Hot Siberia summer ends with cold blast and “abnormal” August snow

31 August 2017 (The Siberian Times) – Yakutia is in a white blanket as temperatures dip to minus 6C as winter “comes too soon”.This region is the coldest in the world, yet locals also enjoy warm and even hot summers, but this year the season ended abruptly in several districts.Snowfalls hit the towns of Neryungri […]

Alaska’s permafrost is thawing – “It’s sobering to think of this magnificent landscape and how fundamentally it can change over a relatively short time period”

By Henry Fountain 23 August 2017 YUKON DELTA NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE, Alaska (The New York Times) – The Arctic is warming about twice as fast as other parts of the planet, and even here in sub-Arctic Alaska the rate of warming is high. Sea ice and wildlife habitat are disappearing; higher sea levels threaten coastal […]

First tanker crosses Arctic sea route without ice breaker

By Matt McGrath 24 August 2017 (BBC News) – A commercial LNG tanker has sailed across the colder, northern route from Europe to Asia without the protection of an ice-breaker for the first time.The specially-built ship completed the crossing in just six-and-a-half days setting a new record, according to the tanker’s Russian owners.The 300-metre-long Sovcomflot […]

Alaska towns at risk from rising seas sound alarm as Trump pulls federal help – “It feels like a complete abdication of responsibility on climate change”

By Oliver Milman 10 August 2017 NEW YORK (The Guardian) – The US government’s withdrawal from dealing with, or even acknowledging, climate change may have provoked widespread opprobrium, but for Alaskan communities at risk of toppling into the sea, the risks are rather more personal.The Trump administration has moved to dismantle climate adaptation programs including […]

Massacre of polar bears by trophy hunters on remote Arctic island

4 August 2017 (The Siberian Times) – The gruesome evidence of illegal hunting was found on uninhabited Vilkitsky Island in the Kara Sea. The carcasses and used gun cartridges were found by members of an ecological clean-up team sent to the remote territory. Summer thawing meant the polar bear remains became visible. There are claims […]

International report confirms 2016 was warmest year on record for the globe – Largest annual increase in greenhouse gases in the 58-year record

10 August 2017 (NOAA) – The 27th annual State of the Climate report has confirmed that 2016 topped 2015 as the warmest year in 137 years of record keeping. The report found that most indicators of climate change continued to follow trends of a warming world, and several, including land and ocean temperatures, sea level […]

Snow-free season is lengthening on Alaska’s North Slope – “It’s remarkable how rapidly things are changing in the Arctic”

3 August 2017 (CIRES) – On the North Slope of Alaska, snow is melting earlier in the spring and the snow-in date is happening later in the fall, according to a new study by CIRES and NOAA researchers. Atmospheric dynamics and sea ice conditions are behind this lengthening of the snow-free season, the scientists found, […]

Loss of Arctic sea ice impacting Atlantic Ocean water circulation system – “A potential loss of 30 to 50 percent of AMOC’s strength due to Arctic sea ice loss”

By Jim Shelton 31 July 2017 (Yale News) – Arctic sea ice is not merely a passive responder to the climate changes occurring around the world, according to new research.Scientists at Yale University and the University of Southampton say the ongoing Arctic ice loss can play an active role in altering one of the planet’s […]

U.S. House Science Committee chair says global warming is a good thing – “Smith is slowly advancing through the stages of denial”

By Chris D’Angelo 24 July 2017 WASHINGTON (Huffington Post) – Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas) — who has spent his career cozying up to fossil fuel interests, dismissing the threat of climate change and harassing federal climate scientists — is now arguing that pumping the atmosphere full of carbon dioxide is “beneficial” to global trade, crop […]

Gas pipelines supplying Europe “in real danger from exploding tundra” warns scientist

10 July 2017 (The Siberian Times) – New analysis by satellite and helicopter shows  gas pipelines run right over swelling tundra which is deeply unstable due to the release of underground methane that had been frozen in permafrost – now thawing – for thousands of years, revealed Russia’s leading expert on the new phenomenon, Professor […]

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