Arctic Temperatures Continue Rapid Rise as 2011 Breaks Record Set in 2010
(WWF-blog), January 2012 -
NASA yesterday (19 January 2012) released data showing that last year temperatures in the Arctic rose beyond the record established in 2010 -- setting a new record for 2011. News of the record Arctic temperatures follows a series of alarming developments related to the Arctic in recent months. > www.wwfblogs.org: Arctic Temperatures Continue Rapid Rise as 2011 Breaks Record Set in 2010
Joint USA-Canada Arctic Ocean Survey Comes to an End
Bremerhaven, December 1, 2011 -
A publication appearing in the journal Science on Dec. 1 now furnishes indications that the two hemispheres attained their maximum ice sheet size at nearly the same time and started melting 19,000 years ago. > www.awi.de: Simultaneous ice melt in Antarctic and Arctic
Climate change scientist faces lie detector test
Anchorage, October 28, 2011 -
It's the next step in "Polarbeargate" – one of two scientists whose report on dead polar bears in the Arctic helped make the animal a potent symbol of climate change has been asked to take a lie detector test as part of an investigation by US agents.
The 2006 report from American wildlife researchers Jeffrey Gleason and Charles Monnett told of dead bears floating in the Arctic Ocean in 2004, apparently drowned, and focused attention on the vulnerability of the animals to the melting of the Arctic ice, which they need for hunting. Widespread references were made to the dead bears and they figured in the film An Inconvenient Truth, made by Al Gore to highlight the risks of global warming.
But earlier this year, allegations were made within the US Department of the Interior that acts of scientific misconduct might have been committed in relation to the report, and the Department's Office of Inspector General (OIG) began an inquiry. > www.independent.co.uk: Climate change scientist faces lie detector test
Denmark welcomes China in from the Arctic cold
Beijng, October 28, 2011 - (Reuters) -
China has legitimate economic interests in the Arctic, Denmark's ambassador said on Friday, welcoming partnership with Beijing in the rapidly thawing polar region but adding that a possible resource rush would come with obligations. > www.reuters.com: Denmark welcomes China in from the Arctic cold
Team says Arctic ice shelf broke up before
(Physorg), October 25, 2011 -
Arctic shelf ice has been in the news of late due to its shrinkage over the past few decades that most attribute to global warning. Thus, its levels and seemingly constant calving have become ecological barometers that environmentalists have come to use to show just how fast our planet is heating up. > thinkprogress.org: Team says Arctic ice shelf broke up before
Potsdam, 17 October 2011 -
Largely unnoticed, a silent drama has been unfolding over the past weeks in the Arctic. The long-term consequences will far outstrip those of the international debt crisis or the demise of the Libyan dictatorship, the news stories now commanding media attention. > www.eco-business.com: The Vanishing Arctic > www.project-syndicate.org: The Vanishing Arctic
Climate models underestimate Arctic melting – ice dynamics feedback not taken into account
Melting ice is Earth's warning signal – and we cannot ignore it
Photo: Nick Cobbing
London, September 25 2011 -
From the Himalayas to the Arctic, the signs of danger are visible: Ice is the white flag being waved by our planet, under fire from the atmospheric attack being mounted by humanity. From the frosted plains of the Arctic ice pack to the cool blue caverns of the mountain glaciers, the dripping away of frozen water is the most crystal clear of all the Earth's warning signals. > www.guardian.co.uk: Melting ice is Earth's warning signal – and we cannot ignore it
Approaching the 2011 Arctic Sea Ice Minimum
Image: earthobservatory.nasa.gov
Washington, 9 / 22 September 2011 -
Every year, the frozen Arctic Ocean emerges from winter and thaws under the 24-hour light of the summer sun. Each year is different: sometimes ice retreats from the shores in dramatic fashion and other years have a more gradual melt. 2011 proved to be a year of extreme melt. By early September, the area covered by sea ice in the Arctic Ocean was approaching a record low.
On September 9, the sea ice extent was very close to the record low set in 2007, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC). Scientists at the University of Bremen, who use a slightly different method to calculate sea ice extent from AMSR-E measurements, declared that 2011 surpassed 2007, setting a new record low. > earthobservatory.nasa.gov: Approaching the 2011 Arctic Sea Ice Minimum > earthobservatory.nasa.gov: Arctic sea ice minimum 2011 (+movie)
Second lowest minimum for Arctic sea ice
Photo: metoffice.gov.uk
London, 16 September 2011 -
Arctic sea ice extent appears to have reached its second lowest minimum since records began, according to the latest figures from the National Snow and Ice Data Centre (NSIDC) in the US.
Sea ice extent was 4.33 million square kilometres at its lowest point on 9 September, just greater than the previous lowest minimum set in 2007.
Satellite records began in 1979 and have shown a long-term decline in sea ice extent. However, the rate of decline has accelerated in the past 15 years and the last five years make up the lowest five extents in the 32-year record. > www.metoffice.gov.uk: Second lowest minimum for Arctic sea ice
Nature Studies by Michael McCarthy: Saving the Pole – not such a strange idea
London, 16 September 2011 -
A week ago today I experienced a peculiar pang when John Sauven, the leader of Greenpeace in Britain, told me his group wanted to save the North Pole.
A curious notion, is it not? Save The Pole. Certainly a much less tangible one than Save The Whale or Save The Planet, not least because geographically, the North Pole is not actually a place, merely a location – 90 degrees North – in the frozen surface of the Arctic Ocean.
What Greenpeace means, of course, is that it wants to keep the heart of the Arctic inviolable, it wants to make the top of the world a zone protected by international law from the rush for oil and other minerals now being facilitated by the rapid melting of the sea ice as the climate warms (ice which, this very day, is reaching its late summer minimum and, depending on which satellite measurement you use, is either the lowest or the second-lowest on record). > www.independent.co.uk: Nature Studies by Michael McCarthy: Saving the Pole – not such a strange idea
September 15, 2011
Ice on the Arctic Ocean has melted to its second-lowest level on record, according to researchers in Colorado who track this trend. The summertime melt coincides with a dramatic warming over the past decade, and it's already affecting wildlife in the Arctic Ocean. > www.wbez.org: Arctic ice hits near-record low, threatening wildlife
Arctic sea ice nears minimum extent
Graph: nsidc
September 13, 2011 -
In the last few days, the decline in Arctic sea ice extent has slowed. NSIDC data show Arctic sea ice extent currently at the second-lowest levels in the satellite record.
On September 10, Arctic sea ice extent was 4.34 million square kilometers (1.68 million square miles). This was 110,000 square kilometers (42,500 square miles) above the 2007 value on the same date. The record minimum Arctic sea ice extent, recorded in 2007, was 4.17* million square kilometers (1.61 million square miles).
The rate of decline has flattened considerably the last few days: Arctic sea ice is likely near its minimum value for the year. However, weather patterns could still push the ice extent lower. NSIDC scientists will make an announcement when ice extent has stopped declining and has expanded for several days in a row, indicating that the Arctic sea ice has reached its lowest extent for the year and has begun freezing over. During the first week of October, after data are processed and analyzed for the month of September, NSIDC scientists will issue a more detailed analysis of this year's melt season and the state of the sea ice. > nsidc.org: Arctic sea ice nears minimum extent
Amsterdam, September 9 2011 - PIOMAS Yearly Minimum Ice Volume in the Arctic sea from 1979 until (august) 2011. The graph is made from Piomass-data by someone known as 'ArcticPinguin', a.k.a as 'Wipneus, Dutch for 'turned up nose'.
This graph is a little bit more clear than the realclimate.org graph from Dirk Notz from the Max Planck Institute in Hamburg (See above). > PIOMAS Monthly mean trends 1978 - 2011 > Neven's Arctic Sea Ice Blog: Wipneus' updated August PIOMAS graphs
Arctic Death Spiral Continues: Sea Ice Volume Hits Record Low for Second Straight Year
Unlocked by melting ice-caps, the great polar oil rush has begun
London, 6 September 2011 -
It's the melting of the Arctic ice, as the climate warms, that makes it possible — and you can understand why they're all piling in. In July 2008, the US Geological Survey released the first ever publicly available estimate of the oil locked in the earth north of the Arctic Circle.
It was 90 billion barrels, representing an estimated 13 per cent of the world's undiscovered oil resources. If you're an oil company, or an oil-hungry economy, that's more than enough to make your mouth water. > www.independent.co.uk: Unlocked by melting ice-caps, the great polar oil rush has begun > www.nytimes.com: Exxon Reaches Arctic Oil Deal With Russians
Ice retreat worries climate-change scientists
Montreal, August 26 2011 -
Prime Minister Stephen Harper wrapped up his annual tour of the North on Friday amid fresh signs that the region has experienced another major meltdown this summer, including the renewed opening of the southern route of the Northwest Passage and a severe overall ice retreat still threatening to smash 2007's record-setting thaw. > www.montrealgazette.com: Ice retreat worries climate-change scientists > nsidc.org: Arctic Sea Ice News and Analysis
(ScienceDaily), August 23, 2011 —
On Aug. 22, 2011 at exactly 9.42 a.m. the research icebreaker Polarstern of the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research in the Helmholtz Association reached the North Pole. The aim of the current expedition is to document changes in the far north. Thus, the researchers on board are conducting an extensive investigation of the water, ice and air at the northernmost point on Earth. The little sea ice cover makes the route via the pole to the investigation area in the Canadian Arctic possible. > www.sciencedaily.com: Research Vessel Polarstern at North Pole > www.awi.de: Forschungsschiff Polarstern am Nordpol
Nature special: Ice and ocean
(Nature) August 19 2011 -
A substantial amount of the Earth's surface water moves between ice sheets and oceans as the climate oscillates on geological timescales. Ocean warming, as well as atmospheric temperature rise, affects the current redistribution in response to climate change. > www.nature.com: Focus on Warming Ice Sheets (August 2011)
As Melting Sea Ice Forces Walruses Ashore, Obama Administration OKs Dangerous Arctic Drilling Plan
Arctic sea ice at the crossroads
(nsidc.org) August 16 2011 -
After a period of slow melt from late July through early August, Arctic ice extent is again declining at a brisk pace, but remains higher than for 2007, the record low year. Data also indicate continued thinning of the ice. With about a month left in the sea ice melt season, the amount of further ice loss will depend mostly on weather patterns. > nsidc.org: Arctic sea ice at the crossroads
Inuit and Western Dialogues with a Warming North
August 11, 2011 -
Every day brings new headlines about climate change as politicians debate how to respond, scientists offer new data, and skeptics critique the validity of the research. To step outside these scientific and political debates, Timothy Leduc engages with various Inuit understandings of northern climate change. What he learns is that today’s climate changes are not only affecting our environments, but also our cultures. By focusing on the changes currently occurring in the north, he highlights the challenges being posed to Western climate research, Canadian politics and traditional Inuit knowledge. > www.press.uottawa.ca: Inuit and Western Dialogues with a Warming North
News You Can’t Use About Arctic Ice Climate Change
July 8th, 2011 -
Every month the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) issues a report on how much of the Arctic Ocean and surrounding waterways are covered in ice, and whenever that happens — most notably in summer, when the ice melts back to reveal open water — people like me (Michael D. Lemonick) feel the urge to write a news story about it. That's especially true when the ice coverage seems ominously low. So when the NSIDC put out its June report yesterday, announcing the second-lowest ice coverage in the 32-year satellite record, many of us gave in to our primal journalistic urges. The climate blogger Joe Romm, for example, using one of his patented apocalyptic metaphors, wrote about the Arctic Death Spiral. > www.climatecentral.org: News You Can’t Use About Arctic Ice Climate Change
Warming ocean layers will undermine polar ice sheets
May 19, 2011 -
In November, Rear Admiral David Titley, the Oceanographer of the Navy, testified that “the volume of ice as of last September has never been lower…in the last several thousand years.” Titley, who is also the Director of Navy’s Task Force Climate Change, said he has told the Chief of Naval Operations that “we expect to see four weeks of basically ice free conditions in the mid to late 2030s.”
