Arctic Portal

Ice Strenghtened Passenger ship Clipper Adventurer hits Uncharted Rock in the Arctic Ocean

karilarusson@gmail.com (Kári Fannar Lárusson) — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 10:07:59 GMT

The ice strengthened passenger ship Clipper Adventurer( formally ALLA TARASOVA) ran aground on the 27. of August on a uncharted rock in the Arctic Ocean. The ship which is a 330 foot vessel equipped with an A-1 Ice class and was currently on a cruise with 128 passengers and 69 crew members.

Several attempts where maid to free the ship, with the passengers on board, with little or nor result. Yesterday the passengers where transported on board the icebreaker AMUNDSEN and transported to Kugluktuk in the Kitikmeot Region of Nunavut, Canada- From there the passengers will be flown to Edmonton in Canada.

Efforts to free the ship which remains upright will continue, the wheather is reported calm at the moment so it should offer good condition's for such an activity

Source: Maritimematters.com

For more information about arctic shipping please visit the Arctic Portal Shipping Portlet

{interMap(mapID=26,groupID=34)}

Historic voyage as the first non-russian bulk carrier to take the northern sea-route

karilarusson@gmail.com (Kári Fannar Lárusson) — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 11:39:42 GMT

During this summer there have been quite some news in connection to the northern sea-route, and it seems that even the most optimistic of projections will reveal themselves to be to modest- Recently the Arctic Portal published news on the first high capacity oil tanker going through the Northeast passage and now the first non-Russian bulk carrier to go through the Arctic.

The bulk carrier MV Nordic Barents, what is especially noteworthy of this trip is that it is the first time that a non-Russian cargo vessel sails this route- which is partially through Russian waters. The Northern Sea Route Administration under the Ministry of Transportation and Rosatomflot, which operate the Russian national ice-breaking fleet, have given the project approval.

The planing of the trip has demanded close cooperation between Russian, Norwegian and Danish parties and will hopefully be the first of many such ventures.

The vessel will start it's journey from Kirkenes Norway, carrying approximately 41.000 tons of Iron ore concentrate headed for china and is estimated to shorten the distance by 1/3, compared to taking the more traditional southern route- The MV Nordic Barents is well equipped for such a journey and is categorized as an ice-class 1a ship- which is the highest conventional ice-class- additionally Russian Icebreakers will escort the shop as it makes it's way through the North East Passage

Source: The Barentsobserver

For more information about arctic shipping please

Twentieth Anniversary of IASSA

karilarusson@gmail.com (Kári Fannar Lárusson) — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 10:44:26 GMT

The Arctic Portal staff is pleased to post news of the twentieth anniversary of the International Social Sciences Association (IASSA) and wishes to extend it's congratulation to the organization and it's members. May the future of IASSA be as fruitful as it's past and may it continue to contribute to our understanding of our surroundings, the Arctic.

The text below is the announcement from president of IASSA, Joan Nymand Larsen

From the President

On the Occasion of the Twentieth Anniversary of IASSA – August 23, 2010
Please join me and our membership in celebrating the 20th Anniversary of IASSA. On behalf of IASSA, I wish to extend to the membership and the Arctic social science community my warmest greetings on this important occasion of the Association´s Twentieth Anniversary.
The International Arctic Social Sciences Association (IASSA) had its early beginnings in 1990 – twenty years ago today. IASSA was founded in 1990 in Fairbanks, Alaska, at a meeting held in conjunction with the 7th Inuit Studies Conference on August 23, 1990. The creation of IASSA follows the suggestion, made at the Conference on Coordination of Research in the Arctic held in Leningrad in 1988, to establish an international association to represent Arctic social scientists. On this special occasion, I would like to salute our founders, our true visionaries – who were the pioneers of this undertaking. Among the early founders of IASSA who were instrumental in the IASSA creation and who did the

First high capacity oil tanker throug the Northeast passage

karilarusson@gmail.com (Kári Fannar Lárusson) — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 09:12:29 GMT

On the 14 of August the ice-class tanker SCF Baltica began it's voyage through the Northern sea-route. The tanker will be accompanied by three nuclear powered ice breakers during the two week sail. For the duration of the trip the crew till gather information on ice conditions in the area and the data used to estimate the commercial benefit of choosing the Northern sea-route vs. traditional routes in the south.

