaining healthy stocks of arctic char, turbot and shrimp in Nunavut will be a chief concern for the territory as fisheries officials from across Canada are meeting this week in Iqaluit for annual talks. The meeting of the Canadian Council of Fisheries and Aquacultures Ministers, which allows provinces and territories to engage in a dialogue with Federal Fisheries Minister Keith Ashfield, is being held for the first time in Nunavut.

Canadian icebreaker joins the polar parade (September 1, 2011): It’s getting almost crowded at the North Pole – and a lot easier to get there. Barely 10 days after the German icebreaker Polarstern reached the North Pole, the elderly Canadian icebreaker Louis St. Laurent and its newer, more powerful American consort, Healy, were only a few kilometres away and expected to reach the top of the world Friday.

Regional

Nunavik’s Proud Reunions rekindles pride — again (September 01, 2011): “Kids were pretty blown away by the activities and the Inuit culture” ….. Proud Reunions, which launched in Inukjuak in 2009, brings popular former teachers back to Nunavik to lead a week-long camp workshop for students, while training local youth as team leaders. The camp, held for a second year in Kangiqsujuaq this past August, kept youth busy camping, fishing and even swimming in the frigid river.

Gjoa Haven looks to September liquor vote (September 01, 2011): "Are you in favour of ending the current system of liquor prohibition?" People in Gjoa Haven will decide whether or not they want their community to remain dry in a liquor plebiscite to be held later this month. Residents of this Kitikmeot community, who are 19 and older, will be eligible to vote Sept. 12 in an advance poll or on the official plebiscite day of Sept. 19.

Canada’s Arctic communities unprepared for cruise ship visits: researchers (September 1, 2011): "They see it’s not bringing enough dollars and cents into the communities" As cruise ships visit certain Arctic communities in Canada more often, negative feelings about those cruise ships continue to grow, says a University of Ottawa researcher who’s directing a three-year, $250,000 federally-funded research project called “Cruise Tourism in Arctic Canada.” For this project, Jackie Dawson and other researchers visited Ulukhaktok, Cambridge Bay, Gjoa Haven, Pond Inlet, Nain and Kuujjuaq to learn what people across Canada’s Arctic think about cruises, how they’re dealing with cruise tourism, and what they want to see in the future if cruise numbers increase.

TSB team ends on-site probe of fatal Arctic crash (September 2, 2011): The Transportation Safety Board has completed the first stage of its investigation into the cause of the Aug. 20 crash of First Air flight 6560 near the Resolute Bay airport that killed 12 and injured three. Chris Krepski, a spokesman for the TSB, said Thursday the board's team of 23 investigators was on its way back to Ottawa. The TSB investigators expect to take many months to complete the investigation into the crash. Meanwhile, First Air said it has assumed responsibility for the final stages of the crash site remediation and environmental cleanup.

First Air gets help in crash cleanup (September 1, 2011): First Air is now in charge of cleaning up the plane wreckage in Resolute Bay, The company said they're in the final stages of remediating the crash site, and are working to restore it to its original state. But they're not alone; several groups have offered their two cents worth on the clean-up, including Water Earth Science Associates Limited, Atco Group and the local Hunters and Trappers Organization.

Sabina reports Nunavut Gold Results up to 14.62 g/t over 13.9m (September 1, 2011): Sabina Gold Silver Corp TSX:SBB announced results from its Back River Project in Nunavut. Assays include 14.62 g/t gold over 13.9 metres (including 27.56 g/t over 5 metres), 7.32 g/t over 24.4 metres (including 54.54 g/t over 1.6 metres), 5.47 g/t over 29 metres (including 9.33 g/t over 12 metres) and 7.28 g/t over 18.4 metres (including 17.42 g/t over 3 metres).

Oceanic Iron hits 39.9% iron over 35.85 metres at Ungava (September 1, 2011): Oceanic Iron Ore (CVE:FEO) Thursday announced assay results from its 2011 resource verification drilling program in the Hopes Advance area of its Ungava Bay iron deposit in the Nunavik Region of northern Quebec. The program focused on the Castle Mountain, Zone 2, and Zone 4 areas, and compared them to their corresponding historic drill hole, whose results are from the mid- to late-1950s.