Wieslaw Maslowski of the Naval Postgraduate School has “projected a (virtually) ice-free fall by 2016 (+/- 3 yrs).” Contrary to some reporting, that projection has been unchanged for years, though Maslowski is in the process of creating a more sophisticated model that he expects “will improve prediction of sea ice melt,” as he explained to me recently.
Until then, we have some new observational data of Canadian sea ice thickness and this remarkable figure of sea ice volume since 1979 from Neven’s Arctic Sea Ice Blog, based on data from the University of Washington’s Polar Science Center. > climateprogress.org / Arctic sea ice volume: The death spiral continues > Neven's Arctic Blog: PIOMAS April 2011
Warming Arctic cited as likely cause of freak migration
May 04, 2011 -
The sighting of a lone grey whale (Eschrichtius robustus) last year off the beaches of Israel, and then again near Spain, came as a surprise to many. How did a creature normally found in Pacific waters come to be in the Mediterranean Sea? Although no one knows what happened to the bus-sized mammal after its last appearance in May 2010, a group of researchers now suggests that the sighting might indicate a wider trend: the mixing of northern Atlantic and Pacific marine ecosystems, made possible by the climate-driven depletion of Arctic sea ice. > www.nature.com: Warming Arctic cited as likely cause of freak migration
Scientists: Soot may be key to rapid Arctic melt
April 20, 2011 -
Though the Arctic is often pictured as a vast white wasteland, scientists believe a thin layer of soot - mostly invisible - is causing it to absorb more heat. They want to find out if that's the main reason for the recent rapid warming of the Arctic, which could have a long-term impact on the world's climate. > www.physorg.com / Scientists: Soot may be key to rapid Arctic melt
Boulder, Colo. (UPI) March 24, 2011 -
Arctic sea ice extent appeared to reach its maximum extent for the year on March 7, marking the beginning of the melt season. This year's maximum tied for the lowest in the satellite record. NSIDC will release a detailed analysis of the 2010 to 2011 winter sea ice conditions during the second week of April. > nsidc.org: Arctic Sea Ice Extent
Under and over the ice
London / New York, 10 March 2011 - (Gavin Scmidt) -
I really like the fact that there is still so much to discover about important parts of the climate system. The Bell et al paper in Science Express this week (final version in Science) reporting on the surprising results from airborne ground-penetrating radar studies of the Antarctic Ice Sheet is a great example.
The ice sheets themselves are the biggest challenge for climate modelling since we don’t have direct evidence of the many of the key processes that occur at the ice sheet base (for obvious reasons), nor even of what the topography or conditions are at the base itself.
And of course, the future fate of the ice sheets and how they will dynamically respond to climate warming is hugely important for projections of sea level rise and polar hydrology.
The fact that ice sheets will respond to warming is not in doubt (note the 4-6 m sea level rise during the last interglacial), but the speed at which that might happen is highly uncertain, though the other story this week shows it is ongoing. > www.realclimate.org: >Under and over the ice
Pace of polar ice melt 'accelerating rapidly': study
Shrinking tundra, advancing forests: How the Arctic will look by century's end
March 3, 2011 -
Imagine the vast, empty tundra in Alaska and Canada giving way to trees, shrubs and plants typical of more southerly climates. Imagine similar changes in large parts of Eastern Europe, northern Asia and Scandinavia, as needle-leaf and broadleaf forests push northward into areas once unable to support them. Imagine part of Greenland's ice cover, once thought permanent, receding and leaving new tundra in its wake. > www.physorg.com: Shrinking tundra, advancing forests: How the Arctic will look by century's end
Warming Arctic brings invasion of southern species
(ScienceDaily) February 7, 2011 -
The substantial decline of Arctic sea ice in recent years has triggered some fears that the ice cover might be approaching a "tipping point" beyond which the loss of the remaining sea ice would become unstoppable. However, new research carried out at the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology in Hamburg/Germany now indicates that such tipping point is unlikely to exist for the loss of Arctic summer sea ice. The sea-ice cover reacts instead relatively directly to the climatic conditions at any given time. Hence, the ongoing loss of Arctic sea ice could be slowed down and eventually stopped if global warming were to be slowed down and eventually stopped. > ww.sciencedaily.com: Still Hope for Arctic Sea Ice
Arctic Oscillation brings record low January extent, unusual mid-latitude weather
February 6, 2011 -
Arctic sea ice extent for January 2011 was the lowest in the satellite record for that month. The Arctic oscillation persisted in its strong negative phase for most of the month, keeping ice extent low.
Arctic sea ice extent averaged over January 2011 was 13.55 million square kilometers (5.23 million square miles). This was the lowest January ice extent recorded since satellite records began in 1979. It was 50,000 square kilometers (19,300 square miles) below the record low of 13.60 million square kilometers (5.25 million square miles), set in 2006, and 1.27 million square kilometers (490,000 square miles) below the 1979 to 2000 average.
Ice extent in January 2011 remained unusually low in Hudson Bay, Hudson Strait (between southern Baffin Island and Labrador), and Davis Strait (between Baffin Island and Greenland). Normally, these areas freeze over by late November, but this year Hudson Bay did not completely freeze over until mid-January. The Labrador Sea remains largely ice-free. > www.csmonitor.com: Winter's freezing, so what's with Arctic sea ice? (Feb 05) > climateprogress.org: Yes, it’s a record-breaking winter: Arctic sees lowest January sea ice extent in satellite record (Feb 03 > nsidc.org: Arctic Oscillation brings record low January extent, unusual mid-latitude weather (Feb 02)
Enhanced Modern Heat Transfer to the Arctic by Warm Atlantic Water
Oslo, January 17 2011 -
Shrinking ice and snow cover in the Northern Hemisphere is reflecting ever less sunshine back into space in a previously underestimated mechanism that could add to global warming, a study showed. > www.planetark.org: Thaw Of Earth's Icy Sunshade May Stoke Warming
Radiative forcing and albedo feedback from the Northern Hemisphere cryosphere between 1979 and 2008
London, January 16 2011 -
The extent of snow cover and sea ice in the Northern Hemispherehas declined since 1979, coincident with hemispheric warming and indicative of a positive feedback of surface reflectivity on climate.
This albedo feedback of snow on land has been quantified from observations at seasonal timescales and century-scale feedback has been assessed using climate models. However, the total impact of the cryosphere on radiative forcing and albedo feedback has yet to be determined from measurements.
Here we assess the influence of the Northern Hemisphere cryosphere on Earth’s radiation budget at the top of the atmosphere—termed cryosphere radiative forcing—by synthesizing a variety of remote sensing and field measurements.
We estimate mean Northern Hemisphere forcing at -4.6 to -2.2 W m-2, with a peak in May of -9.0±2.7 W m-2. We find that cyrospheric cooling declined by 0.45 W m-2 from 1979 to 2008, with nearly equal contributions from changes in land snow cover and sea ice.
On the basis of these observations, we conclude that the albedo feedback from the Northern Hemisphere cryosphere falls between 0.3 and 1.1 W m-2 K-1, substantially larger than comparable estimates obtained from 18 climate models. > www.nature.com: adiative forcing and albedo feedback from the Northern Hemisphere cryosphere between 1979 and 2008
Repeat of a negative Arctic Oscillation leads to warm Arctic, low sea ice extent
Boulder (USA/COL), January 5, 2010 -
Arctic sea ice extent for December 2010 was the lowest in the satellite record for that month. These low ice conditions are linked to a strong negative phase of the Arctic Oscillation, similar to the situation that dominated the winter of 2009-2010.
The low ice conditions in December occurred in conjunction with above-average air temperatures in regions where ice would normally expand at this time of year. Air temperatures over eastern Siberia were 6 to 10 degrees Celsius (11 to 18 degrees Fahrenheit) above normal in December. Over the eastern Canadian Arctic Archipelago, Baffin Bay/Davis Strait and Hudson Bay, temperatures were at least 6 degrees Celsius (11 degrees Fahrenheit) higher than average. Southern Baffin Island had the largest anomalies, with temperatures over 10 degrees Celsius (18 degrees Fahrenheit) higher than normal. By sharp contrast, temperatures were lower than average (4 to 7 degrees Celsius, 7 to 13 degrees Fahrenheit) over the Alaska-Yukon border, north-central Eurasia, and Scandinavia.
The warm temperatures in December came from two sources: unfrozen areas of the ocean continued to release heat to the atmosphere, and an unusual circulation pattern brought warm air into the Arctic from the south. Although the air temperatures were still below freezing on average, the additional ocean and atmospheric heat slowed ice growth. > nsidc.org: Repeat of a negative Arctic Oscillation leads to warm Arctic, low sea ice extent
The war on Santa Claus (and Superman)
December 19, 2010 -
The question of the season is — What will happen to Santa Claus (and Superman) when the North Pole is ice free in the summer? On our current path, that seems inevitable by the end of the decade. Rear Admiral David Titley, the U.S. Navy’s chief oceanographer and director of its climate change task force, “predicts an ice-free Arctic in late summer by 2020.” > climateprogress.org: The war on Santa Claus (and Superman)
Polar bears could survive on persisting ice
New York, December 15 2010 -
Some summer sea ice is likely to persist in the Arctic into the next century, providing a last refuge for polar bears, seals and other animals, researchers reported at the American Geophysical Union meeting in San Francisco, California, this week. But both ice and animals still face multiple threats — from oil spills and other pollution to extinction through cross-breeding between distinct animal populations. > www.nature.com: Polar bears could survive on persisting ice See also: > Media buitenland: Misleading Nature cover story misleads the media and public (Dec 20)
Arctic Sea Ice Melting and Moving
November 10, 2010 -
By nearly all measures, the amount of sea ice in the Arctic Ocean has been shrinking since satellites first started taking measurements. Scientists have been particularly concerned about the disappearance of older “multi-year” ice, which usually grows thicker and more stable after surviving one or more summer melt seasons.
