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Please mark your calendars for the 6th Symposium on the Impacts of an Ice-Diminishing Arctic on Naval and Maritime Operations, co-hosted by the U.S. National Ice Center (NIC) and the U.S. Arctic Research Commission (USARC), July 14-16, 2015 at the Naval Heritage Center, 701 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Washington, DC.

Discussion: This symposium brings together nationally and internationally recognized experts on Arctic observations, climate change, and maritime operations. High-level opening remarks are anticipated from NOAA, Navy, USCG, USARC, Canadian Coast Guard, and other U.S. and international government representatives; special invitations to be sent to the Alaska Congressional Delegation and from representatives from other Arctic nations.

The 2015 symposium program will be influenced by relevant Arctic-related events since the 2013 symposium, including:

• 2015's peak winter Arctic sea ice extent occurred Feb. 25, 2015, a maximum that is not only early but is the lowest in the satellite record.
• Despite a modest increase in the age and thickness of sea ice in 2014 compared to 2013, the long-term evidence points to continued global warming and loss of sea ice.
• The updated USN Arctic Roadmap 2014 - 2030 released.
• The White House released the Implementation Plan for the National Strategy for the Arctic Region to advance U.S. security interests, pursue responsible stewardship for Arctic region, and strengthen international cooperation.
• Executive Order 13689: Enhancing Coordination of National Efforts in the Arctic released on Jan. 21, 2015

The symposium talks will cover three general topic areas:

• Latest research on observed and forecast changes of the Arctic sea ice environment;
• Present and future impact of these changes on Arctic operations;
• Relevant national and international Arctic policy issues and potential need for additional policy.

The MicroSnow2 Workshop will be held July 13-15, 2015 at USRA, 7878 Columbia Gateway Drive, Columbia, MD 21045. The SnowEX meeting is to be held July 16, 2015 at the USRA facility as well.

The MicroSnow workshops aim to develop understanding on how snow microstructure information should be used in radiative transfer theory, to examine microwave radiative transfer model assumptions, and determine what the implications are for snow remote sensing. MicroSnow2 will continue the exchange of latest model developments, results, field measurements, and ideas related to understanding the relationship between snow microwave observations and snow microstructure. This workshop is an opportunity to share recent progress, and to make plans for next year.

SnowEx: Following 3 days of MicroSnow2 (July 13-15), the snow modeling and remote sensing communities are invited to participate in an international planning discussion on July 16 for a near-future major airborne snow campaign (all remote sensing techniques, not just microwave; plus ground measurements & modeling). We especially want to encourage our international colleagues to attend this discussion, to combine our experience & expertise in order to define a true community effort. The last time such a campaign was conducted was over a decade ago (CLPX-1 in 2002-03), so this is an opportunity not to be missed.

There is no registration fee for either MicroSnow2 or SnowEX. The meetings are open to the public and anyone may register. When registering, please be sure to note which days of MicroSnow2 you plan to attend and if you plan to attend SnowEX.

We would like to draw your attention to the XII International Symposium on Antarctic Earth Sciences, a SCAR initiative, to be held in Goa during 13-17 July 2015. We are inviting abstracts for session 16: Interactions between cryosphere, atmosphere and oceans in coastal Antarctica. The abstract submission is now open (www.isaes2015goa.in). This session aims to integrate latest results on past, current and future changes in coastal Antarctica from a range of disciplines to identify knowledge gaps and suggest future priorities. In addition to its roles in global climate system and biogeochemical cycles, interactions between the cryosphere, atmosphere, and ocean in this region must be better understood to predict future. We welcome contributions to this session regardless of methods (observational / geophysical/ biogeochemical data/ proxy data/ remote sensing / modeling).

