The website for the Arctic Science Summit Week (ASSW) 2015 in Toyama (Japan) is now available.
The ASSW 2015 will be held on 23-30, April 2015 and include the final event of the 3rd International Conference on Arctic Research Planning (ICARP III).
For more information please see the enclosed first circular or visit the website
First Circular is now available.
Click here to visit new ICARP III website.
The Asia – Arctic website has been now released.
The website is an outcome of the cooperation between the Norwegian Research Council, the Fridtjof Nansen Institute and the Norwegian Institute for Defense Studies.
Cooperation between listed organizations was established in order to create platform for research program that investigates Asian countries ‘policies and interest in the Arctic.
The AsiArctic.no provides with valuable information about the research and publications as well as information on upcoming events.
The aim of this platform is to become the go – to place for knowledge and information on Asian Arctic interests and policies.
The official launch of the website will take place in Kiruna during the seminar ´´ Asian – Arctic aspirations´´.
The key note speaker will be Torgeir Larsen, State Secretary in the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Representatives from the Asian region and AsiArctic scholars will provide comments for discussion.
The seminar is scheduled for Tuesday, 13th of June at the Fridtjof Nansen Institute. For more information and to register for the event, please click here.
Source
A new website was launched today, PAGE21.eu. The EU funded project brings leading scientists together studying permafrost.
Permafrost is defined as ground that remains continuously at or below 0°C or at least two consecutive years; some 24% of the land surface in the northern Hemisphere is classified as permafrost.
The main research question is: What happens when the vast amounts of carbon in Arctic soils are released to the atmosphere?
Fieldresearchers, operators of long term observatories and modellers from 18 partner institutions in the EU intend to answer this question within the PAGE21 project.
By pooling expertise from various subjects, the scientists aim to deliver a valuable foundation for the United Nations 5th World Climate Report.
Arctic Portal designed, programed and hosts the website, which is indeed inspired by permafrost. Arctic Portal also works on data managment for the project.
Science Nordic is a newly opened independent website for science news in english from the Nordic countries. The web site is a welcomed forum for Arctic research available in English.
ScienceNordic is the result of a joint effort from two well-established science news services in the region, Forskning.no in Norway and Videnskab.dk in Denmark, who work in close collaboration with partners in Sweden, Finland, Iceland, Greenland, the Faroe Islands and Åland.
The site covers everything from human sciences to natural science, health and technology.
On the site now are articles on things like the connection between glaciers and the brain and another and many others.
The site wants to rech out to the research community across the globe: researchers, students, the business sector, innovation clusters, international institutions and media – along with anybody else whose heart and mind is moved by science.
A website has been launched where tourists are encouraged to boycott Iceland as their vacation destination due to the country’s whaling policy. Iceland is among other nations, such as Canada, Norway, Japan and the United States that carry out whaling. The website “rescuethewhales.org” maintains that Iceland is whaling endangered species. The misunderstanding might arrive from the hunt of fin whales in Icelandic and adjacent waters. According to the International Whaling Commission (IWC) fin whales are endangered in the Southern Hemisphere but not in the North Atlantic Ocean. Assessments of the population status in the central North Atlantic and off West Greenland have shown populations to be in a healthy state.
The aim of the group behind the website, rescuethewhales.org is to damage Icelandic economy by appealing to the public not to visit the country and therefore try to undermine its tourism. It is stated in the website that Iceland is a small country where the economy is small and dependent on few large industries, such as tourism. Icelandic economy is similar to other small economies within the Arctic region, being dependent on natural resources and increasingly on tourism. Actions based in many occasions on emotions, as mentioned at the website, rescuethewhales.org could therefore have severe consequences to economies such as Iceland.
According to the Icelandic fisheries portal, at least 12 species of whales, dolphins, and porpoises occur regularly in Icelandic waters and 11 other have been recorded more sporadically. Out of those 23 species that are recorded around Iceland, two are scientifically assessed and annual catch recommendations based on that, fin whale and minke whale. The Icelandic Ministry of Fisheries and Agriculture considers whaling as sustainable and the Icelandic whaling policy is based on precautionary approach. This means that the whale stocks benefit of the doubt. In context with whaling, a quota is issued where number of whales captured does not exceed future sustainable development of the stock.