What makes this trip special is the fact that it is the first time that a Aframax tanker of more than 100,00 dwt is navigating along the Northern sea route. The journey will cover 7,000 nautical miles where 3,000 are along the Northern sea route. The traditional southern shipping route connecting these two areas is around 12,000 nautical mile. The ship started it's voyage from the port of Murmansk, while the port of discharge in China is yet to be determined. The tanker is transporting gas condensate for Novatek, Russia's largest independent gas producer. The voyage has been prepared by the ship's technical manager, SCF Unicom and specialists from SCF's head office in Moscow to make the voyage as safe as possible.

The three nuclear icebreakers assisting the ship are the "Rossiya", "Taymyr" and "50 years of Victory" the last one mentioned will be equipped with divers, equipment and specialists in dealing

Largest Iceberg to Break of the Greenland Glacier in 50 years

karilarusson@gmail.com (Kári Fannar Lárusson) — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 12:21:44 GMT

The largest Iceberg since 1962 has broken of the Greenlandic Ice sheet. The Iceberg comes from the Petermann glacier in North-West Greenland which is one of the largest glaciers connecting the Greenland Inland ice sheet with the Arctic Ocean- As the glacier reaches out into the ocean a tongue of ice is formed, which moves annually about one km. The Ice tongue of the Peterman glacier was the largest one in Greenland, with an extension of about 70km into the sea until now when this massive Iceberg has broken free.

The ice island has a surface area of about 161 square kilometers or 100 square miles and a thickness of about a 190 meters high. These astonishing numbers can be put in perspective by saying that it's four times larger than Manhattan and it's height approximately half of the empire state building- the freshwater stored in the ice island could keep all U.S. public tap water flowing for 120 days.

it can be estimated that this event was hastened by rising sea and air temperatures in the Arctic but perhaps not a direct consequence of the warming. In 1962 a 370 square kilometer iceberg broke of from the nearby Ward Hunt Ice Shelf.

There is some fear that the Ice island may travel down into the Baffin bay area, where there is a lot it could crash against. Further more it could over a number

Gwichin ethnobotany database

karilarusson@gmail.com (Kári Fannar Lárusson) — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 08:02:32 GMT

The Arctic Portal has just come accross a plant portal launched by the Gwichin Social and Cultural institute. In 1997 the Gwich'in Social and Cultural Institute partnered up with the Aurora Researc Institute (ARI) and commenced work with Gwich'in elders on an ethnobotany project. The outcome of this cooperation include the book titled Gwich'in Ethnobotany: Plants Used by the Gwich'in for Food, Medicine, Shelter and Tools" by Alestine Andre and Alan Fehr (2002) as well as a masters thesis titled Master's thesis by Alestine Andre (2006) called, Nan t'aihnakwits'inahtsìh (The Land Gives Us Strength). Combined these two bodies of work form the basis for the Gwich'in ethnobotany database.

The plants in the database are divided into two categories which are by their use and by their type and guidlines or recomended on how to treat the land that offers these plants which can be seen below.

Respect for the land:

Important message from our Gwich’in Elders teachings

Harvest all medicine plants away from roads and communities.
Take only what you need. It is important to collect only the plant parts you need, pick selectively from different areas and take care not to over harvest from one area.
Leave an offering for gathering special medicine plants like tamarack, juniper and white moss (reindeer lichen). You may also leave offerings for other plants as a sign of respect. Place an offering like tobacco, wooden matches, or say prayers before and while collecting plant parts. Please note to always place an offering before collecting ochre.
Share harvested resources
Read more...