The International symposium on Antarctic Earth Sciences (ISAES) is a SCAR-initiative aimed at showcasing Antarctic Geoscience research, taking stock of the accomplishments of the International fraternity and providing guidance for future studies. SCAR is renowned for its congresses, held since 1963. ISAES will be our first Conference in India, and greatly anticipated. The Symposium is scheduled to be hosted by the Earth System Science Organization (ESSO) of the Ministry of Earth Sciences, and its R&D Wing, the National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research (NCAOR) in Goa, famous for its beaches and places of worship.

The International Scientific Conference “Our Common Future under Climate Change” will take place at UNESCO and UPMC (Paris) in July 2015.

This four-day conference will be the largest forum for the scientific community to come together ahead of the 21st UNFCCC Conference of the Parties (COP21), which will be hosted by France in December 2015 (“Paris Climat 2015”). Building on the results of IPCC 5th Assessment Report (AR5), the Conference will address key issues concerning climate change in the broader context of global change. It will offer an opportunity to discuss solutions for both mitigation and adaptation issues. The Conference will also welcome Side Events organized by different stakeholders.

The conference is organized under the umbrella of ICSU, Future Earth, UNESCO and major French research institutions, with the support of the French Government.

The Conference has four overarching objectives:

• Provide state-of-the-art scientific knowledge on climate change, one year after the release of IPCC AR5: physical basis of climate change, impacts, adaptation and vulnerability, mitigation, storylines and scenarios.
• Explore a wide range of pathways combining climate change mitigation and adaptation, and sustainable development.
• Assess the potential for evidence-based solutions to climate change challenges.
• Contribute to a science-society dialogue.

To receive more information about the conference, subscribe to their email list at http://www.commonfuture-paris2015.org/Receive-information.htm

There will be an important International Science Conference on "Our Common Future Under Climate Change" in advance of the COP21 talks in December 2015. The conference will be 7th to 10th July in Paris and has a number of sessions relevant to glaciologists, in particular one on "Sea level rise and ice sheets" convened by Martin Siegert and others.

This session will be on Tuesday 7th July and will comprise four invited talks on sea level and its projection, and ice sheet contributions and uncertainties. There will also be a poster session for which abstract submission is currently open.

Abstract for the session on Sea level rise and ice sheets.

The major contribution to future sea level change is likely to come from melting of the polar ice sheets. Considerable uncertainty exists as to how Antarctica and Greenland will change in the coming decades, however, limiting our ability to predict sea level rise with certainty. In this session established information and new knowledge of global sea-level, based on measurements of both the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets, and quantification of uncertainty, will be discussed to provide a state-of-art account of future sea level change, and the cryospheric response to climate and ocean warming.

Conveners:

• Martin Siegert
• Sylvie Charbit
• Tony Payne
• Catherine Ritz
• Don Blankenship
• Frank Pattyn
• Sun Bo

Abstracts for posters can be submitted athttp://cfcc.contribution.y-congress.com/ScientificProcess/Submission/. Unfortunately there is a very tight deadline on this of 10th March, although it seems that this may well be extended. Nonetheless, this promises to be an excellent forum for bringing your work to the attention of policymakers.

More information about the meeting can be found at http://www.commonfuture-paris2015.org/

The Snow and Ice Research Group (SIRG) is an association of researchers interested in cryospheric observations and processes. SIRG forms the New Zealand branch of the International Glaciological Society and the annual workshop provides an opportunity for the community to meet and discuss their common interests. The workshop encompasses the wide range of cryospheric research being undertaken in New Zealand, Antarctica, and beyond. Participants include students and academics from universities and crown research institutes. A strong emphasis is placed on student participation and presentation. In 2015, the workshop will be held at the University of Canterbury's Cass Field Station, located in the inter-montane basin in the Waimakariri River catchment in North Canterbury. Its relaxed high-country setting is an ideal location for the SIRG community to congregate.

Key Dates

• June 1: Registration and abstract submission deadline. For 2015, registration fees have been set at students $20 and all others $100. This fee includes meals and bunkstyle accommodation at the field centre.
• June 19: Final schedule and abstracts released electronically.
• July 2-4: SIRG-NZ workshop will be held at the Cass Field Station, Canterbury.

