As the world’s ice melts, the US Navy’s role grows

By Derrick Z. JacksonBoston Globe Columnist / July 7, 2010 WHEN THE chief of naval operations of the United States starts rattling off global fishing statistics without notes and frets about climate change like an MIT scientist, we should all stand at attention. If Admiral Gary Roughead had his way, it would be full speed […]

NSIDC: June Arctic sea ice saw lowest extent and fastest rate of decline in the satellite record

This year will almost certainly set the record for lowest Arctic ice volume ever recorded (see “When things were rotten“).  But whether it will set the less important — but more visible — record for sea ice extent is less certain.  You can see how close 2010 is to 2007 now. On the one hand, […]

Scientists scramble to steer migrating birds away from Gulf oil spill

By PATRICK REIS AND ALLISON WINTER of GreenwirePublished: July 2, 2010 Scientists are working to lure migrating birds away from the oil in the Gulf of Mexico and toward safe habitat. At stake is the well-being of more than 50 million birds migrating south to or through the Gulf over the next six months, with […]

Graph of the Day: Arctic Sea Ice Volume Anomaly and Trend, 1979 – 18 June 2010

Sea Ice Volume is calculated using the Pan-Arctic Ice Ocean Modeling and Assimilation System (PIOMAS) developed at APL/PSC by Dr. J. Zhang and collaborators.  Anomalies for each day are calculated relative to the average over the 1979 -2009 period for that day to remove the annual cycle. The model mean seasonal cycle of sea ice […]

Polar oceans key to temperature in the tropics

Newcastle, UK (SPX) Jun 23, 2010 – Scientists have found that the ocean temperature at the earth’s polar extremes has a significant impact thousands of miles away at the equator. Newcastle University’s Dr Erin McClymont is part of an international team of researchers who have published research in Science, demonstrating a close link between the […]

Gulf oil spill a threat to Arctic birds

By Justin Nobel, Special to Nunatsiaq News June 24, 2010 2:18 PM NEW ORLEANS, La. — Carey O’Neil is heartbroken as he steers his boat through a slick of oil near the mouth of the Mississippi River. “This is one of our best shrimping spots,” the Louisiana shrimper says, surveying the damage from the Deepwater […]

Arctic bird droppings loaded with environmental poisons, biologists say

By Jane George, Nunatsiaq News June 15, 2010 High Arctic seabirds carry a “cocktail” of contaminants, confirms new research, which analyzed the excrement of Arctic terns and eiders nesting on a small island north of Resolute Bay. The seabirds’ cocktail is not a particularly healthy mix for the birds or the land they nest on, […]

Graph of the Day: Arctic Ice Volume and Trend, 1979-2010

The big Arctic news remains the staggering decline in multiyear ice — and hence ice volume.  If we get near the Arctic’s sea ice area (or extent) seen in recent years this summer, then this may well mean record low ice volume — the fourth straight year of low volume.  And the latest extent data […]

Polar bears face ‘tipping point’

  Climate change will trigger a dramatic and sudden decline in the number of polar bears, a new study has concluded. The research is the first to directly model how changing climate will affect polar bear reproduction and survival. Based on what is known of polar bear physiology, behaviour and ecology, it predicts pregnancy rates […]

Polar bear/grizzly hybrid shot in Canada

  By John PlattMay 24, 2010 02:03 PM An extremely rare “grolar bear”–a polar bear/grizzly bear hybrid–was shot and killed by an Inuit hunter in Canada’s Northwest Territories last month. Global warming has reportedly been driving grizzly bears (Ursus arctos horribilis) further north in search of food, bringing them into polar bear (U. maritimus) territory. […]

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