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American Geophysical Union (AGU) Biogeosciences Section is hosting a series of webinars addressing Safe and Inclusive Fieldwork, open to everyone, including those who aren’t members of AGU.

If you do field work or mentor people who do, this series is for you (and them)! Fieldwork presents inherent safety hazards (physical, psychological and emotional); can be unfamiliar or inaccessible; and can result in situations where you or team members are vulnerable to assault, harassment, or hostile environments and encounters. How can you prepare yourself, team or class for these risks? This virtual series will offer you resources and guidance to prepare for safety, respond to issues and help others.

Each event will stand alone, so please attend whenever you can.

AGU Frontiers in Safe and Inclusive Fieldwork (Webinar #1)

A conversation with AGU President Susan Lozier and AGU Senior Vice President Billy Williams. Share your questions, concerns and requests with our panel, and use real-time polling to guide future series content.

Moderated by B-Section President Margaret Torn .

The Alaska Ocean Acidification Network announces their Spring Discussion Series with four specialized dialogue sessions from March through May, with the intention to:

• Address and explore topics within ocean acidification that are of most interest to Alaskans
• Discuss ideas and identify priorities
• Document key issues and needs so they can be communicated to funding sources, policymakers and potential collaborators

These dialogue sessions are spaces for you to both learn and provide input. Each session will run from 1-3pm AK time, beginning with a 30 minute presentation by topic area experts, followed by interactive discussion and breakouts. (The dialogue series will also be recorded and made available to registrants after each event).

Topics and Schedule

• March 23 – Regional Conditions: What do we know about ocean acidification conditions around the state, what parts are expected to change most rapidly in the future, and what areas may be most sensitive to change?
• April 5 – Species Response #1: OA and Local Communities: What does ocean acidification mean for mariculture and subsistence?
• April 20 – Species Response #2: Commercial Species: What does ocean acidification mean for commercially harvested species including groundfish, salmon, and crab?
• May 4 – Adaptation and Mitigation: How can carbon dioxide removal, carbon sequestration, and natural climate solutions help us adapt to or mitigate climate change and ocean acidification?

Green-up, that time when leaves burst forth from Alaska’s deciduous trees has important implications for the seasonal ecology, society and even meteorology in the state. The unique multi-decadal record of green-up dates in Fairbanks has been used to develop a technique for forecasting this and related events in the Interior and more broadly in the boreal forest regions in Alaska. This webinar will be the third annual review of the green-up forecasting tools and will provide a look-ahead for green-up for Spring 2022.

Please register to attend.

Join the 'Icy Humanities: A Collaborative Symposium', a virtual symposium of roundtable discussions with Arctic humanists and glaciologists. This event represents a collaboration of Boston University’s Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future, the University of Cambridge’s Scott Polar Research Institute, the International Glaciological Society’s Symposium on Ice in a Sustainable Society (ISS), and the University of Bristol’s School of Geographical Sciences. Please register to attend.

Session I: Icy Humanities 1:00 – 2:00 pm EDT
SPEAKERS: Prof. Mia Bennett (University of Washington); Prof. Mark Carey (University of Oregon); Siobhan Mcdonald (Artist); Zachary Provant (University of Oregon).

Session II: Glaciology and Society 2:00 – 3:00 pm ET
SPEAKERS: Rebecca Dell (Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge); Prof. Sérgio H. Faria (Basque Centre for Climate Change); Prof. Mark Jackson (University of Bristol); Sarah Tingey (University of Bristol).

Update: Due to COVID delays, the organizers have postponed the scheduled NSF-funded Polar Radar Conference to be held through the University of Maine and the Army Cold Regions Research & Engineering Lab. The new virtual conference dates will be April 4-6, 2022. (The original dates were February 23-25.)

The Climate Change Institute at the University of Maine will host this virtual conference over the course of several days. The organizers plan to host several sessions or topics of discussion for several hours each day. The organizers hope that this format will encourage discussion and feedback between the shorter sessions.

What is the overall goal of this conference?

As the usage of radar continues to become more common and widespread in the Polar Sciences, it is important for the science community to have a coherent assessment of logistical and science interests and how we will address these.

More details will be coming soon that will be shared widely across the broader polar community. Please feel free to reach out with any questions:

Seth Campbell, Climate Change Institute, School of Earth & Climate Sciences, University of Maine
Email: scampb64 at maine.edu

The Center for Arctic Policy Studies (CAPS) and the Arctic and Northern Studies Program present the first of an inaugural series of webinars on Human Security in the Arctic.