Neglected Animal Situation Getting Desperate: Advocate (September 1, 2011): There are desperate cries out of Nova Scotia today pleading for something to be done about the stray dog and animal abuse issues in parts of Labrador. Shelly Cunningham is the owner of Litters 'n Critters in Halifax. With help from the SPCA in Goose Bay, Cunningham says her group has rescued about 1,000 dogs in Labrador in just five years. Cunningham is troubled by the amount of stray, abused and neglected dogs in northern Labrador.

Minister upbeat despite failure to find lost Franklin ships (September 1, 2011): Environment Minister Peter Kent said Thursday the Conservative government intends to continue supporting a Parks Canada hunt for the lost ships of the 19th-century Franklin Expedition, despite an August search in Arctic waters — the third in the past four summers — that failed to find the sunken HMS Terror and HMS Erebus. Kent expressed some disappointment that, "unfortunately, we have not yet found those fabled vessels," but added: "I can assure you that this will be an ongoing project."

Arctic wreck yields treasure trove of artifacts (September 2, 2011): Archeologists diving on a 19th century shipwreck have brought back a small cache of artifacts they hope will tell them more about the lost Franklin expedition. With youthful enthusiasm, veteran staff from Parks Canada showed off ship’s fittings, copper hull plates, a British marine musket from 1842 and a pair of shoes plucked from the deck of HMS Investigator just eight metres beneath the freezing Arctic waters.

Funding Announced for Makkovik and Hopedale Recreation Facilities (September 1, 2011): There were some big announcements made by the provincial government in Hopedale yesterday. $20.7 million dollars has been announced for the construction of recreation facilities in the communities of Hopedale and Makkovik. The Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and MHA for the Torngat Mountains district, Patty Pottle, made the announcement in her home community.

Appeal Filed in Woodrow Case (September 1, 2011): An appeal has been filed in the Woodrow case. Judge John Joy decided to dismiss two charges against Woodrow at the end of July during the court circuit in Nain. The charges were one count of forcible confinement and one count of assault. They stemmed from an incident involving a Nain woman, Audrey Nochasak, in May of 2009.

Production Wraps Up This Weekend at Nain Fish Plant (September 1, 2011): The Nain fish plant will be wrapping up production this weekend. Deidi Kohlmeister is the Office Supervisor for the plant. She says 11, 000 pounds of char has been smoked to date. Ten people are currently employed by the plant. Kohlmeister says the product will be shipped to Happy Valley-Goose Bay next week. She adds that Friday will be the last day for people to purchase smoked char from the plant.

Mobile Treatment Participants in Nain Entering Day Program (September 1, 2011): Participants of the Mobile Addictions Treatment Program in Nain will complete the pre-program this week. Elsie Diamond is the Addictions Worker for Department of Health and Social Development in Nain. She says 12 people will have completed the pre-program on Friday.

What if? Iqaluit responders ponder their options (September 2, 2011): A power outage in Iqaluit late last month left some people wondering “what if?” What if the power outage was total? What if it lasted a week? What if it happened in February? What if it coincided with a blizzard? The Aug. 29 power outage meant headaches for city business, but also resulted in a day off work for many government employees and a delay to the start of school for area students. Combine that with relatively warm and sunny weather and the whole thing felt more like the weekend than a civil emergency. But it doesn’t take much to imagine a major power failure becoming a serious public emergency.

Climate Change

Russia, US to study methane emission in Arctic (September 2, 2011): The 45-day expedition will focus on the sea shelf of the Laptev Sea, the East Siberian Sea and the Russian part of the Chukotka Sea, where 90 per cent of underwater permafrost is located. A group of 27 Russian and US scientists has left on board a research vessel to study unprecedented emission of methane gas in the eastern Arctic, which could lead to acceleration of global warming.

Arctic sea ice shrinks, ice-free summer looms (September 2, 2011): Arctic sea ice cover has already shrunk to its third lowest level on record this year, in an irreversible trend which may see an ice-free summer around 2030, said the head of the world's main monitoring centre. The sea ice area will be reduced further in the next two weeks, but was unlikely to beat a 2007 retreat in a 32-year satellite data record, said Mark Serreze, director of the US-based National Snow and Ice Data Center.

