“The 20th century is the only period during the past 200 millennia in which aquatic indicators reflect increased warming, despite the declining effect of slow changes in the tilt of the Earth’s axis which, under natural conditions, would lead to climatic cooling.” Quoted from the University at Buffalo press release.
A report from the Energy Information Administration summarizes the current state of oil and gas development in the Arctic Ocean. The large number of shale plays in the United States and other areas will compete strongly with Arctic natural gas and may reduce incentives to drill there.
A San Francisco Chronicle article explores the current status and future of shipping in the Arctic. As an example of what is happening: “Nome’s ship traffic is eight times what it was in 1990.”
“Peacock-hued splashes of color brightened the Bering Sea off the Alaskan coast on October 8, 2009, as NASA’s Aqua satellite flew overhead. This true-color image shows streaks running roughly northwest-southeast, north and east of Alaska’s St. Paul Island. The color likely results in part from blooms of phytoplankton—tiny, plant-like marine organisms that thrive in cold water rich in nutrients.” Quoted from NASA’s Earth Observatory image release.
Join PolarTREC (Teachers and Researchers Exploring and Collaborating) for a special live event celebrating Earth Science Week 2009, “How We Know What We Know: Looking at Climate Change Through Polar Science.” Polar researchers Dr. Julie Brigham-Grette and Dr. Ross Powell and PolarTREC teacher Tim Martin will discuss climate research conducted in the Arctic and Antarctica through sediment coring.
The live online event will take place Friday, October 16, at 9 a.m. Alaska Daylight Time (7 a.m. HST, 10 a.m. PDT, 11 p.m. MDT, 12 p.m. CDT, 1 p.m. EDT).
Boeing and Skyhook hope to use giant blimps to lift heavy cargo such as oil rigs and pipeline equipment into Canada’s far north. The method might not only be cheaper than overland transport but would also have a lower environmental impact.
Researchers are monitoring the speed of Greenland’s Helheim Glacier and other glaciers using GPS receivers. They don’t move at a steady rate of speed but instead accelerate abruptly and slow down. These dynamics of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets have not been entered into sea level rise calculations.
Environmental groups are urging Washington to impose a moratorium on oil and gas drilling in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas. They are concerned about the impact of drilling on wildlife and the Arctic Ocean environment.
In addition to melting, some glaciers are losing ice because they are accelerating. Summer meltwater can fall into the glacier through cracks in its surface and that water then lubricates sliding at the base of the ice.
Since 1906 only 35 recreational yachts have completed a voyage through the Northwest Passage. This article and photo gallery documents the voyage of the Silent Sound and the people that the crew encountered in communities along the way.
PolarTREC (Teachers and Researchers Exploring and Collaborating) applications from teachers for the 2010 (Arctic) and 2010-2011 (Antarctic) field seasons are due on October 5, 2009. PolarTREC pairs K-12 teachers with researchers for polar research experiences. Teachers spend two to six weeks in the Arctic or Antarctic, working as part of the science team. All major expenses associated with teacher participation in PolarTREC field experiences are covered by the program, including transportation, food, lodging, and substitute teacher costs.
In this video, Penn State professor Richard Alley, one of the world’s leading climate researchers, explores some of the basic research behind climate change and explains how climate change might impact our future. He is interviewed by Patty Satalia, host of the Penn State “Conversations” interview series.
Last month two German ships began sailing through the Northeast Passage, a normally-frozen seaway that that links the Pacific Ocean to northern Europe along the Russian Arctic coast. The ships are the first to complete this route which in the past has been considered impossible.
Sean Parnell, Governor of Alaska, wants the federal government to allow offshore oil and gas drilling in the Beaufort Sea, along Alaska’s northern coastline. He says that new production sources are needed to maintain the minimum throughput level required by the trans-Alaska pipeline.
“In late August 2009, ice clogged some but not all of the Northwest Passage, and snow had retreated from most of the islands in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago.” Quoted from the image release at Earth Observatory.
A twelve-foot-tall Siberian mammoth fossil on display at the Arizona Geological Survey courtesy of the Natural History Museum of Novosibirsk, Russia has been surprising visitors to the survey’s atrium since February. The fossil has been purchased and is moving to a new home. Staff members of the Novosibirsk museum have recovered several mammoth and woolly rhino fossils which were eroding from a stream channel in Siberia.
The deepest ice core ever was taken from the Greenland ice sheet this summer. Researchers will now evaluate the core which is thought to contain a 120,000-year-long climate record.
“American and Canadian scientists are working to map the Arctic seafloor and gather data to help define the outer limits of the continental shelf. This mission will emphasize the region north of Alaska onto Alpha-Mendeleev Ridge and eastwards toward the Canada Archipelago. This is the second year the United States and Canada have collaborated in extended continental shelf data collection in the Arctic. Both countries plan to work together again in 2010.” Quoted from the USGS News Release.
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution has an article about how one of their staff engineers built a model plane to acquire images of Arctic Ocean ice floes and coral reefs.
The United States and Canada are jointly conducting a survey of the Arctic Ocean. They are mapping the outer edge of the continental shelf to prepare their claim for the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
The examination of sediment cores reveal that Arctic sea ice may have formed before Antarctic sea ice. This is an interesting find, as glaciation is thought to have occurred in the opposite order.
“The sea ice retreat captured in this image appears typical of seasonal melt. Since the turn of the twenty-first century, however, Arctic sea ice extent has declined sharply, experiencing a series of low summertime extents and poor wintertime recoveries. Arctic sea ice extent set a record low in September 2007. As of July 22, 2009, the National Snow and Ice Data Center reported that, in the first half of July 2009, sea ice declined faster than it did in 2008, but not as fast as it did in 2007.” Quoted from Earth Observatory.
Paleoclimatologists at the University at Buffalo report on research that indicates…. “Modern glaciers, such as those making up the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets, are capable of undergoing periods of rapid shrinkage or retreat.”
For the past few days a large mass of organic material has been floating in the Chuckchi Sea along the northwest coast of Alaska. It stretches for about 15 miles and so far the media is calling it a “blob” and no one has been able to explain it.
A study published in a recent issue of Geophysical Research Letters suggests that melting of the Greenland ice cap might cause sea levels along the coast of eastern Canada and the northeastern United States to rise more than sea levels in other areas because of changes in ocean currents.
An article in The Washington Times reports that soft demand for fossil fuels and environmental lawsuits have slowed the activities of oil and gas companies in the Arctic.
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