Previous studies by NASA’s Joey Comiso and other scientists found that the Arctic has lost about 10 percent of its multi-year ice per decade since 1979. The floating ice either melts in place or it is “exported,” pushed by winds or currents out of the Arctic. Some scientists asserted that wind-driven export was responsible for nearly all of the Arctic losses. > earthobservatory.nasa.gov: Arctic Sea Ice Melting and Moving
Stop the presses! Arctic melt ain’t over ’til it’s over
Thousands of walruses flee melting sea ice for shore
Stampede killing females, children feared; 'no sign of Arctic recovery,' expert says
Washington, September 13 2010 —
Tens of thousands of walruses have come ashore in northwest Alaska because the sea ice they normally rest on has melted.
U.S. government scientists say this massive move to shore by walruses is unusual in the United States. But it has happened at least twice before, in 2007 and 2009. In those years Arctic sea ice also was at or near record low levels. > www.msnbc.msn.com: Thousands of walruses flee melting sea ice for shore
Arctic ice 'continuing down in a death spiral'
'The four greatest melts since satellite measurements began in the late 1970s have occurred in the past four years.'
(CNN) August 30 2010 -
The SCF Baltica is a large tanker that has just made it safely through the Arctic Circle to deliver 70,000 tons of gas condensate (a natural gas extract) from Russia to China. This is the first time a tanker of this size has been able to make the journey through the Northern Sea Route. It's now headed for its final port destination just south of Shanghai. > www.cnn.com: Arctic shortcut, courtesy of global warming?
Is the ice in the Arctic Ocean getting thinner and thinner?
Boulder, May 24 2010 -
The big climate news up north is the Arctic double stunner: Sea ice extent (area) is now below 2007 levels, while the even more important metric of ice volume hit a record low for March (according to the Polar Science Center).
Data from both the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) show Arctic sea ice extent shrinking below the level of 2007 at a rapid pace.
NSIDC director Serreze says, “I think it’s quite possible” we could “break another record this year.”
Others, like Watts and Goddard seem in denial: "We are still about six weeks away from anything interesting happening in the Arctic." > climateprogress.org: Arctic sea ice shrinks faster than 2007 > climateprogress.org: Arctic double stunner > nsidc.org/arcticseaicenews
Arctic needs new rules
Stockholm, April 30 2010 -
A new, warmer Arctic cannot continue to operate under rules that assume it is ice-covered and essentially closed to fishing, resource exploration and development and shipping, WWF said as it launched a group of reports on protecting a newly accessible, highly vulnerable environment with profound significance for global climate, the global economy and global security. > www.enn.com: Arctic needs new rules
Melting sea ice major cause of warming in Arctic, new study reveals
Melbourne, April 28 2010 -
Melting sea ice has been shown to be a major cause of warming in the Arctic according to a University of Melbourne, Australia study.
Findings published in Nature reveal the rapid melting of sea ice has dramatically increased the levels of warming in the region in the last two decades.
Lead author Dr James Screen of the School of Earth Sciences at the University of Melbourne says the increased Arctic warming was due to a positive feedback between sea ice melting and atmospheric warming.
"The sea ice acts like a shiny lid on the Arctic Ocean. When it is heated, it reflects most of the incoming sunlight back into space. When the sea ice melts, more heat is absorbed by the water. The warmer water then heats the atmosphere above it."
"What we found is this feedback system has warmed the atmosphere at a faster rate than it would otherwise," he says. > www.eurekalert.org: Melting sea ice major cause of warming in Arctic, new study reveals > www.nature.com: The central role of diminishing sea ice in recent Arctic temperature amplification (abstract)
Canadian Ice Sheet Is Melting Rapidly, Study Shows
Yale, 13 Apr 2010 -
One of the largest ice sheets in Canada’s high Arctic has been swiftly shrinking in recent decades as a result of warmer summers, according to a new study. > e360.yale.edu: Canadian Ice Sheet Is Melting Rapidly, Study Shows
Arctic thaw frees overlooked greenhouse gas: study
Oslo, April 4 2010 –
Thawing permafrost can release nitrous oxide, also known as laughing gas, a contributor to climate change that has been largely overlooked in the Arctic, a study showed on Sunday.
The report in the journal Nature Geoscience indicated that emissions of the gas surged under certain conditions from melting permafrost that underlies about 25 percent of land in the Northern Hemisphere. > news.yahoo.com / Reuters: Arctic thaw frees overlooked greenhouse gas: study
High Arctic species plummeting across the board, others Arctic
(Mongabay.com) March 18, 2010 -
Between 1970 and 2004 species populations in the high Arctic have declined by 26 percent, according to the first report by the Arctic Species Trend Index (ASTI). While this may be a natural cycle, scientists are concerned that environmental impacts such as climate change are worsening natural population fluctuations in the high Arctic. Declining species include lemmings, red knot, and caribou. > news.mongabay.com: High Arctic species plummeting across the board, others Arctic residents on the rise
Arctic Could be Ice-Free in future Summers
Washington, February 8 2010 -
Are warming conditions in the Arctic unprecedented in Earth’s history? It turns out that they are not. The Earth’s climate has gone through warming and cooling times in the past as can be seen in the fossil record that shows tropical species in regions now too cool to support them.
These past variations were obviously not caused by the effects of man's activities. This does not mean that the current warming trend is not caused, or affected by anthropogenic air pollution.
There is now increased evidence that the Arctic could face seasonally ice-free conditions and much warmer temperatures in the future.
Scientists have documented evidence that the Arctic Ocean and Nordic Seas were too warm to support summer sea ice during the mid-Pliocene warm period (3.3 to 3 million years ago). This period is characterized by warm temperatures similar to those projected for the end of this century, and is used as an analog to understand future conditions. > www.enn.com: Arctic Could be Ice-Free in future Summers
Arctic Melting Triple Threat: Less Winter Ice Means More Summer Melt, It's All Happening Faster Than Thought + It's Going to Cost Us...
Washington, February 8 2010 -
Three less than encouraging reports about the state of climate change in the Arctic via Reuters: 1) The director of the National Snow & Ice Date Center says less winter ice this year may mean greater summer melting; 2) the end of the three year Canadian study says changes in the Arctic are happening faster than anyone expected; and, 3) melting in the Arctic is going to cost the world collectively some $24 trillion by 2050. > www.reuters.com: Arctic Melt To Cost Up To $24 Trillion By 2050: Report
Arctic Melt To Cost Up To $24 Trillion By 2050: Report
Washington, February 8 2010 -
Arctic ice melting could cost global agriculture, real estate and insurance anywhere from $2.4 trillion to $24 trillion by 2050 in damage from rising sea levels, floods and heat waves, according to a report released on Friday. > www.reuters.com: Arctic Melt To Cost Up To $24 Trillion By 2050: Report
Scant Arctic ice could mean summer "double whammy"
Washington, February 5 2010 -
Scant ice over the Arctic Sea this winter could mean a "double whammy" of powerful ice-melt next summer, a top U.S. climate scientist said on Thursday. > www.reuters.com: Scant Arctic ice could mean summer "double whammy
Melt Season in the Arctic Getting Longer
New York, February 3, 2010 -
The icy cap over Earth’s North Pole reaches its summer minimum in September and its winter maximum in late February or early March. Satellite observations since 1979 have shown that amount of ice that survives the summer is getting smaller; declines have been especially dramatic in the past decade. Recently, scientists from NASA and the National Snow and Ice Data Center described another way Arctic sea ice is changing: the summer melt season is getting significantly longer. > www.enn.com: Melt Season in the Arctic Getting Longer
The Unfrozen North
Washington, December 29, 2009 -
The Arctic was a very different place 3,000,000 years ago, between 10 to 18 degrees warmer, sea level 25 - 35 metres higher, with the average temperature of the Earth only 3 degrees warmer.
Scientists have documented evidence that the Arctic Ocean and Nordic Seas were too warm to support summer sea ice during the mid-Pliocene warm period (3.3 to 3 million years ago). This period is characterized by world temperatures similar to those projected for the end of this century, and is used to help understand future conditions.
The US Geological Survey (USGS) has found that summer sea surface temperatures in the Arctic were between 10 to 18°C (50 to 64°F) during the mid-Pliocene, while current temperatures are around or below 0°C (32°F). The Pliocene is a time period 2.5 to 5 million years before the present year. Carbon dioxide concentration is estimated to have been at about 350 ppm in this period. > www.enn.com: The Unfrozen North > micropress.org: New quantitative evidence of extreme warmth in the Pliocene Arctic (Full article)
Study: Earth's polar ice sheets vulnerable to even moderate global warming
(Princeton / Harvard) / London, December 16 2009 -
A new analysis of the geological record of the Earth's sea level, carried out by scientists at Princeton and Harvard universities and published in the Dec. 16 issue of Nature, employs a novel statistical approach that reveals the planet's polar ice sheets are vulnerable to large-scale melting even under moderate global warming scenarios. Such melting would lead to a large and relatively rapid rise in global sea level. > Study: Earth's polar ice sheets vulnerable to even moderate global warming
"We have woken giants."
Arctic summer ice may be gone in five years, Al Gore warns
Copenhagen, December 14, 2009 -
The Arctic polar ice cap could disappear entirely in the summer months in as little as five years, Al Gore, the former American Vice-President, said.
Mr Gore was the star draw at a Copenhagen summit side event during which Scandinavian scientists delivered a grim update on the state of the Greenland ice sheet and its potential to contribute to rising sea levels over the coming century.
Gore showed slides of projections of sea ice volume at the North Pole that he said he had just received from Wieslaw Maslowski of the US Naval Postgraduate School in California.
Gore's speech was roundly criticised by members of the climate science community. “This is an exaggeration that opens the science up to criticism from sceptics,” Professor Jim Overland, a leading oceanographer at the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said.
“You really don’t need to exaggerate the changes in the Arctic.”
Others said that, even if quoted correctly, Dr Maslowski’s six-year projection for near-ice-free conditions is at the extreme end of the scale. Most climate scientists agree that a 20 to 30-year timescale is more likely for the near-disappearance of sea ice.