Climate change leads to arctic melt (September 1, 2011): There is a large globe on the first floor of Hege Library. Look at the axis in the arctic region and you will see that large areas of white cluster around the continents. This depiction becomes less accurate each year, as the area of the ice decreases as a result of climate change, reaching the lowest amount of sea ice for July this year, according to National Public Radio. "The Arctic keeps surprising us," said Director of the National Snow and Ice Data Center at the University of Colorado Mark Serreze, according to NPR, "The point is we're losing the sea ice faster than we think we ought to be. And this is causing us to revise some of our estimates.

Rowers concerned by lack of ice after navigating Arctic (September 1, 2011): The leader of a six-man European crew that recently rowed to the magnetic north pole says despite the beauty that surrounded them for the month-long history-making journey, the world needs to take notice of the concerning ice levels that made their accomplishment possible. Jock Wishart and his crew set out from Resolute Bay, Nunavut on July 29 and rowed their specialized boat more than 700 kilometres to the 1996 magnetic north pole, arriving at their destination on Aug. 25.

Market, Politicians Split on Climate Change (September 1, 2011): Hurricane Irene’s residue is likely to include a confusing debate over whether insurers or property owners are responsible for storm-caused water damage. There’s no lack of clarity, however, over whether the insurance industry believes in climate change and its ties to lethal weather: It does. As Bloomberg Businessweek reports in its Sept. 5 issue, the industry has absorbed many lessons from Sept. 11 about anticipating risk. One is that the recent spate of weather extremes is likely to continue -- and the insurance market must reflect that.

Arctic will transform into greenhouse gas source by 2100 (September 1, 2011): Thawing of Arctic permafrost will likely dump 68 billion extra tons of carbon into the air before 2100, giving global warming an unexpected jolt and transforming the Far North into one of the world’s net sources for climate-changing greenhouse gases, according to a new study by an international team of scientists. That amount of carbon equals about 7.5 years of emissions by every person on Earth at current rates — including all of the exhaust from all of the world’s cars, semi-trucks, jets, ships, power plants and factories over the course of 2,737 days.

Mass walrus haul-outs, polar bear cub mortality linked to climate change (September 1, 2011): Recent, unprecedented walrus haul-outs and increased instances of long-distance swims by polar bears show the direct impacts on wildlife of dwindling Arctic sea ice from climate change. These threatened species also face the prospect of offshore drilling in the Arctic after the Obama Administration recently approved a number of plans to move forward on oil exploration.

Arctic wildfires may boost climate change (September 1, 2011): Wildfires in the Arctic have been becoming more frequent in recent years. Now new research shows that these fires may be increasing the rate of global warming. Analysis of a burn scar from a large tundra fire reveals that large amounts of carbon were released.

Other

Northern Sea Route transit success (September 2, 2011): Sovcomflot’s Suezmax ‘Vladimir Tikhonov’ completed her transit of the Northern Sea Route (NSR) when she recently passed Cape Dezhnev (see Tanker Operator News 26/8). This is claimed to be the most difficult part of the high-latitude route from Europe to Asia through the Arctic. The Suezmax passage followed a new deepwater route to the north of the New Siberian Islands archipelago. 'Vladimir Tikhonov' is carrying more than 120,000 tonnes of gas condensate, which constitutes the largest vessel and cargo carried through the NSR thus far.

UK's first Amundsen exhibition celebrates extraordinary explorer (August 2, 2011): The snowshoes, knife and boots belonging to Roald Amundsen as he led the first team to reach the South Pole are among objects on display in the UK’s first ever full-scale exhibition on the life of the Norwegian explorer, opening at the Polar Museum on September 2.

An unforgettable experience north of 60 (September 2, 2011): The hamlet of Tuktoyaktuk, Northwest Territories and the City of Leduc may not have much in common and are located thousands of kilometers apart, but Leduc resident Andrea Wan formed a connection between the two communities after spending five weeks in the far northern community this summer. Wan travelled to Tuktoyaktuk to spend time speaking with, learn about and to help the youth of the hamlet for a five-week period and the experience was one she will never forget about.