News Archive

The 2020 July Sea Ice Outlook (SIO) report is now available online. The Sea Ice Outlook, an effort managed by the Sea Ice Prediction Network–Phase 2 (SIPN2), provides an open process for those interested in Arctic sea ice to share predictions and ideas. The monthly reports contain a variety of perspectives—from advanced numerical models to qualitative perspectives from citizen scientists. The Outlook is not an operational forecast.

For the 2020 July report, 38 contributions were received that included pan-Arctic predictions. Of those contributions, 10 included predictions for the Alaska Region and 7 included pan-Antarctic predictions. Additionally, we received 13 submissions of sea-ice probability and 10 submissions of first ice-free date. New this year, the report includes ice-free conditions for the Hudson Bay region; the September sea-ice concentration contour in the Fram Strait region, motivated by the MOSAiC expedition; and we invited contributors to submit initial conditions (sea-ice concentration and sea-ice thickness) of their forecasts to better understand how observations are being used in forecasts.

For the pan-Arctic, the median July Outlook value for September 2020 sea-ice extent is 4.36 million square kilometers, with quartiles of 4.1 and 4.6 million square kilometers. The median is close to the observed 2019 September sea-ice extent of 4.32 million square kilometers.

We are excited to announce new resources available through the PolarTREC website. Whether you are a classroom teacher looking for new lessons for next fall or an informal science educator looking for new ideas to use with your audiences - PolarTREC has resources for you! Recently published resources include:

• Growing Up on Ice – In this STEM-based lesson, students analyze Weddell seal pup growth data, collected by the Growing Up on Ice, B-030, research team.
• Don’t Clam Up - The Effect of Warming Seas on Respiration and Biomass – This lesson plan is designed to teach students about the importance of the benthic community in the shallow portions of the Arctic and how climate change may affect their respiration.
• Jumping Into Warming Seas – This lesson introduces students to the impacts of increasing ocean temperatures on marine life.

The June 2020 issue of Witness Community Highlights is now available online. This issue includes two articles: “Arctic Data Center's New Customizable Portal Service,” summarizing features, applications, and examples of effective use of the new data tool; and “US Arctic Research Commission Hosts Virtual Conference and Workshop,” highlighting discussion panels and topics addressed during the virtual conference on COVID-19 Impacts in the Arctic, held in mid-May 2020; as well as an overview of the Virtual Alaska Electric Vehicle (EV) Workshop held in mid-June 2020.

The 2020 June Sea Ice Outlook (SIO) report is now available online. The Sea Ice Outlook, an effort managed by the Sea Ice Prediction Network–Phase 2 (SIPN2), provides an open process for those interested in Arctic sea ice to share predictions and ideas. The monthly reports contain a variety of perspectives—from advanced numerical models to qualitative perspectives from citizen scientists. The Outlook is not an operational forecast.

For the 2020 June report, 33 contributions were received that included pan-Arctic predictions. Of those contributions eight included predictions for pan-Antarctic and the Alaska Region. Additionally, we received 13 submissions of sea-ice probability and ten submissions of first ice-free date. New this year, the report includes ice-free conditions for the Hudson Bay region; September sea-ice concentration contour in the Fram Strait region, motivated by the MOSAiC expedition; and we invited contributors to submit initial conditions (sea-ice concentration and sea-ice thickness) of their forecasts to better understand how observations are being used in forecasts.

For the pan-Arctic, the median June Outlook value for September 2020 sea-ice extent is 4.33 million square kilometers, with quartiles of 4.06 and 4.59 million square kilometers. The median is close to the 2019 June Outlook, of 4.40 million square kilometers, and to the observed 2019 September sea-ice extent of 4.32 million square kilometers.

The Sea Ice for Walrus Outlook concluded the 2020 season on Friday, 12 June after twelve weeks of weekly reports featuring local observations from seven Bering Strait Communities, National Weather Service sea ice and weather forecasts, and NWS and ACCAP satellite images. All reports are available in our archive. Thank you to our local observers and partners for a productive season!

ARCUS invites registration for our next Arctic Research Seminar featuring Gerald “J.J.” Frost (Alaska Biological Research, Inc.). This seminar, discussing the “greening” of the Arctic, will be held Friday, 29 May 2020 from 9:00-10:00 a.m. AKDT (1:00-2:00 p.m. EDT) online via Zoom.

The Polar Technology Conference was held during 10–12 March 2020 in Boulder, Colorado. The goal of the meeting was to link experts in polar science and technology development to discuss current technological resources for polar research and identify barriers to research and application of technology for problems unique to polar regions. Recordings of plenary presentations and presentation files for talks and posters are now available on the conference webpage. This activity was a cooperative effort among the National Science Foundation’s Office of Polar Programs, the Arctic Research Consortium of the United States, and the polar research community.