The workshop will start at 1 pm on Thursday July 2nd and finish 3 pm Saturday July 4th. Presentations will be held on Thursday and Friday and a field excursion (weather permitting) to Porters Skifield will take place on Saturday. Participants are welcome to pay for an additional night of accommodation if they want to stay on and enjoy the local skifields and tramping tracks (bookings essential).

For more information, please visit the conference link above.

Ecologic Institute and its' partners are pleased to announce the 2015 Arctic Summer College and are seeking applications from emerging leaders working to improve Arctic governance from around the world. The Arctic Summer College creates a network of emerging leaders and experts that will be brought together for 8 weeks in a series of web-based seminars (webinars) Thursdays from 18:00-20:00 Central European Time from June 25 to August 13. The program aims to build a lasting, policy-oriented network of Arctic professionals to strengthen communication between peoples and nations, scientific disciplines, policy areas, and across the science-policy interface to improve governance and sustainable development in the Arctic. Fellows may earn spots to travel and present their work at this year's Arctic Circle Assembly in Reykjavik. Participation in the Arctic Summer College is open to applicants with a minimum of two years of experience in a related field, and a desire to share perspectives and seek professional collaboration with a network of peers. The course will be conducted in English. Applicants will be accepted until June 11.

Presented by Dr. Nicole Spaulding of the University of Maine, this webinar will provide participants with an overview of traditional and emerging methods for the analysis of ice core chemistry. Traditional systems rely upon a heated metal disk or plate to melt the ice prior to analysis by ion chromatography or inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Emerging instrumentation, such as that utilized by the University of Maine Climate Change Institute’s W. M. Keck Laser Ice Facility, combines state of the art laser ablation sample introduction with ICP-MS analysis. The latter method offers greatly enhanced sample resolution thereby allowing the recovery of sub-annual signals from regions with very low accumulation rates, in highly compressed ice at great depths, and in regions of ascending flow (blue-ice exposures). We will also discuss the types of research questions each method is best suited to answer.

To register for this webinar, please visit https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/5381167503592883458. Webinar ID: 151-706-531.

Katrina E. Bennett from Los Alamos National Laboratory will present "Changing extreme streamflow patterns in boreal forest watersheds of Alaska" on Tuesday, 23 June at 10:00 am AKDT.

The Interior discontinuous permafrost zone of the boreal subarctic represents one of the largest ecosystems on earth and is vastly understudied with respect to changing hydrologic extreme events. The first part of this presentation will focus on recent research results for snowmelt and glacially dominated Interior Alaska river basins for the past 50/60 years (1954/64-2013).

The second part of this presentation will present projections of future extreme streamflow changes in a snowmelt dominated basin of the Tanana River, a sub-watershed to the Yukon River system, using six global climate models, two emission scenarios, two hydrologic models and two different time periods. Projections for temperature, precipitation and streamflow will be discussed, with a focus on changing peak flows events, and return intervals.

Pre-registration for webinars is strongly encouraged. The audio portion of the call is through a toll-free phone line and the slide presentation is streamed via computer. For instructions on participating through your home office or at a satellite viewing location with others in your community, please see our webinar information page at https://accap.uaf.edu/?q=webinars

Presented by Mark Twickler, Science Director for NICL, the U.S. National Ice Core Laboratory (NICL) is a National Science Foundation (NSF) facility for storing, curating, and studying meteoric ice cores recovered from the glaciated regions of the world. NICL is managed by the U.S. Geological Survey through an Inter-Agency Agreement. NICL provides scientists with the capability to conduct examinations and measurements on ice cores, and it preserves the integrity of these ice cores in a long-term repository for future investigations. This webinar will discuss the policies for accessing archived ice cores and use of the facility. To familiarize yourself with the facility, please visit: http://icecores.org.

To register, please visit https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/1507385728798496258. Webinar ID: 145-067-619