State of the Arctic Coast 2010 Report

karilarusson@gmail.com (Kári Fannar Lárusson) — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 09:44:29 GMT

The Arctic coastal interface is a sensitive and important zone of interaction between land and sea, a region that provides essential
Read more...

Inuit Leaders Meet in Nuuk, Greenland

karilarusson@gmail.com (Kári Fannar Lárusson) — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 14:18:34 GMT

During the 28. June to July 2. The ICC holds it's general assembly in Nuuk, Greenland. Inuit Leaders from Canada, Russia, USA & Greenland come together every four years to discuss the development in the arctic and their common concerns- and the meeting now is especially focused on during the meeting:

• Environment, including Climate Change
• Political and economic development
• Health and Well-being
• Hunting and Food Security
• Governance
• Inuit Arctic Policy

Climate change and many other issues that are effecting the arctic, and thereby the Inuit, need to be discussed and a common policy or guidlines formulated.

Further information can be found on Http://www.inuit.org

Source: Arcticcouncil news

Arctic Open

sigmar@unak.is (Sigmar) — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 16:21:32 GMT

In the game of golf clear eyesight and good visualization is needed in order to find your way to the "finishing line" in golf, the hole. Therefore a game of midnight golf seems an unlikely prospect to many enthusiasts and few golfers have experienced this delight. However in the Arctic, where the Arctic sun keeps the night as day it is possibility to play the game of golf all day and all night long. However, at the high latitudes, there are few golf courses due to the fact that the harsh climate does not offer any or little support that sustains large green areas that are needed for the game of golf. But still you can find golf courses that survive at the high latitudes in the harsh Arctic and sub Arctic area.

In Akureyri in Northern Ieland, at the latitude of 65°41´N and the longitude of 18°06´W is a 18 hole golf course that prides itself of being the Northernmost 18 hole golf course in the world, making it possible to play the game all night long during the summertime, when the midnight sun lightens up the golf course, naturally.

The Akureyri Golf Club in northern Iceland was founded in 1935 and is the home to the Arctic Open Golf Tournament, which is played under the midnight sun at Midsummer Day. The Arctic Open Tournament was first held in 1986 and Players do

Polar Law Textbook

sigmar@unak.is (Sigmar) — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 15:01:38 GMT

A Polar Law Textbook has been published by the Nordic Council of Ministers which endorsed the Polar Law Textbook project under the Arctic Cooperation Program. Chapters in the textbook generally follow materials from the Polar law program which is offered at the University of Akureyri. The editor of the Polar Law Textbook is Natalia Loukacheva, Director of the Polar Law Program at the University of Akureyri.

The idea for the Polar Law Textbook was developed from the recognition of the need to disseminate information about Polar Law as an emerging field of legal studies an area of study long overdue greater recognition. Developments in the Polar Regions the Arctic and Antarctica are now the subject of growing interest and importance. They concern a divergent range of global and regional development issues and beg further inquiry into the role of law in dealing with many of these issues. The Polar Law Textbook is the first educational material of its kind. It attempts to illustrate the importance of legal values in addressing various challenges across the Nordic region, among remote Arctic communities and globally.
The topics of the Polar Law Textbook are various developments in international and domestic law concerning the Polar Regions (e.g., issues of environmental law, law of the sea, resources, human rights law and Indigenous peoples' rights, etc.). By looking at linkages between different areas of law and the other social sciences, the textbook also explores the relevant

Ipy day 2

karilarusson@gmail.com (Kári Fannar Lárusson) — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 13:51:35 GMT

The second day of the IPY conference was just as intriguing and informative as day number one. There were a wast number of session all around, many interesting movies in the polar cinema and grand exhibits in the polar expo.

The Arctic Portal held a presentation of the Virtual Learning Tools a project it is cooperating with The UArctic, APECS, ICR, University Centre of the Westfjords and the Steffanson Arctic Institute. The project will create a set of modern learning tools with the special requirements of Arctic residents in mind. For further information about the project go here.
Additionally to giving it's own presentation the AP staff was present at numerous presentations by some of the worlds leading scholars in polar science.

