This month, as the results of data analyses come in, climate scientists are getting a more detailed, far clearer picture of the ‘State of the Poles’ and the effects of warming and climate change in these most extreme regions of our planet. Although this project is actually the culmination of two years work (encompassing 160 separate studies and costing 1.2 billion dollars) it has been officially deemed the ‘International Polar Year’ (IPY).
One of the most important findings of this project is a confirmation of what many climate scientists have suspected for a couple of years now–that the impact of climate change on our environment is happening at a much faster rate than previous computer models predicted. This is true even for the four major reports released by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (the last of which was released in 2007).
By Amiel Blajchman •
March 27, 2009
Russia’s Security Council has authorized the creation of an Arctic special forces military to be deployed by the year 2020 to protect their interests in the Far North as new sources of natural resources become more available due to the decrease in ice cover.
By Zachary Shahan •
March 5, 2009
A recent study shows that Alaska’s coast is melting faster than ever, and that along with the melting ice, more and more of the land is eroding into the ocean as well. The causes of the erosion also seem to be changing — in the past it was largely due to storms but that is no longer the case.
From 2002 to 2007, Alaska’s coast eroded at a rate that was more than twice that of the years 1955-1979. It is not just land that the sea is taking in these days either. It has swallowed a historic ghost town (Esook) and a historic whaling boat as well as an oil well (and probably more soon).
By Jake Richardson •
February 15, 2009
A team of international researchers has released the results of an extensive survey of the Antarctic and Arctic oceans.
The census showed 7,500 species in the Antarctic and 5,500 in the Arctic. The total number includes several hundred thought to be newly discovered species. In addition it was discovered, astonishingly, that 200 or more of species are common to both oceans - though they live 11,000 kilometers from one another.
By edfblog •
February 13, 2009
Friday the 13th just got a little scarier. Here are 13 facts about the realities of global warming.
The numbers speak for themselves — we must make 2009 the showdown year for global warming action. There is no time to lose.
35%
Increase in the global carbon dioxide emissions from the burning of fossil fuels since the Kyoto Protocol was signed in 1992.
388.57 ppm
Average concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere in May 2008, a record high.
541 – 970 ppm
The projected concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere by 2100 under a business as usual scenario where we don’t dramatically reduce global warming emissions.
260 – 280 ppm
Average concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere before industrial emissions.
By Mridul Chadha •
January 16, 2009
President Bush has urged Senators to initiate legal procedures to stakes claim to the natural resources of the Arctic region.
By Marika Collins •
January 1, 2009
Score one for the environment - at least temporarily. Shell Oil announced that it will not be drilling off the Alaskan coast in the Beaufort Sea in 2009 as planned. This decision comes after a November court ruling which determined that Shell had erroneously been given permission to drill without properly assessing the environmental impact drilling would have on the fragile region.
The Arctic, already vulnerable and suffering from the effects of Global Warming, has been spared this blow by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals following a formal objection by Pacific Environment. The organization, along with a coalition of conservation groups, formally challenged the granting of Shell’s permit with an aim towards blocking the oil giant from drilling in this fragile ecosystem.
By Jennifer Lance •
December 26, 2008
Study finds melting ice in the Arctic and longer droughts in the Southwest indicate earlier projections have underestimated the climatic shifts that will take place by the end of the century.
By Timothy B. Hurst •
October 17, 2008
Temperatures in the Arctic last fall hit record highs, an international team of scientists reported Thursday. According to the authors of the annual Arctic Report Card, temperatures were more than 9 degrees Fahrenheit above normal and are predicted to remain nearly as high this year.
“The year 2007 was the warmest year on record in the Arctic,” said Jackie Richter-Menge, a climate expert at the Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory in Hanover, N.H, and editor of the latest Arctic Report Card.
The material presented in the paper is peer-reviewed by topical experts of the Climate Experts Group of the Arctic Council.
By Timothy B. Hurst •
September 30, 2008
“Thanks to global warming, we’ve almost defeated the iceberg menace!”
By Joshua S Hill •
September 30, 2008
Over the past few years we have sadly had to watch the Arctic ice concentrations drop significantly. Focus has been primarily centered on the Arctic Circle, but Greenland is also suffering from the increased global temperature.
And now, thanks to researchers from the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands and the Center for Space Research (CSR) in America, a new and accurate picture of Greenland’s shrinking ice cap has been formulated.
Subsequently, the researchers have found that Greenland is currently responsible for an annual increase of sea levels of up to half a millimeter.