“Maslowski’s work is very well respected, but he’s a bit out on a limb,” said Professor Peter Wadhams, a specialist in ocean physics at the University of Cambridge.
Dr Maslowki, who works at the US Naval Postgraduate School in California, said that his latest results give a six-year projection for the melting of 80 per cent of the ice, but he said he expects some ice to remain beyond 2020. > www.huffingtonpost.com: Arctic summer ice may be gone in five years, Al Gore warns > www.timesonline.co.uk: Arctic summer ice may be gone in five years, Al Gore warns > www.timesonline.co.uk: Inconvenient truth for Al Gore as his North Pole sums don't add up > news.aol.com / Gore: Polar ice may vanish in 5-7 years See also: > news.bbc.co.uk: Arctic summers ice-free 'by 2013' > The Big Melt: Arctic sets records on all fronts
Foreign Minister Støre and former Vice President Al Gore present report on melting ice at climate summit
Copenhagen, December 14 2009 -
For the first time ever, leading international scientists have drawn up a report on the status of the parts of the world covered by snow and ice. The conclusion is that they are disappearing faster than anticipated. “This is disturbing news. The world’s leaders must reach an agreement that ensures dramatic cuts in emissions of greenhouse gases,” commented Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre. > www.regjeringen.no: Foreign Minister Støre and former Vice President Al Gore present report on melting ice at climate summit
Multiyear Arctic ice is effectively gone: expert
Manitoba, October 29, 2009 -
The multiyear ice covering the Arctic Ocean has effectively vanished, a startling development that will make it easier to open up polar shipping routes, an Arctic expert said on Thursday. > www.reuters.com: Multiyear Arctic ice is effectively gone: expert
Ice cover linked to climate for at least 30,000 years
Palms Grew In Ice-Free Arctic 50 Million Years Ago: study
Utrecht (NL) Oslo (NO), October 26 2009 -
Palms flourished in the Arctic during a brief sweltering period about 50 million years ago, according to a study on Sunday that hints at big gaps in scientific understanding of modern climate change.
The Arctic "would have looked very similar to the vegetation we now see in Florida," said Appy Sluijs of Utrecht University in the Netherlands who led an international study. Evidence of palms has never been found so far north before.
The scientists, sampling sediments on a ridge on the seabed that was about 500 km (300 miles) from the North Pole 53.5 million years ago, found pollens of ancient palms as well as of conifers, oaks, pecans and other trees. > www.planetark.org: Palms Grew In Ice-Free Arctic 50 Million Years Ago: study > www.nature.com: Warm and wet conditions in the Arctic region during Eocene Thermal Maximum 2
Berlin, 12 September 2009 -
No commercial vessel has ever successfully travelled the North-east Passage, a fabled Arctic Sea route that links the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific far more directly than the usual southerly cargo route.
It has been one of the elusive goals of seafaring nations almost since the beginnings of waterborne trade, but for nearly 500 years the idea has been dismissed as an impossible dream. Now, as a result of global warming, the dream of Willem Barentsz is about to come true. > www.independent.co.uk: A triumph for man, a disaster for mankind
Dramatic biological responses to global warming in the Arctic
Climate change: melting ice will trigger wave of natural disasters
London, 6 September 2009 -
Scientists at a London conference next week will warn of earthquakes, avalanches and volcanic eruptions as the atmosphere heats up and geology is altered. Even Britain could face being struck by tsunamis. > www.guardian.co.uk: Melting ice will trigger wave of natural disasters">
North by Northwest – S'COOL on First Leg of Ocean Passage
(NASA/ EO), September 4, 2009 -
NASA's S'COOL project is now underway in a part of the world where few have sailed before: the open waters of the Northwest Passage. The Northwest Passage is one of the most awaited legs of the voyage; ten years ago, navigating through the icy region was nearly impossible.
S'COOL, Students' Cloud Observations On-Line, is one of eight scientific experiments onboard the ship Ocean Watch as it journeys around the Americas to help promote ocean health awareness. S'COOL was invited to be part of the expedition by the Around the Americas (ATA) project, a 13-month adventure that includes visits to 31 ports in 12 countries, where the Ocean Watch crew will promote public education and awareness about ocean science and marine conservation. > earthobservatory.nasa.gov: North by Northwest – S'COOL on First Leg of Ocean Passage
Global warming has made Arctic summers hottest for 2,000 years
Arctic Warming Overtakes 2,000 Years of Natural Cooling
Boulder, September 3 2009 -
Arctic temperatures in the 1990s reached their warmest level of any decade in at least 2,000 years, new research indicates. The study, which incorporates geologic records and computer simulations, provides new evidence that the Arctic would be cooling if not for greenhouse gas emissions that are overpowering natural climate patterns. > www.ucar.edu: Arctic Warming Overtakes 2,000 Years of Natural Cooling
Warming Arctic's global impacts outstrip predictions
Genève, September 2 2009 -
Warming in the Arctic could lead to flooding affecting one quarter of the world’s population, substantial increases in greenhouse gas emissions from massive carbon pools, and extreme global weather changes, according to a new WWF report.
The rapidly warming Arctic region is destabilising Earth's climate in ways science is just beginning to comprehend.
The entire world is being affected, and without urgent action to cut emissions, a too-warm Arctic could trigger catastrophic, irreversible climate change, top scientists say in a report released Wednesday in Geneva.
"It is crucial to know the full consequences of the Arctic warming, and this is an unprecedented review of the latest science," said Martin Sommerkorn, an Arctic researcher and senior climate change advisor to World Wildlife Fund International. > ipsnews.net: Earth's Fridge Defrosting, With Dire Results > www.panda.org: Warming Arctic's global impacts outstrip predictions > www.panda.org: Arctic Climate Feedbacks: Global Implications Executive summary Related: > UN's Ban: World heading for abyss on climate change: UN chief (Sep 03)
UN chief 'alarmed' at Arctic glacier melt
NY-AALESUND, (Svalbard/Norway), September 1 2009 —
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Tuesday he was "alarmed" by the rate at which the Arctic's glaciers are retreating as he visited the region ahead of key climate talks in December.
Ban said world leaders had a "moral political responsibility" to safeguard the future of the planet.
"I am very much alarmed and surprised to have seen these glaciers all worn," he told journalists as he visited the Ny-Aalesund climate change research station in the Svalbard archipelago, located 1,200 kilometres (745 miles) from the North Pole.
"Unless we take urgent action to stem this trend, we maybe virtually ice-free by 2037, even by 2030," he said. > www.afp.com: UN chief 'alarmed' at Arctic glacier melt">
Satellites and submarines give the skinny on sea ice thickness
(PhysOrg), September 1th, 2009 -
This summer, a group of scientists and students — as well as a Canadian senator, a writer, and a filmmaker — set out from Resolute Bay, Canada, on the icebreaker Louis S. St-Laurent. They were headed through the Northwest Passage, but instead of opening shipping lanes in the ice, they had gathered to open up new lines of thinking on Arctic science. > www.nasa.gov: Satellites and submarines give the skinny on sea ice thickness
Vast expanses of Arctic ice melt in summer heat
(PhysOrg), August 9th, 2009 -
The Arctic Ocean has given up tens of thousands more square miles (square kilometers) of ice on Sunday in a relentless summer of melt, with scientists watching through satellite eyes for a possible record low polar ice cap. > www.physorg.com: Vast expanses of Arctic ice melt in summer heat
Arctic Ocean may be polluted soup by 2070
New York, August 6, 2009 -
Within 60 years the Arctic Ocean could be a stagnant, polluted soup. Without drastic cuts in greenhouse-gas emissions, the Transpolar Drift, one of the Arctic's most powerful currents and a key disperser of pollutants, is likely to disappear because of global warming. > www.newscientist.com: Arctic Arctic Ocean may be polluted soup by 2070
Juneau, (Alaska), May 17, 2009 —
Global warming conjures images of rising seas that threaten coastal areas. But in Juneau, as almost nowhere else in the world, climate change is having the opposite effect: As the glaciers here melt, the land is rising, causing the sea to retreat. www.nytimes.com: As Alaska Glaciers Melt, It’s Land That’s Rising
Arctic Explorers Find More Evidence Of Global Thaw
London, April 7 2009 -
The Arctic Ocean could be ice-free in less than a decade, scientists have warned, as the latest figures show the thickness of the ice cap has shrunk to a record low.
The Nasa figures showed an increase in winter sea ice this year to 5.85 million square miles, 282,000 square miles above the record low of 2006.
However this is still the fifth lowest on record and 278,000 square miles less than the average extent for 1979 to 2000.
The ice is also thinner than ever. Just ten per cent of the ice is two-years-old or more, compared to an average 30 per cent thicker coverage between 1981 and 2000, meaning the volume of ice is probably lower than it has ever been. www.telegraph.co.uk: Arctic will be ice-free within a decade
Arctic ice shows winter thinning
Los Angeles, April 7 2009 -
Arctic ice reached a larger maximum area this winter than in the last few years, scientists say, but the long-term trend still shows it declining.
The frozen ocean of the Arctic might disappear far sooner than scientists have previously predicted with the first ice-free summer occurring within the next 30 years – three times earlier than estimated. news.bbc.co.uk: Arctic ice shows winter thinning news.bbc.co.uk: Arctic ice shows winter thinning
Satellite data shows Arctic on thinner ice
Los Angeles, April 6 2009 -
Arctic sea ice, a key component of Earth's natural thermostat, has thinned sharply in recent years with the northern polar ice cap shrinking steadily in surface area, government scientists said on Monday. www.reuters.com: Satellite data shows Arctic on thinner ice
Arctic sea ice younger, thinner as melt season begins
Boulder (USA), April 7 2009 -
Arctic sea ice extent has begun its seasonal decline towards the September minimum. Ice extent through the winter was similar to that of recent years, but lower than the 1979 to 2000 average. More importantly, the melt season has begun with a substantial amount of thin first-year ice, which is vulnerable to summer melt. nsidc.org: Full analysis from NSIDC scientists
Arctic meltdown is a threat to humanity
New York, March 25, 2009 -
I am shocked, truly shocked," says Katey Walter, an ecologist at the University of Alaska in Fairbanks. "I was in Siberia a few weeks ago, and I am now just back in from the field in Alaska. The permafrost is melting fast all over the Arctic, lakes are forming everywhere and methane is bubbling up out of them." www.newscientist.com: Arctic meltdown is a threat to humanity Global warming may trigger carbon 'time bomb', scientist warns
Arctic Summer Ice Could Vanish By 2013: Expert
Ottawa, March 6 2009 –
The Arctic is warming up so quickly that the region's sea ice cover in summer could vanish as early as 2013, decades earlier than some had predicted, a leading polar expert said.