The day ended with a barbecue out on one of the archipelagos stretching into the Oslo fjord. The event was held by the Frammuseum which is dedicated to the ship Fram and the history of Norwegian polar explorations. The trip started by Akerbryggja and included a 15 minute trip with the local ferries. The barbecue and museum exibition were quite a sucess and the guest generally like the moose hotdogs that were on the menu.

IPY day 1

karilarusson@gmail.com (Kári Fannar Lárusson) — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 12:44:12 GMT

Day number one was quite hectic for the Arctic Portal, additionally to all the sessions and presentations we were interested in participating in we brought some volcanic ash. The ash from Eyjafjallajökull was a instant success and people highly interested in seeing this little trouble maker that affected all our lives not so long ago. It is fun to mention that among those presented with the ash was his highness Prince Albert of Monaco.

After the grand opening ceremony the sessions started under the six themes. You almost feel that it is a shame that all of this is happening at once since there are always more than one interesting sessions occurring at any given moment so choosing between them is quite a challenge.

The polar Expo is located in a very large area and has almost all things polar on display ranging from small posters to massive arctic vehicles. The polar information commons were officially launched 16:15 and aims to insure that the IPY data legacy are more generally open and accessible and safely preserved for future generations.

To finalize a good day, apecs through a reception which was recorded by the arctic portal and will be made available by APECS in the near future. The reception was a complete success as it gave young scientists a opportunity to mingle with

The IPY Opening ceremony

karilarusson@gmail.com (Kári Fannar Lárusson) — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 09:43:16 GMT

The IPY opening ceremony started at 8:30 this morning. The Ceremony was a spectacular show featuring music and dance followed by a number of distinguished speakers most notably prins Håkon of Norway. There was a general concensus among the speakers that this event, the international polar year was a extraordinary event and a rare pleasure as almost 50.000 researchers from 60 countries have participated in the IPY.

The ceremony was well attended and it was obvious that this event had been highly anticipated. To give you a glimpse of the events we take a look at the pictures below

The Arctic Portal wil continue with our coverage as the conference continues.

Live from Oslo

it@arcticportal.org (Administrator) — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 23:37:48 GMT

IPY OSC Themes/shcedule

karilarusson@gmail.com (Kári Fannar Lárusson) — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 16:59:11 GMT

The conference will officially start on next tuesday or the 8. June and go on for five days. The conference themes are six

Additionally there will be a impressive lineup of events for polar enthusists:

APECS, Assosiation of Polar Early Carrier Scientists will hold a number of interesting events that can be seen here
A number of excursions will be offered to conference participants which can be seen here
The PlarEXPO will offer a number of interesting displays that can be seen here
Plenary Speakers can be seen here
PolarEXCHANGE with Sue Nelson
PolarFESTIVAL
PolarTEACHERS
And other related events

Plenary Speakers PolarEXCHANGE with Sue Nelson PolarCINEMA PolarFESTIVAL PolarTEACHERS

IASSA Website moves to the Arctic Portal

karilarusson@gmail.com (Kári Fannar Lárusson) — Tue, 11 May 2010 15:13:04 GMT

The Arctic Portal is proud to velcome International Arctic Social Science Association (IASSA) into the Arctic portal community, as the IASSA website is now hosted and designed by the Arctic Portal. The website has been up and running for a while and more content will continue to be added.

For those interested in taking a look please go to http://iassa.org/

Exploring Polar Science Strengthening future generations of polar researchers

karilarusson@gmail.com (Kári Fannar Lárusson) — Tue, 11 May 2010 08:20:49 GMT

The Arctic Portal would like to draw your attention to the following publication, which is a cooperation between APECS, UArctic, SCAR, IAI and IASC. The cooperation is intended to assist early carrier scientists in planningthe path to the richly diverse and challenging world of polar research, and informative for all interested in the polar regions.

