NPS Research on Coast Guard Icebreaker to Enhance Arctic Readiness
challenging for crewmembers of both Coast Guard and U.S. Navy ships,” said Shattuck. “The conditions faced by Coast Guardsmen on the Healy make it especially difficult to achieve healthy sleep. Icebreaking and isolation pose additional risks.”The journey will be north of the Arctic Circle for much of the scheduled voyage, and will conclude in Tromsø, Norway later this fall. Shattuck will be accompanied by the Defense Innovation Unit’s (DIU) Chief Medical Officer, U.S. Navy Cmdr. Niels Olson. DIU supplied much of the technology being used in the study, and Olson is
Barclays Rejects Arctic Drilling
for companies seeking to drill in the Arctic Refuge as well as other climate change threats.According to the British multinational investment bank and financial services company headquartered in London, arctic oil and gas refers to new exploration and extraction of oil and gas in the area within the Arctic Circle which is subject to sea ice, and includes the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) and the Coastal Plains.The ANWR is a particularly fragile and pristine ecosystem which is central to the livelihoods and culture of local indigenous peoples.Barclays Energy and Climate Change Statement said:
Autonomous Vehicle Maps the Arctic Seafloor
Far above the Arctic Circle, an autonomous surface vehicle set out to map the seafloor in an effort to improve nautical charts in areas where there is scarce data and vessel traffic is increasing.A team of engineers and students from the University of New Hampshire’s (UNH) Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping, together with personnel from NOAA’s Office of Coast Survey, recently returned from an Arctic voyage that deployed an unmanned surface vehicle (USV) from the NOAA hydrographic ship Fairweather, a first from a NOAA vessel in the region.The Fairweather spends each summer surveying the
US Navy Submarines Surface in the Arctic Circle
A pair of U.S. Navy submarines recently surfaced in the Arctic Circle as part of multinational maritime exercise north of Alaska. Los Angeles-class fast attack submarine USS Hartford (SSN 768) and Seawolf-class fast attack submarine, USS Connecticut (SSN 22) surfaced in the Arctic Circle March 10 during the multinational maritime Ice Exercise (ICEX) 2018. Both submarines, as well the UK Royal Navy submarine HMS Trenchant (S91), are participating in the biennial exercise in the Arctic to train and validate the warfighting capabilities of submarines in extreme cold-water conditions
Arctic Oil Expansion Panned by Scientists
. The scientists said drilling on the coastal plain would be particularly harmful because it contains a "unique compression" of habitats supporting animals like polar bears, grizzly bears, wolverines, representing "the greatest wildlife diversity of any protected area above the Arctic Circle." In a Reuters interview, Cantwell praised the scientists for spelling out why drilling would be so harmful to the refuge and she would work to oppose the legislation. "To try to legislate mandated drilling in a wildlife refuge is just not where America is," she
Obama Administration Bars New Oil, Gas Exploration off Alaska
the best areas "with the highest resource potential, lowest conflict and established infrastructure - and removes regions that are simply not right to lease," Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said. President Barack Obama, who last year became the first sitting president to cross the Arctic Circle, has made fighting climate change and protecting the Arctic priorities in his administration. But President-elect Donald Trump, a Republican who takes office on Jan. 20, 2017, has vowed to open resources to petroleum development and could take steps to reverse the decision. Oil
USCG Evaluates Comms Equipment in Alaska
, share photos and track personnel and assets using GPS, making response coordination quicker and easier. During Operation Arctic Chinook, first responders will participate in the simulated mass rescue of 250 passengers from an adventure cruise ship which has become disabled near the Arctic Circle. Coast Guard cutters Alex Haley, Spar and Stratton will participate in the maritime portion of the exercise and will simulate transferring survivors from the disabled cruise ship to a temporary shelter established in Tin City, Alaska. The next segment of the rescue exercise will involve the transfer
The World’s Cold Ocean Lab
.” Newfoundland and Labrador is Canada’s easternmost province, strategically positioned in the North Atlanic, at the edge of the Arctic. It sits along Iceberg Alley, along multiple key international shipping lanes, and its waters are the Northern hemispheres coldest south of the Arctic Circle. It is this unique mix of proximity and Arctic-like conditions that make the province a natural cold ocean laboratory. Centuries of answering the challenges of Arctic-type conditions have given rise to a powerful culture of innovation. Home to growing sectors such as oil and gas, shipping
Shell Eyes Arctic Drilling this Summer
after a near two-year suspension, angering environmentalists who say the risk of an oil spill is too high. Remote and costly to develop, the Arctic is estimated to contain 20 percent of the world's undiscovered hydrocarbon resources and despite fierce opposition, plans for drilling north of the Arctic Circle are under way in the United States, Russia and Norway. Shell, Europe's largest energy firm, is intent on restarting its Arctic drilling campaign in Alaska's Chukchi Sea this summer. It was suspended in early 2013 following the grounding of a drilling rig. "Will we go ahead? Yes if
February 2024