Warwick Vincent, director of the Center for Northern Studies at Laval University in Quebec, said recent data on the ice cover "appear to be tracking the most pessimistic of the models", which call for an ice free summer in 2013.
The year "2013 is starting to look as though it is a lot more reasonable as a prediction. But each year we've been wrong -- each year we're finding that it's a little bit faster than expected," he told Reuters. planetark.org: Arctic Summer Ice Could Vanish By 2013: Expert
Explorers begin epic Arctic trek
London, March 1 2009 –
A British team has begun a gruelling trek to the North Pole to discover how quickly the Arctic sea-ice is melting.
Renowned Arctic explorer Pen Hadow and two companions were dropped onto the ice by plane 800km (500 miles) off the northern coast of Canada on Saturday.
During their 1,000km journey they plan to take measurements of the thickness of the ice.
It will be the most detailed survey of its kind this season, and should be completed in late May. news.bbc.co.uk: Explorers begin epic Arctic trek
Polar research reveals new evidence of global environmental change
Geneva, 25 February 2009 –
Multidisciplinary research from the International Polar Year (IPY) 2007-2008 provides new evidence of the widespread effects of global warming in the polar regions. Snow and ice are declining in both polar regions, affecting human livelihoods as well as local plant and animal life in the Arctic, as well as global ocean and atmospheric circulation and sea level. These are but a few findings reported in “State of Polar Research”, released today by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the International Council for Science (ICSU). In addition to lending insight into climate change, IPY has aided our understanding of pollutant transport, species’ evolution, and storm formation, among many other areas. www.wmo.int: Polar research reveals new evidence of global environmental change
Chicago, February 20 2009 -
As if record-breaking losses of sea ice and thawing permafrost weren't enough, climate change is also sweeping parts of the Arctic out to sea. New research in Geophysical Research Letters reports that the rate of erosion along a stretch of Alaska's northeastern coastline has doubled over the past 52 years. Such deterioration of arctic coastlines is likely to have significant impacts on local ecosystems, communities living in the Arctic, and oil and gas development. sciencenow.sciencemag.org: Arctic Coastal Erosion Doubles in 50 Years
Melt-pools 'accelerating Arctic ice loss'
Melting pool on the Greenland ice cap. Click on the picture for more info about Greenland. Photo courtesy Greenpeace.
London, February 18 2009 -
Pools of melted ice and snow that form on the surface of the Arctic sea ice explain why melt of northern ice sheet is occurring at a faster rate than predicted, scientists say.
The IPCC’s computer models had simulated an average loss of 2.5% in sea ice extent per decade from 1953 to 2006. But in reality the Arctic ice sheet had declined at a rate of about 7.8% per decade.
New research has revealed that melt-water pooling on the Arctic ice is causing it to melt at a faster rate than computer models had previously predicted. > www.guardian.co.uk: Melt-pools 'accelerating Arctic ice loss' > Greenland is melting
Arctic's personal greenhouse turns up the heat
Michigan / De Bilt (NL), February 18 2009 -
It might be one of the coldest regions on the planet but the Arctic is warming twice as fast as the rest of the globe - and now we know the reasons why. Two new studies show that the greenhouse effect is stronger above the North Pole, and that the waters of the Arctic Ocean are acting like a radiator to heat the region's atmosphere. www.newscientist.com: Arctic's personal greenhouse turns up the heat
Team Will Use Radar To Measure Thinning Arctic Ice
Ottawa (CND), February 13 2009 -
Three British polar adventurers will this month begin a 620-mile trek to the North Pole with an experimental portable radar set to gauge exactly how fast Arctic ice sheets are melting, they said on Thursday. www.planetark.org: Team Will Use Radar To Measure Thinning Arctic Ice
Russia Unveils Aggressive Arctic Plans
Berlin, January 29 2009 -
In a new national directive, Russia has asserted claims on large sections of the Arctic Ocean. The tone of the document is openly aggressive, prompting fears of increasing international tension over who has the right to exploit the mineral-rich territory. www.spiegel.de: Russia Unveils Aggressive Arctic Plans
Glacier and Ice-Sheet Melting, Sea-Ice Retreat and Coastal Erosion Expected as a Result
Reston (VA) January 16 / 22 2009 -
Temperature change in the Arctic is happening at a greater rate than other places in the Northern Hemisphere, and this is expected to continue in the future.
As a result, glacier and ice-sheet melting, sea-ice retreat, coastal erosion and sea level rise can be expected to continue.
A new comprehensive scientific synthesis of past Arctic climates demonstrates for the first time the pervasive nature of Arctic climate amplification. www.usgs.gov: Glacier and Ice-Sheet Melting, Sea-Ice Retreat and Coastal Erosion Expected as a Result www.precaution.org: Climate warming 'highly unusual' says new study
Has the Arctic melt passed the point of no return?
Arctic Warming Threatens Future Of The Planet
Washington DC, December 16, 2008 –
A report issued by the U.S. government today shows that rising temperatures in the Arctic could have disastrous impacts on the rest of the planet beyond what had previously been projected, reinforcing the urgency for a new global climate treaty, said officials with World Wildlife Fund (WWF). Arctic Warming Threatens Future Of The Planet More about the report by the US Government on Abrupt Climate Change
Point of No Return for the Arctic Climate?
Berlin, December 4 2008 -
Temperatures in the Arctic are rising much faster than elsewhere in the world. Researchers now say it may be the result of a dramatic shift in global climate patterns. If they are right, ice at the North Pole may soon be a thing of the past. www.spiegel.de: Point of No Return for the Arctic Climate?
Arctic ice thickness 'plummets'
London, October 28 2008 -
The thickness of Arctic sea ice "plummeted" last winter, thinning by as much as one-fifth in some regions, satellite data has revealed. news.bbc.co.uk: Arctic ice thickness 'plummets'
Arctic air temperatures climb to record levels
Washington, October 16 2008 -
Fall air temperatures have climbed to record levels in the Arctic due to major losses of sea ice as the region suffers more effects from a warming trend dating back decades, a report released on Thursday showed.
The annual report issued by researchers at the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and other experts is the latest to paint a dire picture of the impact of climate change in the Arctic.
Researchers took a close look at the Arctic's atmosphere, biology, land, ocean, and sea ice and concluded that "There continues to be widespread and, in some cases, dramatic evidence of an overall warming of the Arctic system."
This year's summer sea-ice melt was the second-meltiest on record, and Greenland's ice sheet lost some 24 cubic miles of ice, giving it the dubious honor of being one of the largest single contributors to global sea level rise.
Impacts on Arctic wildlife were mixed since some species, like geese, adapted better to the ecosystem changes and expanded their range. However, caribou and walrus populations, among others, seemed to be negatively affected.
The Arctic warming trend also increased green-plant cover in the region as some plants moved farther north into areas that used to be permafrost. "These are dynamic and dramatic times in the Arctic," said researcher Jackie Richter-Menge. "The outlook isn't good."
(Several sources) www.reuters.com: Arctic air temperatures climb to record levels www.noaanews.noaa.gov: Annual Arctic Report Card Shows Stronger Effects of Warming gristmill.grist.org: Impermafrost
NASA data show Arctic saw fastest August sea ice retreat on record
Boulder (Col/USA), September 28 2008 -
Following a record-breaking season of arctic sea ice decline in 2007, NASA scientists have kept a close watch on the 2008 melt season. Although the melt season did not break the record for ice loss, NASA data are showing that for a four-week period in August 2008, sea ice melted faster during that period than ever before. www.physorg.com: NASA data show Arctic saw fastest August sea ice retreat on record
Arctic Sea Ice Reaches Annual Minimum
Boulder (Col/USA), September 17 2008 -
The arrival of Northern Hemisphere autumn signals the end of the seasonal retreat of Arctic sea ice. Polar scientists from the National Snow and Ice Data Center report that sea ice appeared to hit its lowest extent on September 14, 2008, when the area at least 15 percent covered by ice dropped to 4.52 million square kilometers (1.74 million square miles). The 2008 minimum is the second-lowest recorded since 1979, or 2.24 million square kilometers (0.86 million square miles) below normal (1979–2000). earthobservatory.nasa.gov: Arctic Sea Ice Reaches Annual Minimum (New images)
Lowest ever sea ice in Arctic
Washington, October 16 2008 -
Declining ice thickness and what is looking like the second lowest coverage on record means that Arctic sea ice may well have reached its lowest levels ever in terms of total volume. www.enn.com: Lowest ever sea ice in Arctic
The village at the tip of the iceberg
London (UK) September 28 2008 -
For more than 2,000 years the Yup'ik Eskimos have carved out a subsistence living on the frozen wastes of southwest Alaska. But now the ice is melting the village is having to move to a new site, and the world's first climate-change refugees face an uncertain future. www.guardian.co.uk: The village at the tip of the iceberg
Melting ice cap pushes Arctic up EU agenda
Brussel, September 10 2008 -
The rapid melting of the polar ice cap in the Arctic offers Europe a "first-time opportunity" to access new trade routes and massive oil and gas deposits, the European Commission has said - developments that are pushing the EU's polar strategy up the policy agenda. euobserver.com: Melting ice cap pushes Arctic up EU agenda
Polar bear sightings stir climate debate
Anchorage, (Alaska) August 22 2008 -
Federal wildlife monitors spotted nine polar bears in one day swimming in open ocean off Alaska's northwest coast, and environmental groups say the event is a strong signal that diminished sea ice brought on by warming has put U.S. bears at risk of drowning or dying from effects of fatigue. www.latimes.com: Polar bear sightings stir climate debate www.nytimes.com: 10 Polar Bears Are Seen Swimming in Open Water
Create a global authority for Arctic oil and gas
August 14 2008 -
Whatever happens with the development of alternative fuels, and however much we economise on using energy, the world will be reliant on oil, gas and coal for decades. The challenge of developing conventional energy sources in an environmentally sustainable way is one of the most critical we face. We therefore need to create an institution imbued with sovereign powers to develop the massive fuel sources in the Arctic Circle. It would be a far-reaching step, but the stakes warrant a special attempt to take it. www.ft.com: Create a global authority for Arctic oil and gas
U.S. scouts out territory in Arctic; ice-cover loss could be worst ever
Anchorage (Alaska), August 14, 2008 - (grist.org) -
U.S. scientists will head to the Arctic this week on a quest to map the ocean floor, and will collaborate with Canada on a surveying trip in September. The two nations -- and their Arctic-bordering compatriots Russia, Denmark, and Norway -- are scrambling to measure their respective continental shelves, with an eye to claiming as much as they can of the estimated 90 billion barrels of oil that could potentially become accessible if the Arctic gets melty enough.
