Arctic

WASHINGTON, Aug. 25, 2008 – The Coast Guard is testing and compiling initial lessons learned from its ongoing Arctic operations, a senior officer said last week.

“It became obvious to me 18 months to two years ago that with the retreat of the multiyear polar sea ice, the Coast Guard was going to have to do more than it had in the past to provide maritime safety and security to northern and western Alaska, the Arctic Ocean and the Beaufort Sea,” Coast Guard Rear Adm. Arthur E. Brooks, commander of the 17th Coast Guard District, told bloggers and online journalists during a teleconference on Aug. 21.    » read more »

05/14/2008 -- WASHINGTON, DC – Senator John Kerry made the following statement today after Sec. of Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne announced that he would list the polar bear as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. Kerry sponsored legislation earlier this year to protect polar bear habitat from drilling in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas, and he wrote a letter to Kempthorne earlier this week, asking that he adhere to a Federal court-ordered deadline by listing the polar bear under the Endangered Species Act.

Polar bear cub near Svalbard, Norway: Photo by Amanda Graham (CC)    » read more »

April 1, 2008 -- WASHINGTON -- This month, NASA begins the most extensive field campaign ever to investigate the chemistry of the Arctic's lower atmosphere. The mission is poised to help scientists identify how air pollution contributes to climate changes in the Arctic.

Preparations for the NASA ARCTAS field campaign: Chris Cantrell and Becky Anderson of the National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, Colo., assess an instrument’s operation on NASA's DC-8 aircraft during preparations for the ARCTAS field campaign. Photo: NASA    » read more »

February 11, 2008 -- New Arctic sea floor data released today by the University of New Hampshire and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) suggests that the foot of the continental slope off Alaska is more than 100 nautical miles farther from the U.S. coast than previously assumed.

The data, gathered during a recent mapping expedition to the Chukchi Cap some 600 nautical miles north of Alaska, could support U.S. rights to natural resources of the sea floor beyond 200 nautical miles from the coast.    » read more »

Alaska Natives and Conservation Groups Challenge Lease Sale

Juneau, AK (January 31, 2008) - Alaska Natives and conservation groups joined forces today to fight oil drilling in the Arctic’s Chukchi Sea. Thirty million acres of key polar bear, walrus, and whale habitat in the Chukchi Sea are scheduled to open to oil and gas companies on February 6, when the U.S. Interior Department’s Minerals Management Service (MMS) plans to hold bidding for drilling leases.    » read more »

Continues effort started by former Delaware Senator Bill Roth

November 7, 2007 -- Washington, DC – U.S. Senator Joe Biden (D-DE) joined his colleagues in the Senate today to support the Arctic Wilderness Act, a critical step towards preserving the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). The Act, introduced today by Senator Joe Lieberman (ID-CT), designates the coastal plain of ANWR as a wilderness area, ensuring that one of our nation’s last unspoiled natural landscapes is protected from attempts to open it for oil development.    » read more »

Mission part of increase in Arctic operations

Oct. 25, 2007 -- WASHINGTON – The U.S. Coast Guard announced a C-130 departed Barrow, Alaska today to fly 1,183 miles to the North Pole as part of an increase in Arctic orientation flights. The crew, which includes a representative from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Barrow community, will assess changes in maritime activity in the region as recently observed climate changes provide greater access to the Arctic.    » read more »