The Icelandic Marine Research Institute, in collaboration with the North Atlantic Marine Mammal Commission (NAMMCO) and the IWC estimates that the stock of fin whale around Jan Mayen, Greenland and Iceland is from 21.000 – 24.000 animals. On the basis of the assessment conducted within the Scientific Committees of the IWC and NAMMCO, the Icelandic Marine Research Institute recommended annual catches of up to 150 fin whales as sustainable and precautionary. The catch can go up to 200 animals if adjacent waters in East of Greenland and Jan Mayen are taken into consideration.
As reported by the Icelandic Marine Research Institution, the minke whale stock around Iceland is considered to be close to pre-exploitation abundance, and historic catches were not thought to have affected the stock 
appreciably. An aerial survey conducted in coastal Icelandic waters in 2007 showed lower abundance estimates than previous surveys, or 10 700 and 15 100, depending on the method of analysis. A survey conducted in 2008 showed much higher densities, indicating that the unusually low densities in 2007 were due to a temporary shift in distribution within the population area. Based on a stock assessments conducted by the Scientific Committees of NAMMCO and the IWC, it was recommend by the Icelandic Marine Research Institute that annual catches of common minke whales from the Central North Atlantic stock do not exceed 216 animals in the Icelandic continental shelf area.
The Icelandic Ministry of Fisheries and Agriculture followed the scientific recommendations of the Marine Research Institute and issued annual quota for 2009 – 2014 of 200 fin whales and 200 minke whales. However, in the last two years Icelandic whalers whaled less than 400 animals, meaning that the maximum quota was not reach. As published on the web of the Icelandic Ministry of Fisheries and Agriculture, the country has conducted responsible harvest of marine creatures for years and aims to continue to do, for it is known that the country needs to rely on its renewable marine resources.
The issue of whaling is highly sensitive matter. The discourse, however, should be about responsible and sustainable harvesting of living resources, where current utilization does not threat future development and growth of those resources. Sustainable use of North-Atlantic renewable marine resources and harvest of whales and other species is an important issue and should be applied whenever possible.
The aim of the anti whaling campaign against Iceland is to damage its economy by appealing to people to boycott Iceland as a travel destination. Whaling is a sensitive issue where advocates portray their views. However some mistakes are sometimes made, as with the rescuethewhales.org campaign. Their logos state that Iceland whales endangered species, which is incorrect. Another mistake is to use humpback whales in the logo to the right. Humpback whales are preserved in Iceland, as in Alaska where the photo is taken.
Sources and further information:
International Whaling Commission
North Atlantic Marine Mammal Commission
Icelandic Marine Research Institute
Icelandic Ministry of Fisheries and Agriculture
International Polar Year (IPY) has launched a new website in association with the Arctic Portal. The IPY is a huge exciting scientific campaign focusing on the Polar Regions. It is also an unprecedented opportunity to demonstrate, follow, and get involved with, cutting edge science in real-time.
The IPY is a collaborative, international effort researching the Polar Regions. The polar areas have many unique phenomena. Circulatory systems for air and water reach the surface, as do the majority of the Earth’s magnetic field lines. Thick glaciers have trapped air and water from ancient times. It is easiest to observe these phenomena near the poles.
Unfortunately, the poles are expensive places to visit, because they are distant, cold and deserted; infrastructure is sparse and the terrain is rough in polar regions (often consisting of ice blocks with crevasses between them). International cooperative programs share the costs and maximize the number of coordinated scientific observations. The IPY is the most famous example of such a cooperative program.
On the IPY website it is possible to follow various IPY projects through blogs from the projects. In the news section it is also possible to read news from various projects within the IPY. There is also a comprehensive list of links and other resources regarding IPY issues.
Recently the Association of Early Career Polar Scientists launched a new website.The outlook of the website has been changed and some new features have been added. The new site features a fully searchable membership directory to find colleagues and for prospective employers to search for new hires. There is also a new and improved discussion board that is refered to as the APECS Student Lounge.
APECS is an international and interdisciplinary organization for undergraduate and graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, early faculty members, educators and others with interests in Polar Regions and the wider cryosphere. Our aims are to stimulate interdisciplinary and international research collaborations, and develop effective future leaders in polar research, education and outreach.
APECS’ goals include creating opportunities for the development of innovative, international, and interdisciplinary collaborations among current early career polar researchers as well as recruiting, retaining and promoting the next generation of polar enthusiasts.
To learn more about APECS, please visit their website www.apecs.is