So how's the northern region doing these days? "We thought Arctic ice cover might recover after last year's unprecedented melting," says Mark Serreze of the National Snow and Ice Data Center, but, "it now looks as if it will be a very close call indeed whether 2007 or 2008 is the worst year on record for ice cover over the Arctic." Such conditions are, notes oceanographer Larry Mayer, "bad for the Arctic, but very, very good for mapping." www.reuters.com: U.S. ship heads for Arctic to define territory www.sfgate.com: Rush to Arctic as warming opens oil deposits afp.google.com: Canada, US team up in key Arctic study www.canada.com: Arctic meltdown could set new record
Global warming has its own language. For our children's sake, we have to start speaking it
Kangia Glacier, August 10, 2008 -
Sometimes you just wish you were a photographer. I simply do not have the words to describe the awesome majesty of Greenland's Kangia glacier, shedding massive icebergs the size of skyscrapers and slowly pushing them down the Ilulissat fjord until they crash into the ocean off the island's west coast. There, these natural ice sculptures float and bob around the glassy waters near here. You can sail between them in a fishing boat, listening to these white ice monsters crackle and break, heave and sigh, as if they were noisily protesting their fate. www.guardian.co.uk: Global warming has its own language. For our children's sake, we have to start speaking it
For second year in a row, melt may open Northwest Passage
Anchorage (Alaska), August 4, 2008 -
Alaska's warm weather this summer has all "gone north." Way north. Scientists at the National Snow and Ice Data Center say strong, southerly winds from the North Slope have devoured a huge swath of Arctic ice larger than the state of Texas in the heart of the Beaufort Sea. www.enn.com: For second year in a row, melt may open Northwest Passage
Arctic Ice Bigger Than 2007, But Thawing Long-Term
Oslo, July 31, 2008 -
Arctic sea ice is unlikely to shrink below a 2007 record low this year in a reprieve from the worst predictions of climate change even though new evidence confirms a long-term thaw is under way, experts said. www.planetark.org: Arctic Ice Bigger Than 2007, But Thawing Long-Term
Polar scientists reveal dramatic new evidence of climate change
London, June 27/30, 2008 -
It seems unthinkable, but for the first time in human history, ice is on course to disappear entirely from the North Pole this year.
The disappearance of the Arctic sea ice, making it possible to reach the Pole sailing in a boat through open water, would be one of the most dramatic – and worrying – examples of the impact of global warming on the planet. Scientists say the ice at 90 degrees north may well have melted away by the summer. www.independent.co.uk: No ice at the North Pole www.independent.co.uk / Peter Wadhams: Every time I visit the Arctic, the ice gets thinner
North Pole Notes: Arctic sea ice still on track for extreme melt
London, June 21, 2008 - (by Realclimate / Gavin Schmidt) -
I always find it interesting as to why some stories get traction in the mainstream media and why some don't. In online science discussions, the fate of this years summer sea ice has been the focus of a significant betting pool, a test of expert prediction skills, and a week-by-week (almost) running commentary. However, none of these efforts made it on to the Today program. Instead, a rather casual article in the Independent showed the latest thickness data and that quoted Mark Serreze as saying that the area around the North Pole had 50/50 odds of being completely ice free this summer, has taken off across the media. www.realclimate.org: North Pole notes nsidc.org: Arctic sea ice still on track for extreme melt
Vast cracks appear in Arctic ice
London / Montreal, May 23 2008 -
Dramatic evidence of the break-up of the Arctic ice-cap has emerged from research during an expedition by the Canadian military. news.bbc.co.uk: Vast cracks appear in Arctic ice
Japan scientists warn Arctic ice melting fast
Tokyo, May 12 2008 - Arctic ice is melting fast and the area covered by ice sheets in ocean could shrink this summer to the smallest since 1978 when satellite observation first started, Japanese scientists warned in a report. www.enn.com: Arctic sea ice forecast: another record low in 2008
Arctic sea ice forecast: another record low in 2008
Boulder (Col / USA) May 1, 2008 -
Arctic sea ice, sometimes billed as Earth's air conditioner for its moderating effects on world climate, will probably shrink to a record low level this year, scientists predicted on Wednesday.
In releasing the forecast, climate researcher Sheldon Drobot of the University of Colorado at Boulder called the changes in Arctic sea ice "one of the more compelling and obvious signs of climate change." www.reuters.com: Arctic sea ice forecast: another record low in 2008
North Pole could be ice free in 2008
Washington, April 25, 2008 -
You know when climate change is biting hard when instead of a vast expanse of snow the North Pole is a vast expanse of water. This year, for the first time, Arctic scientists are preparing for that possibility. www.newscientist.com: North Pole could be ice free in 2008 nsidc.org: Sea ice in 2008
Arctic Getting "Wetter" Due to Human-Driven Warming
April 25, 2008 -
In addition to heating up faster than almost anywhere else on the planet, the Arctic has gotten wetter and snowier because of global warming, according to a new study.
The extra precipitation could freshen ocean water in the Arctic and North Atlantic, researchers say, which might disrupt the so-called ocean conveyor belt, a current that runs through the Atlantic and carries warm water northward from the Equator. news.nationalgeographic.com: Arctic Getting "Wetter" Due to Human-Driven Warming
Wetter Arctic may lead to colder winters
Londen, April 24 2008 -
The Arctic is becoming a damper place as a result of burning fossil fuels, an effect that could send shockwaves through the global climate system, making British winters substantially colder. www.telegraph.co.uk: PWetter Arctic may lead to colder winters
Arctic ice seen melting faster than anticipated
Geneva, April 23, 2008 - Arctic ice may be melting faster than most climate change science has concluded, the conservation group WWF said in a report.
It found that ice in Greenland and across the Arctic region was retreating "at rates significantly faster than predicted in previous expert assessments".
The Greenland Ice Sheet - with an ice volume of about 2.9 million cubic kilometers - is shrinking at a fast pace and "could contribute much more than previously estimated to global sea-level rise during the 21st century," the WWF said. www.bbc.co.uk: Arctic ice seen melting faster than anticipated www.telegraph.co.uk: Arctic ice melting 'faster than predicted' www.panda.org: Climate change hitting the Arctic faster and harder
Arctic Oil Bonanza Worries Alaska Natives
Anchorage, February 26, 2008 -
Modern technology and surging oil prices have suddenly made the prospect of drilling in the remote, icy Chukchi Sea irresistible to the world's oil giants -- and that is worrying the Inupiat people who have lived at the sea's edge for centuries. www.planetark.com: Arctic Oil Bonanza Worries Alaska Natives
Arctic seed vault opens doors for 100 million seeds
Longyearbyen, Svalbard/Norway, February 26, 2008 — The Svalbard Global Seed Vault opened today on a remote island in the Arctic Circle, receiving inaugural shipments of 100 million seeds that originated in over 100 countries. With the deposits ranging from unique varieties of major African and Asian food staples such as maize, rice, wheat, cowpea, and sorghum to European and South American varieties of eggplant, lettuce, barley, and potato, the first deposits into the seed vault represent the most comprehensive and diverse collection of food crop seeds being held anywhere in the world. www.enn.com: Arctic seed vault opens doors for 100 million seeds
Bush budget calls for Arctic oil drilling in 2010
Washington, February 5, 2008 -
The Bush administration on Monday again asked Congress to allow oil and natural gas drilling in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, saying $7 billion could be raised in leasing fees from energy companies. www.enn.com: Bush budget calls for Arctic oil drilling in 2010
Arctic ice-cap loss twice the size of France
Paris, (Fr), January 25, 2008 -
The Arctic ice cap has shrunk by an area twice the size of France's land mass over the last two years, the Paris-based National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) said Wednesday. "The year 2008 promises to be a critical year on every level," said Jean-Claude Gascard, the body's research director and coordinator of European scientific mission Damocles, which is monitoring the effects of climate change across the Arctic. www.reuters.com: Arctic ice-cap loss twice the size of France
Older Arctic Sea Ice Replaced By Young, Thin Ice
Boulder (Col/US), January 13, 2008 -
A new study by University of Colorado at Boulder researchers indicates older, multi-year sea ice in the Arctic is giving way to younger, thinner ice, making it more susceptible to record summer sea-ice lows like the one that occurred in 2007. www.sciencedaily.com: Older Arctic Sea Ice Replaced By Young, Thin Ice
Glaciers grew even when alligators lived in Arctic
Oslo, January 10, 2008 - Giant glaciers formed about 90 million years ago when alligators thrived in the Arctic, overturning the belief that all ice melts in a "super greenhouse" climate, researchers said on Thursday. www.reuters.com: Glaciers grew even when alligators lived in Arctic
McCall glacier melt links the Arctic eras
London / Anchorage, December 25, 2007 -
"Sometimes you'd just land and set up your equipment," recalls Carl Benson, "and the pilot sees clouds rolling in and says 'I'd better get out of here, do you want to come with me or do you want to stay'?
"So you push the 'plane round so they can take off, and you don't know when you're going to see them again."
Dr Benson is one of a band of scientists hardier than most who have spent decades working to understand the finer workings of glaciers. news.bbc.co.uk: McCall glacier melt links the Arctic eras
Russians wake up on Svalbard
Lenin in Barentsburg
Barentsburg (SVA), December 17, 2007 -
Russia is beefing up its presence on Svalbard, another sign that Moscow wants its presence felt in strategic Arctic areas. www.aftenposten.no: Russians wake up on Svalbard
Notes from The Gathering #5: Arctic sea ice: is it tipped yet?
San Francisco, December 14, 2007 -
The summer of 2007 was apocalyptic for Arctic sea ice. The coverage and thickness of sea ice in the Arctic has been declining steadily over the past few decades, but this year the ice lost an area about the size of Texas, reaching its minimum on about the 16th of September. Arctic sea ice seems to me the best and more imminent example of a tipping point in the climate system. A series of talks aimed to explain the reason for the meltdown. www.realclimate.org: Arctic sea ice: is it tipped yet?
Arctic summers ice-free 'by 2013'
San Francisco, December 12, 2007 -
Scientists in the US have presented one of the most dramatic forecasts yet for the disappearance of Arctic sea ice.
Their latest modelling studies indicate northern polar waters could be ice-free in summers within just 5-6 years. news.bbc.co.uk: Arctic summers ice-free 'by 2013'
Norway's Arctic islands at their hottest since Viking era: scientists
Oslo, December 11, 2007 -
Norway's Arctic archipelago of Svalbard recently experienced its highest temperatures since the end of the Viking Age around 800 years ago, the Norwegian Polar Institute said Tuesday. Analysis of ice taken from Lomonosovfonna, one of the highest glaciers on Svalbard, confirms that recent local temperatures have been at their highest since the 13th century, the institute said in a statement. www.terradaily.com: Norway's Arctic islands at their hottest since Viking era: scientists
Changing severe weather in the Arctic
Bergen, November 7 2007 -
How will global warming influence severe weather in Arctic regions? A new study published in Climate Dynamics by Bjerknes Centre researcher Erik Kolstad and Tom Bracegirdle of British Antarctic Survey makes use of IPPC climate model data to answer this question.