An information flyer to 'explore' polar science is now available for students and early career scientists. The flyer is a shared initiative of the Association of Polar Early Career Scientists (APECS), the University of the Arctic (UArctic), the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR), the International Antarctic Institute (IAI) and IASC.

With a simple overview it aims to inform about international opportunities to study the richly diverse and challenging world of the polar regions. It contains information on, and links to international organizations that inform and advise early career scientists on: career development, networking, funding opportunities and communication and outreach.

The flyer offers a first step in the advancement and support of a strong future of polar researchers and can be downloaded for print here:

Exploring Polar Science Flyer – small file size

Exploring Polar Science Flyer large file size

Scientists confirm Polar bear Hybrid

karilarusson@gmail.com (Kári Fannar Lárusson) — Mon, 10 May 2010 12:50:42 GMT

Scientists in the Northwest Territories have come across a polar bear and grizzly hybrid in the Arctic. The animal that was killed on April 8 in the proximity of the Holman community by inuvialuit hunter David Kuptana. The animal is believed to be a second generation hybrid, meaning that it's mother was a mixture of polar bear and grizzly bear, while it's father was a regular polar bear. Scientists state that this may be the first second- generation polar-grizzly bear hybrid to be found in the wild.

It is estimated that these hybrids will becoming increasingly apparent due to climate-change as polar bears are more likely to come into contact with grizzly bears due to declining summer sea ice, leaving them stranded on land.

IPY International Early Career Researcher Symposium Report Summary

sigmar@unak.is (Sigmar) — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 14:19:53 GMT

A report summary from the IPY International Early Career Researcher Symposium is now available at the APECS website.

There are many skills required of early career polar researchers that are not typically taught in graduate school or post doctoral environments, but are essential for the basis of a strong career. To help address this, the Association of Polar Early Career Scientists (APECS), together with the ArcticNet Student Association, and the Northern Research Forum held the IPY International Early Career Researcher Symposium, in Victoria, B.C, Canada from December 4-8, which was sponsored mainly by the IPY Canadian Federal Programme and the Canadian Polar Research Commission.

The summary of the meeting includes an overview of all seven sessions and the evaluations that were made. The career development workshop was attended by 71 participants and 20 mentors from 14 different countries, and brought together early career polar researchers from a range of disciplines for a series of training sessions to develop professional skills, work with senior mentors, and develop international and interdisciplinary collaborations. The Symposium had seven themed sessions, all of which included a plenary talk attended by all symposium participants, and a hands-on training session. All plenary talks and breakout sessions were recorded, and recordings will be available on the APECS website by June.

Five-year social science professorship at Ilisimatusarfik

karilarusson@gmail.com (Kári Fannar Lárusson) — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 14:17:51 GMT

Five-year social science professorship at Ilisimatusarfik

Ilisimatusarfik, the University of Greenland seeks a social science professor. The position is a five-year appointment starting as soon as possible.

The professorship is part of the agreement between Denmark and Greenland in connection with the formation of the Greenland Climate Research Centre. The purpose of the social science aspect of the climate research centre is to describe and assess the impact of climate change on Greenlandic society, including the economy, industry, technology, etc., and furthermore to develop adaptation strategies. Another objective is to build an environment within social science research, with the intention to illustrate the development of Greenlandic society in relation to climate change.

Tasks

The purpose of the professorship is to build a social science environment with a focus on climate research at Ilisimatusarfik in close cooperation with the natural science and technical research communities at the Greenland Climate Research Centre.

The professorship will provide research, based on fundamental research and with a perspective in relation to long-term societal development scenarios, in the following main areas:

• climate change impact on industrial development and infrastructure
• climate change impact on adaptation strategies of the population
• climate change influence on the management of living resources

The professorship will ensure the development and implementation of education and communication activities related to the subject areas of the professorship.

The professorship is an independent department at Ilisimatusarfik. The Professorship reports directly to