The organizers are pleased to coordinate with the Center for Cross-Cultural Studies to bring you a Visiting Arctic Fulbright Fellow Lecture with Rauna Kuokkanen on "Indigenous Self-Determination and Gender Justice in the Arctic".

Bio

Dr. Rauna Kuokkanen is Research Professor of Arctic Indigenous Studies at the University of Lapland, and Fulbright Arctic Initiative Fellow. Her research highlights the importance of human security and addresses it specifically in terms of justice in Indigenous political institutions. Dr. Kuokkanen's most recent book is the award-winning Restructuring Relations: Indigenous Self-Determination, Governance and Gender (Oxford UP, 2019), an Indigenous feminist investigation of Indigenous self-determination, governance and gender regimes in Indigenous political institutions. She has also authored a book on Indigenizing the university in Reshaping the University: Responsibility, Indigenous Epistemes and the Logic of the Gift (2007) develops an Indigenous, post-structural critique of the contemporary university.

The 14th edition of the International Conference on Paleoceanography will be held in Bergen, Norway, the gateway to the Norwegian fjords from 29 August to 2 September, 2022. The ICP gathers world experts and newcomers in the field of paleoceanography working on past climate and ocean change on a range of timescales, using climate proxies or modelling approaches. The conference provides an opportunity to present and debate ground-breaking new observations while creating the ideal environment for fostering discussions of pressing challenges and new scientific initiatives.

Important dates

• Early bird registration: 1 September 2021 - 28 February 2022
• Regular registration opens: 1 March 2022
• Abstract submission deadline: 3 April 2022 at 23:59 CEST. The deadline is absolute. Please submit as soon as possible and avoid last minute submission (and an overloaded system). Everyone will be notified about their accepted abstracts by Monday 11 April.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Cryosphere 2020 (previously scheduled for September 27 to October 1, 2021) was postponed to 2022. The new dates are August 21-26 2022 and the symposium title will thus become Cryosphere 2022.

This symposium taking place in Reykjavík, Iceland will bring together scientists, stakeholders and policy makers for a discussion on the latest results from studies of the entire cryosphere, which plays an important role in the hydrological cycle and the Earth System and is one of the most useful indicators of climate change. The symposium will allow ample time for panel discussions on scientific results, new technologies, research gaps and future perspectives in the light of the Paris Agreement, which calls for limiting global warming to 1.5–2°C.

The organizers seek papers and presentations on timely topics related to all components of the cryosphere and its changes due to global warming. Contributions related to adaptation and mitigation strategies in view of the UN´s 2030 sustainable development goals and on the coordination of studies of snow and ice and associated hydrological changes on Earth through the Global Cryosphere Watch or other bodies are also welcome. Key focus areas will include (but are not limited to):

1. The state of the planet and its cryosphere
2. Earth´s snow cover
3. Glacier changes
4. The Greenland Ice Sheet
5. The Antarctic Ice Sheet
6. Sea ice on Earth
7. Permafrost/frozen ground
8. Lake and river ice
9. Climate variations, climate and Earth systems modelling
10. The cryosphere in high mountain areas
11. Research gaps and new technologies
12. Opportunities, adaptation and mitigation
13. The Global Cryosphere Watch

The symposium will include oral and poster sessions. The organizers will facilitate interaction between representatives of different research fields, and stimulate discussions on one of the most pressing issues facing humanity. Additional activities will include an opening Icebreaker reception, a banquet dinner and an optional full-day excursion after the symposium.

Participants who wish to present a paper (oral or poster) at the Symposium will be required to submit an abstract. The Council of the International Glaciological Society will publish a thematic issue of the Annals of Glaciology on topics consistent with the Symposium themes. Participants are encouraged to submit manuscripts for this Annals volume.

Participants who wish to present a paper (oral or poster) at the Symposium will be required to submit an abstract. The International Glaciological Society will publish a thematic issue of the Annals of Glaciology on topics consistent with the Symposium themes. Participants are encouraged to submit manuscripts for this Annals volume. The abstract should not contain any figures nor references and should not be longer than 2500 characters. Abstracts should be submitted through the conference website.

Important dates:

• Registration opens: 10 January 2022
• Abstract submission deadline extended: 1 April 2022
• Annals of Glaciology opening of paper submissions: 1 May 2022
• Annals of Glaciology manuscript submission deadline: 31 December 2022

The University of Alaska Southeast and the International Glaciological Society are pleased to announce the International Symposium on Maritime Glaciers, which will take place in Juneau, Alaska, from 19–24 June 2022.