Arctic weather has many faces. While the ice sheet surrounding the North Pole is frequently calm and cloudy, the warm regions with open ocean experience severe weather such as explosive mid-latitude storms, polar lows, arctic fronts and roll clouds. www.bjerknes.uib.no: Changing severe weather in the Arctic www.springerlink.com:Marine cold-air outbreaks in the future: an assessment of IPCC AR4 model results for the Northern Hemisphere
Nordic nations sound alarm over melting Arctic
Oslo, October 31, 2007 -
Nordic nations sounded the alarm on Wednesday about a quickening melt of Arctic ice and said the thaw might soon prove irreversible because of global warming.
Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Norway and Iceland also urged all governments to agree before the end of 2009 a broader U.N. plan to curb greenhouse gases in succession to the Kyoto Protocol. uk.reuters.com: Nordic nations sound alarm over melting Arctic
Less Arctic ice means higher risks, experts warn
Washington, October 26 2007 -
The International Ice Charting Working Group predicts more marine transportation in the Arctic as sea ice continues to diminish and warns of "significant hazards to navigation," according to a statement released yesterday. www.esa.int: Less Arctic ice means higher risks, experts warn
At the Poles, Melting Occurring at Alarming Rate
Washington, October 22 2007 -
For scientists, global warming is a disaster movie, its opening scenes set at the poles of Earth. The epic already has started. And it's not fiction.
The scenes are playing, at the start, in slow motion: The relentless grip of the Arctic Ocean that defied man for centuries is melting away. The sea ice reaches only half as far as it did 50 years ago. In the summer of 2006, it shrank to a record low; this summer the ice pulled back even more, by an area nearly the size of Alaska. Where explorer Robert Peary just 102 years ago saw "a great white disk stretching away apparently infinitely" from Ellesmere Island, there is often nothing now but open water. Glaciers race into the sea from the island of Greenland, beginning an inevitable rise in the oceans. www.washingtonpost.com: At the Poles, Melting Occurring at Alarming Rate www.washingtonpost.com: In the Greenhouse, Confronting a Changing Climate www.washingtonpost.com: The Threat of Climate Change
'Warm wind' hits Arctic climate
Washington, October 17, 2007 -
The Arctic is being hit by melting ice, hotter air and dying wildlife, according to a US government report on the impact of global warming there.
A new wind circulation pattern is blowing more warm air towards the North Pole than in the 20th Century, scientists found.
Shrubs are now growing in tundra areas while caribou herds are dwindling in Canada and parts of Alaska.
The report stresses that the fate of the Arctic affects the entire planet. news.bbc.co.uk: 'Warm wind' hits Arctic climate
Bleak U.S. "report card" finds warming Arctic
Washington, October 17, 2007 -
A bleak "report card" on global warming's Arctic impact released on Wednesday found less ice, hotter air and dying wildlife, and stressed that what happens around the North Pole affects the entire planet. www.reuters.com: Bleak U.S. "report card" finds warming Arctict
Arctic ‘Report Card’ Shows Continued Climate Changes
Washington, October 17, 2007 -
The first update of a report tracking the state of the Arctic indicates that some changes in that region are larger and occurring faster than those previously predicted by climate models, while other indicators show some stabilizing. The “Report Card” was issued today by an international team of scientists, including a NOAA lead author. www.noaanews.noaa.gov: Arctic ‘Report Card’ Shows Continued Climate Changes www.arctic.noaa.gov/reportcard/: Arctic Report Card 2007
Ice melt raises passage tension
Montreal, October 8 2007 -
Less ice makes it easier to get at the Arctic's resources. In another sign of potential friction in the warming Arctic, Canada has warned that it will step up patrols of the North West Passage. news.bbc.co.uk: Ice melt raises passage tension
Melting Ice Pack Displaces Alaska Walrus
Ancorage, (Alaska) October 8 2007 -
Thousands of walrus have appeared on Alaska's northwest coast in what conservationists are calling a dramatic consequence of global warming melting the Arctic sea ice. www.physorg.com: Melting Ice Pack Displaces Alaska Walrus
Record 22C temperatures in Arctic heatwave
London, October 3 2007 -
Parts of the Arctic have experienced an unprecedented heatwave this summer, with one research station in the Canadian High Arctic recording temperatures above 20C, about 15C higher than the long-term average. The high temperatures were accompanied by a dramatic melting of Arctic sea ice in September to the lowest levels ever recorded, a further indication of how sensitive this region of the world is to global warming. Scientists from Queen's University in Ontario watched with amazement as their thermometers touched 22C during their July field expedition at the High Arctic camp on Melville Island, usually one of the coldest places in North America. environment.independent.co.uk: Record 22C temperatures in Arctic heatwave 09252007: Arctic heat wave stuns climate change researchers
Arctic melt threatens indigenous people
London, October 2 2007 -
A "grab for the Arctic" will add strains to indigenous hunters' cultures as a record melt opens the icy region to shipping or oil and gas exploration, an Inuit activist said on Tuesday. www.reuters.com: Arctic melt threatens indigenous people
Arctic ice retreats into uncharted territory
Scientists see dramatic drop in Arctic sea ice / Arctic sea ice shatters record low
Click on image for instant animation of 2007 sea ice decline. The picture displays record minimum sea ice extent of September 14 2007.
Arctic ice island breaks in half
Anchorage, (Alaska) October 1, 2007 -
The giant Ayles Ice Island drifting off Canada's northern shores has broken in two - far earlier than expected.
In a season of record summer melting in the region, the two chunks have moved rapidly through the water - one of them covering 98km (61 miles) in a week. news.bbc.co.uk: Arctic ice island breaks in half
Arctic thaw may be at "tipping point"
Oslo / London, September 28, 2007 -
A record melt of Arctic summer sea ice this month may be a sign that global warming is reaching a critical trigger point that could accelerate the northern thaw, some scientists say.
"The reason so much (of the Arctic ice) went suddenly is that it is hitting a tipping point that we have been warning about for the past few years," James Hansen, director of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, told Reuters.
The Arctic summer sea ice shrank by more than 20 percent below the previous 2005 record low in mid-September to 4.13 million sq km (1.6 million sq miles), according to a 30-year satellite record.
Some climate tipping points may already have been passed, and others may be closer than we thought, say UK-scientists. Runaway loss of Arctic sea ice may now be inevitable. Even more worrying, and very likely, is the collapse of the giant Greenland ice sheet. So said Tim Lenton of the University of East Anglia, speaking at a meeting in August on complexity in nature, organised by the British Antarctic Survey in Cambridge.
Lenton warned the meeting that global warming might trigger tipping points that could cause runaway warming or catastrophic sea-level rise. The risks are far greater than suggested in the current IPCC report, he says.
Yet climate modellers are in a quandary. As models get better and forecasts more alarming, their confidence in the detail of their predictions is evaporating. www.reuters.com: Arctic thaw may be at "tipping point"
'Remarkable' drop in arctic sea ice raises questions
Because of the changining albedo the north is warming up rapidly after sea ice loss. Click on the picture for instant animation.
September 25, 2007 -
Melting Arctic sea ice has shrunk to a 29-year low, significantly below the minimum set in 2005, according to preliminary figures from the National Snow and Ice Data Center, part of the University of Colorado at Boulder. NASA scientists, who have been observing the declining Arctic sea ice cover since the earliest measurements in 1979, are working to understand this sudden speed-up of sea ice decline and what it means for the future of Earth's northern polar region. www.nasa.gov: 'Remarkable' drop in arctic sea ice raises questions
Arctic heat wave stuns climate change researchers
September 25, 2007 -
Unprecedented warm temperatures in the High Arctic this past summer were so extreme that researchers with a Queen’s University-led climate change project have begun revising their forecasts.
“Everything has changed dramatically in the watershed we observed,” reports Geography professor Scott Lamoureux, the leader of an International Polar Year project announced yesterday in Nunavut by Indian and Northern Affairs Minister Chuck Strahl. “It’s something we’d envisioned for the future – but to see it happening now is quite remarkable.” qnc.queensu.ca: Arctic heat wave stuns climate change researchers
Extent of sea ice in Arctic sets record low
The MODIS on the Terra satellite captured this image of a section of the Northwest Passage, located between Candada and Greenland, on September 15, 2007. The Northwest Passage is a sea route between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans - it threads through the Arctic Ocean and the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, along the northern coast of North America. ( Photo: Modis)
Fairbanks, Alaska, September 17, 2007 -
Two IARC scientists have sailed on recent missions over the northern seas, each experiencing different aspects of waters that seem to be warming. The summer of 2007 has set a new satellite-era (since 1979) record for the smallest amount of ice covering the Arctic Ocean. www.iarc.uaf.edu: Unusually thin, rotten ice....
Satellites witness lowest Arctic ice coverage in history
Arctic regional sea ice to decline 40 percent before 2050
Washington, September 6 2007 -
A new study by NOAA scientists shows that areal sea-ice coverage of the Arctic Ocean will decline by more than 40 percent before the summer of 2050, compared to a 1979-1999 base period. www.noaanews.noaa.gov: Arctic regional sea ice to decline 40 percent before 2050
Loss of Arctic ice leaves experts stunned
London, September 4/6 2007 -
The Arctic ice cap has collapsed at an unprecedented rate this summer and levels of sea ice in the region now stand at record lows, scientists have announced. Experts say they are "stunned" by the loss of ice, with an area almost twice as big as the UK disappearing in the last week alone. So much ice has melted this summer that the Northwest passage across the top of Canada is fully navigable, and observers say the Northeast passage along Russia's Arctic coast could open later this month. www.guardian.co.uk: Loss of Arctic ice leaves experts stunned www.noaanews.noaa.gov 0906: Arctic regional sea ice to decline 40 percent before 2050
Tipping points in the Earth system
London, August 30, 2007 - (by Timothy M. Lenton) -
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in its many excellent reports tends to portray climate change as a smooth transition. Although the projections are rarely straight lines the underlying system and its responses appear ‘linear’ (in mathematical terms). There are, of course, exceptions to this, notable ones being the possible collapse of the Atlantic thermohaline circulation or irreversible melt of the Greenland ice sheet, which both get significant attention in the latest IPCC report (IPCC, 2007). These represent large scale ‘non-linear’ components of the Earth system. researchpages.net: Tipping points in the Earth system
Islands emerge as Arctic ice shrinks to record low
Ny Alesund, Svalbard/Spitsbergen
Ny Alesund, Norway, August 20 (Reuters) - Previously unknown islands are appearing as Arctic summer sea ice shrinks to record lows, raising questions about whether global warming is outpacing U.N. projections, experts said. www.alertnet.org: Islands emerge as Arctic ice shrinks to record low
Denmark eyes North Pole riches
Copenhagen , August 17, 2007 -
"Dragons be here!" That is how the unknown region of the North Pole was marked on ancient Danish maps.
