ARCTIC: Combat Manual & more – 30th Jan 2024

Góðan daginn from Keswick Village! This is the Rorshok Arctic Update from the 30th of January twenty twenty-four A quick summary of what’s going down North of the Arctic Circle!

Let’s kick off the week with the US army and its plans in the Arctic. The army will publish a new manual in mid-twenty twenty-four, advising military personnel on surviving in Arctic conditions. To create the manual, over a year of research was conducted in cooperation with European Arctic nations, including training at the Northern Warfare Training Center in Alaska. The doctrine will be the first cold-weather combat manual that will be shared across all US military departments to ensure knowledge is standardized and can be jointly improved upon.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine is significantly impacting Arctic research, hindering scientists' ability to track Arctic climate change. A study from Aarhus University published on Wednesday the 24th reveals that the war is severely limiting access to crucial data, as deteriorating relations between Russia and the West have cut off direct entry to information from Russian Arctic research stations. With more than half of the Arctic located within Russian territory and a third of research stations situated there, this disruption has created a substantial knowledge gap. To address this issue, the report suggests establishing additional research stations in environments similar to Russia's, such as Canada's northern forests.

In the past few months, Russia and Finland have seen a deterioration in their relations. In December, Finland, in response to a dispute over migrant crossings, closed its entire border with Russia, with plans to reopen it in February. Despite the impending border reopening, Russia has conveyed its strained sentiments towards Finland. On Tuesday, the 23rd, the Russian Foreign Ministry released a statement where Moscow declared the termination of the agreement with Helsinki that facilitated cooperation on all border-related issues.

Still in Finland, on Sunday, the 28th, it held its presidential elections, but there was no clear winner. The center-left and center-right parties emerged as the top contenders, setting the stage for a closely contested second-round election on the 11th of February. Both parties share similar anti-Russian stances, reflecting Finland's shift since joining NATO and adopting anti-Russian policies.

In a rare occurrence, the village of Ozero Medvezhye in the Kurgan district of Russia experienced its first fatal wolf attack on Monday, the 23rd. A lone wolf entered the village at night, assaulting four people and tragically resulting in one fatality. Addressing the incident on Friday, the 26th, the Russian Ministry of Ecology assured residents that this marked the first recorded instance of a fatal wolf attack in the region. Additionally, they highlighted a 40% decrease in the wolf population in the Chelyabinsk forests over the past five years. While hunting is permitted in the area without set limits, the Ministry emphasized its authority to take emergency action to control the wolf population if necessary.

Over to Canada where the federal government is investing in building infrastructure and housing to meet the challenges the Arctic will be facing in the coming years. According to a press release published on Wednesday the 24th by the federal agency Infrastructure Canada, there will be an investment of nearly $6 million Canadian dollars, about $4.5 million US dollars, for twelve projects ranging from sensors on Northern buildings to gather data for better arctic designs, to evacuation approaches in the event of wildfires.

Plastic pollution has become a worldwide challenge and the far reaches of the Arctic aren’t immune to it. According to a new report by Alaska Environment Research and Policy Center published on Thursday the 25th, 100% of tested water bodies in Southcentral Alaska contained tiny pieces of plastic. The study sampled waters from thirty-nine water bodies in Southcentral Alaska and found plastic from both local and global sources.

Turning to Sweden, where new green technologies are getting a boost. On Tuesday the 23rd, a steel producer that creates steel while emitting 95% less carbon emissions than regular steel production, called H2 Green Steel, announced that it had received almost 5 billion dollars in financing. The funds come from over twenty lenders ranging from the EU to commercial banks across Europe. The factory in Boden, northern Sweden, is not open yet but has secured 7 billion dollars in financing since twenty twenty. This shows there is great interest in H2 Green Steel and its aims to decarbonize the steel industry.

In Canada, archaeologists are meticulously exploring the wreckage of HMS Erebus, commanded by Sir John Franklin on his ill-fated Arctic expedition 180 years ago. The ship, which sank in far northern Nunavut, was discovered a decade after surfacing in shallow waters.

The archaeologists studying the ship have highlighted that the remains are under threat from storms and need to be studied quickly.

Discoveries so far include pistols, sealed medicine bottles, seamen's chests, and navigation equipment. These artifacts are under examination to provide insights into the loss of Erebus and its sister ship, Terror, as well as the fate of the 129 men aboard.

The Royal Museum Greenwich has published a detailed story about the doomed expeditions. Check it out with the link in the show notes!

In other news, according to the Icelandic national broadcaster RÚV, Hvalur, the last remaining whale hunting company, filed a suit against the Icelandic government on Thursday the 25th. The suit asserts that the executive's decision to ban whaling for several months last year was illegal and resulted in loss of earnings and damages to the company. The parliamentary Ombudsman supports Hvalur, saying the ban lacked proper legal basis. Hvalur has not announced the amount of compensation it requires for affected employees and affiliates. A third party will probably evaluate the compensation level to be settled between the state and Hvalur.

In London, from Monday the 22nd to Friday the 26th, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) made critical decisions impacting the Arctic. On Monday the Inuit Circumpolar Council announced plans to enhance Inuit influence in Arctic decision-making within the IMO. Striving to elevate Inuit members from provisional to full members by twenty twenty-five, the council aims to directly shape international agreements on a global scale within the International Maritime Organization.

The IMO concluded its meetings on Friday, marking a positive development. The non-profit group, the Clean Arctic Alliance, announced on the 26th that their campaign for reducing underwater noise in the Arctic was successful. All member states of the IMO agreed to Arctic guidelines and an action plan to mitigate noise pollution, which poses a threat to over 150 species of aquatic animals. While the Clean Arctic Alliance expressed satisfaction with the accepted guidelines, they highlighted that these actions remain non-mandatory, lacking punitive measures for shipping nations that continue to pollute the Arctic Ocean.

Even though noise pollution often receives less media attention compared to other forms, its impact on aquatic life is substantial. The Clean Arctic Alliance has created informative infographics exploring this issue. Check them out with the link in the show notes!

Arctic ice, a lifeline for many, now takes a detour to glam up Dubai cocktails. On Wednesday the 24th, a special delivery of nearly 20,000 kilograms of Greenlandic ice made its way to the desert city. Harvested from icebergs, this frozen cargo traveled over 20,000 kilometers courtesy of the company Arctic Ice. The company boasts that this ice, aged over 100,000 years, remained untouched by humans until it ended up in that margarita, proudly declaring it the cleanest water in the world, because nothing says sophistication like a touch of ancient Arctic in your drink. Cheers to the ice age in every sip!

Aaaaaand that's it for this week. So you listen to us, ideally almost every week, but we don't actually know each other. Here's a chance to fix that. On Monday the 8th of April there is a total eclipse of the sun in Dallas, Texas, in the US. There will be events organized the whole weekend before. So on the off chance you can get here, send us an email or check the show notes for more information.

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