Glaciers in most parts of the world are located well above treeline. However, in maritime climates it’s possible to stand on a glacier and look up at forested valley slopes. Maritime glaciers exist not because of especially cold temperatures, but because of high snow accumulation rates. In places like Southeast Alaska, snow accumulation rates often exceed 5 m per year at high elevations, melting can occur year round and can exceed 10 m per year at low elevations, and persistent rainfall is a significant component of glacier runoff. Temperate ice and wet snow are also characteristics of maritime glaciers. Due to their high mass turnover maritime glaciers respond quickly to climate change, and surging glaciers in maritime climates have shorter surge cycles than surging glaciers found elsewhere. A small percentage of maritime glaciers terminate in water, but these glaciers have outsized impacts on sea level rise due to their large size and susceptibility to rapid change.

The glacier-to-ocean distance is generally small for maritime glaciers, and as a result these glaciers constitute a large portion of their respective watersheds, with important consequences for stream temperature and chemistry and adjacent ecosystems. The short glacier-to-ocean distance also means that glacier runoff in these environments strongly affects the physical and chemical oceanography of near-shore waters, which serves as important habitat for fish, such as salmon, marine mammals, and sea birds. Glacier transition into or out of marine systems has profound impacts on fjord circulation, water properties, and ecosystem evolution. Deglaciation of these landscapes also increases the risk of landslides and landslide-generated tsunamis. The rich marine habitat provided in part by glaciers has sustained humans for centuries, and the peoples living along these coastal waters have important stories and legends related to glacier change. Glaciers continue to be an important component of maritime societies, although today the focus is shifting toward ecotourism.

Key focus areas of this symposium include:

• Instruments and methods for observing high-accumulation, high-melt glaciers
• Glacier hydrology and wet firn
• Glacier runoff and sediment and nutrient export
• Tidewater and lake-calving glaciers
• Glacier-ocean-sediment interactions
• Surging glaciers
• Hazards associated with landscape change: outburst floods, landslides, and tsunamis
• Impacts on terrestrial and marine ecosystems
• Social and indigenous perspectives

Online abstract submission is now open. Please note that the abstract submission system is separate from the IGS Connect. You will have to register your details.

Important Dates:

• Opening of online registration 25 March 2022.
• Abstract submission deadline extended to 1 April 2022.
• Early-bird registration deadline extended to 15 April 2022.

Global estimates of burned areas, enabled by the wide-open access to the standard data products from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), are heavily relied on by scientists and managers studying issues related to wildfire occurrence and its worldwide consequences. While these datasets, particularly the MODIS MCD64A1 product, have fundamentally improved our understanding of wildfire regimes at the global scale, their performance may be less reliable in certain regions due to a series of region- or ecosystem-specific challenges. Previous studies have indicated that global burned area products tend to underestimate the extent of the burned area within some parts of the boreal domain. Despite this, global products are still being regularly used by research activities and management efforts in the northern regions, likely due to a lack of understanding of the spatial scale of their Arctic-specific limitations, as well as an absence of more reliable alternative products. In this study, we evaluated the performance of two widely used global burned area products, MCD64A1 and FireCCI51, in the circumpolar boreal forests and tundra between 2001 and 2015. Our two-step evaluation shows that MCD64A1 has high commission and omission errors in mapping burned areas in the boreal forests and tundra regions in North America. The omission error overshadows the commission error, leading to MCD64A1 considerably underestimating burned areas in these high northern latitude domains. Based on our estimation, MCD64A1 missed nearly half the total burned areas in the Alaskan and Canadian boreal forests and the tundra during the 15-year period, amounting to an area (74,768 km2) that is equivalent to the land area of the United States state of South Carolina. While the FireCCI51 product performs much better than MCD64A1 in terms of commission error, we found that it also missed about 40% of burned areas in North America north of 60° N between 2001 and 2015. Our intercomparison of MCD64A1 and FireCCI51 with a regionally adapted MODIS-based Arctic Boreal Burned Area (ABBA) shows that the latter outperforms both MCD64A1 and FireCCI51 by a large margin, particularly in terms of omission error, and thus delivers a considerably more accurate and consistent estimate of fire activity in the high northern latitudes. Considering the fact that boreal forests and tundra represent the largest carbon pool on Earth and that wildfire is the dominant disturbance agent in these ecosystems, our study presents a strong case for regional burned area products like ABBA to be included in future Earth system models as the critical input for understanding wildfires’ impacts on global carbon cycling and energy budget.