Much still remains to be mapped and Denmark is engaged in that work now, with a new polar expedition. news.bbc.co.uk: Denmark eyes North Pole riches
Eco anxiety: In Despair Over the Polar Bear
Oregon, August 17, 2007 -
Pamela Larsen, 41, a mother of two young girls, in Mt. Hood, Ore., gets a stomachache every time she looks up at the volcano nearby: the glaciers at its peak have definitely been receding over the years. As the mountainside gets browner and browner — evidence of climate change — the knot in Larsen's gut tightens.... Eco anxiety: Concern for the worsening state of the environment
Arctic sea ice watch...
August 10, 2007 -
A few people have already remarked on some pretty surprising numbers in Arctic sea ice extent this year (the New York Times has also noticed). The minimum extent is usually in early to mid September, but this year, conditions by Aug 9 had already beaten all previous record minima. Given that there is at least a few more weeks of melting to go, it looks like the record set in 2005 will be unequivocally surpassed. It could be interesting to follow especially in light of model predictions discussed previously. www.realclimate.org: Arctic sea ice watch
Russia Claims the North Pole
Moskwa, July 12, 2007 -
President Vladimir Putin has long promised to restore Russian greatness and build an "energy empire." But until now, his empire-building had been confined to taking control of corporations operating on his turf, buying into businesses abroad, and blackmailing former Soviet Republics who dared vote against Moscow-backed candidates, moved to join NATO or acted in otherwise uppity ways. But Putin's imperial ambitions have recently added an element of classic 19th century-style territorial expansion: Late last month, Moscow signaled its intentions to annex the entire North Pole, an area twice the size of France with Belgium and Switzerland thrown in — except all of it under water. www.time.com: China's Premier Urges Action In Energy-Saving Drive
Melting ice drives polar bear mothers to land
Washington, July 11 2007 - Melting sea ice is driving mother polar bears onto dry land to give birth in northern Alaska, U.S. Geological Survey scientists reported on Thursday. www.reuters.uk: Melting ice drives polar bear mothers to land
Global warming is evaporating Arctic ponds, new study shows
Kingston, Ont (Canada), July 1, 2007 -- High Arctic ponds -- the most common source of surface water in many polar regions -- are now beginning to evaporate due to recent climate warming, say two of Canada’s leading environmental scientists. Some polar sites 'have already crossed the final ecological threshold,' says Queen's prof. www.nytimes.com: Global warming is evaporating Arctic ponds, new study shows
Russia eyes vast Arctic territory
London, June 26, 2007 -
Russia may lay a claim to some of the energy riches of the Arctic. Russian geologists say they have data that would support a claim to about 1.2m sq km (463,000 sq miles) of energy-rich territory in the Arctic. news.bbc.co.uk: Russia eyes vast Arctic territory
Icebergs are 'ecological hotspot'
London, June 22, 2007 -
Drifting icebergs are "ecological hotspots" that enable the surrounding waters to absorb an increased volume of carbon dioxide, a study suggests. news.bbc.co.uk: Icebergs are 'ecological hotspot'
Dirty snow may warm Arctic as much as greenhouse gases
Irvine, (Calif/USA), June 6, 2007 -
The global warming debate has focused on carbon dioxide emissions, but scientists at UC Irvine have determined that a lesser-known mechanism – dirty snow – can explain one-third or more of the Arctic warming primarily attributed to greenhouse gases. today.uci.edu: Dirty snow may warm Arctic as much as greenhouse gases
World Environment Day homes in on fear of melting ice
Limits put on Arctic cruises
Oslo, June 4 2007 -
Norway's government plans to restrict cruise traffic around the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard, and prohibit the use of heavy fuel oil.
"The goal is to hinder spills that could have hugely negative consequences for the environment in the fragile and valuable areas around Svalbard," said Minister of the Environment Helen Bjørnøy, who is in Tromsø this week in connection with the UN's World Environment Day and International Climate Conference. www.aftenposten.no: Limits put on Arctic cruises
Polar bears at risk as warming thaws icy home
Longyearbyen, Norway (Reuters) - May 21 2007 -
Time may be running out for polar bears as global warming melts the ice beneath their paws.
Restrictions or bans on hunting in recent decades have helped protect many populations of the iconic Arctic carnivore, but many experts say the long-term outlook is bleak.
An estimated 20,000-25,000 bears live around the Arctic -- in Canada, Russia, Alaska, Greenland and Norway -- and countries are struggling to work out ways to protect them amid forecasts of an accelerating thaw. www.cnn.com: Alarming acceleration in CO2 emissions worldwide
Half of Barents ice is gone
Oslo, May 8 2007 -
A new report on the state of the Barents Sea is setting off new alarms within Norway’s government and the institute that tracks developments in the Arctic. www.aftenposten.no: Half of Barents ice is gone
Canadian north offers 'ground zero' view of global warming
April 16, 2007 — IQALUIT, Nunavut — Inuit hunters are falling through thinning ice and dying. Dolphins are being spotted for the first time. There's not enough snow to build igloos for shelter during hunts. www.usatoday.com: Canadian north offers 'ground zero' view of global warming
Russia Tries to Save Polar Bears With Legal Hunt
Vankarem, (Russia), April 16, 2007 —
Here on the frozen edge of the country’s Arctic expanse, where a changing climate has brought polar bears into greater contact with people, Russia has embraced a counterintuitive method of trying to preserve the creatures: hunting them, legally. www.nytimes.com: Russia Tries to Save Polar Bears With Legal Hunt
Gravity Measurements Help Melt Ice Mysteries
Greenbelt (MD/USA), March 23, 2007 -
Greenland is cold and hot. It's a deep freezer storing 10 percent of Earth's ice and a subject of fevered debate. If something should melt all that ice, global sea level could rise as much as 7 meters (23 feet). Greenland and Antarctica - Earth's two biggest icehouses - are important indicators of climate change and a high priority for research, as highlighted by the newly inaugurated International Polar Year.
Just a few years ago, the world's climate scientists predicted that Greenland wouldn't have much impact at all on sea level in the coming decades. But recent measurements show that Greenland's ice cap is melting much faster than expected. www.nasa.gov: Gravity Measurements Help Melt Ice Mysteries
Collapse of Arctic sea ice 'has reached tipping-point'
London, March 16, 2007 -
A catastrophic collapse of the Arctic sea ice could lead to radical climate changes in the northern hemisphere according to scientists who warn that the rapid melting is at a "tipping point" beyond which it may not recover. www.independent.co.uk: Collapse of Arctic sea ice 'has reached tipping-point'
Asia smog fuelling Pacific storms 'will melt Arctic ice'
London, March 6, 2007 -
Smog and air pollution from Asian cities have intensified storms over the Pacific Ocean, which will result in increased warming of the Arctic, scientists have warned. They report that the number of storm clouds in the region has increased by up to a half over the last 20 years as rapidly industrialised cities in countries such as India and China burn more coal as they grow. environment.guardian.co.uk: Asia smog fuelling Pacific storms 'will melt Arctic ice'
Svalbard ice melting
Oslo, 1 March 2007 -
The glaciers on arctic Svalbard are melting faster than researchers believed and the pace has accelerated over the past five years.
Over 16 cubic kilometers of ice from the many Svalbard glaciers vanishes each year. At the same time record summer temperatures have been measured in Longyearbyen, and snowfall has declined. www.aftenposten.no: Svalbard ice melting
Alaska natives left out in the cold
Anchorage, January 4 2007 -
While the rest of the world argues about the best way to curb future climate change, says Patricia Cochran in this week's Green Room, native communities within the Arctic Circle are having to draw on their own ancestral strengths to adapt to a rapidly changing world. www.bbc.co.uk: Alaska natives left out in the cold
Scientists plead for action to save poles from 'tipping point' disaster
Pollution Soaring to Crisis Levels in Arctic
Svalbard, March 12, 2006 -
Researchers have uncovered compelling evidence that indicates Earth's most vulnerable regions - the North and South Poles - are poised on the brink of a climatic disaster.
The scientists, at an atmospheric monitoring station in the Norwegian territory of Svalbard, have found that levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere near the North Pole are now rising at an unprecedented pace.
In 1990 this key cause of global warming was rising at a rate of 1 part per million (ppm). Recently, that rate reached 2 ppm per year. Now, scientists at the Mount Zeppelin monitoring station have discovered it is rising at between 2.5 and 3 ppm. observer.guardian.co.uk: Pollution Soaring to Crisis Levels in Arctic www.commondreams.org: Idem
The Tipping Point?
December 6, 2005 - (by Jim Hansen) -
The Earth's climate is nearing, but has not passed, a tipping point beyond which it will be impossible to avoid climate change with far-ranging undesirable consequences. These include not only the loss of the Arctic as we know it, with all that implies for wildlife and indigenous peoples, but losses on a much vaster scale due to rising seas.
Ocean levels will increase slowly at first, as losses at the fringes of Greenland and Antarctica due to accelerating ice streams are nearly balanced by increased snowfall and ice sheet thickening in the ice sheet interiors.
But as Greenland and West Antarctic ice is softened and lubricated by meltwater, and as buttressing ice shelves disappear because of a warming ocean, the balance will tip toward the rapid disintegration of ice sheets.
The Earth's history suggests that with warming of two to three degrees, the new sea level will include not only most of the ice from Greenland and West Antarctica, but a portion of East Antarctica, raising the sea level by twenty-five meters, or eighty feet. Within a century, coastal dwellers will be faced with irregular flooding associated with storms. They will have to continually rebuild above a transient water level.
This grim scenario can be halted if the growth of greenhouse gas emissions is slowed in the first quarter of this century.
(From a presentation to the American Geophysical Union, December 6, 2005)
New Scientific Consensus: Arctic Is Warming Rapidly
Reykjavik November 8, 2004 -
The Arctic is warming much more rapidly than previously known, at nearly twice the rate as the rest of the globe, and increasing greenhouse gases from human activities are projected to make it warmer still, according to an unprecedented four-year scientific study of the region conducted by an international team of 300 scientists. www.sciencedaily.com: observer.guardian.co.uk: New Scientific Consensus: Arctic Is Warming Rapidly
