Arctic

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Arctic Hasn't Been This Warm in 44K Years

Maybe even far longer, according to new study

(Newser) - The Arctic's current warming trend is the worst it's experienced in at least 44,000 years—and possibly even longer—a new study has concluded. Scientists examining vegetation in the Canadian Arctic found recently-exposed moss that, based on radiocarbon dating, was between 44,000 and 51,000 years...

Russia Hits Greenpeace Activists With Piracy Charges

Could face 15 years in jail; more activists to be charged

(Newser) - Greenpeace said today that five of its activists who were detained after protesting at a Russian oil platform have been charged with piracy and could face up to 15 years in prison if found guilty. The environmental group said in a statement that activists from Brazil, Britain, Finland, and Sweden...

Giant Freighter Is First to Cross Northwest Passage

Danish bulk carrier makes milestone journey

(Newser) - Sure, scientists are nearly positive that humans are heating up the planet, but there's an upside: more efficient shipping. For the first time, a major freighter has crossed the Northwest Passage in the Arctic, reports the Toronto Globe and Mail . The 735-foot Nordic Orion achieved the feat this week...

Greenpeace: Russia Boarded Our Ship, Took Us Captive

Activists were trying to board Gazprom oil platform

(Newser) - Russian security forces boarded and took control of a Greenpeace ship in the Arctic yesterday, holding its crew at gunpoint, the activist group has announced. Greenpeace's Arctic Campaign coordinator Christy Ferguson tells CBC News that at least 15 Russian coast guard officers rappeled down onto the Arctic Sunrise ship...

North Pole Has Become a Lake, Again

It's about a foot deep

(Newser) - Thanks to rapidly-melting ice, Santa Claus now has his own swimming pool: The North Pole is currently a lake, Canada.com reports. The shallow lake—it's about a foot deep, according to LiveScience —isn't the result of sea water overtaking the ice; it consists entirely of the...

700K-Year-Old Horse Yields World's Oldest DNA

Pushes back their evolution to 4M years ago

(Newser) - Woolly mammoths, saber-toothed tigers, and... horses? According to research using the oldest DNA ever found, horses have been trotting around for millions of years—about 4 million, to be exact. The study, published in Nature , explains how scientists used DNA from a 700,000-year-old horse foot bone found in Canada'...

Tourists Rescued From Drifting Arctic Ice Floe

20 people had been adrift for 2 days

(Newser) - Ten tourists and 10 guides were rescued last night after spending almost two days drifting on an ice floe in the Canadian Arctic, LiveScience reports. The group, including two Americans, was on an expedition on Baffin Island in Canada's far north when the chunk of ice they were on...

Mosses Survive Centuries Under Arctic Glaciers

Tough plants regrew after glacier retreated

(Newser) - The Arctic mosses that thrive in some of the world's most inhospitable locations are even tougher than scientists thought. Researchers found that the hardy mosses on Canada's Ellesmere Island managed to survive being crushed under a glacier for centuries, NPR reports. They were amazed to find green sprigs...

Inside Russians' 6mph Road Trip to Canada

Journey took 70 days, passes through North Pole

(Newser) - Talk about a road trip: Russian explorers spent the past two-and-a-half months driving from Russia to Canada via the North Pole. But instead of car bingo and the alphabet game, they passed their time clearing the route with a pickaxe, gazing upon the aurora borealis, and spotting the occasional polar...

'Frankly Nutty' Arctic Adventure Ends in Tragedy

Philip Goodeve-Docker dies just days into trek across ice cap

(Newser) - Three British friends set out on "one of the great polar challenges"—a 400-mile trek across the planet's second largest ice cap—last Thursday. By Saturday, one of them was dead, reports the Telegraph . Philip Goodeve-Docker and his companions planned what Goodeve-Docker referred to as a "...

Shell Drilling Ship Runs Aground off Alaska

Ship is carrying 150K gallons of diesel

(Newser) - Royal Dutch Shell's foray into Arctic offshore drilling has suffered a serious setback after one of its two Alaskan drilling rigs ran aground off a small island while trying to escape a fierce storm. The Kulluk drilling ship grounded last night on rocks off the southeast side of Sitkalidak,...

Arctic Town to Offer Space Flights

Spaceport Sweden wants to launch people like clockwork

(Newser) - A company in a tiny Arctic town plans to launch people into space like clockwork, on two-hour trips four times a day. But a little more work—or even a lot—is required first, AFP reports. The company, Spaceport Sweden , is building a unique vessel that combines a space shuttle...

Polar Ice Sheets Melting Faster
 Polar Ice Sheets Melting Faster 
Huge study
Nov 30, 2012 7:56 AM CST

Polar Ice Sheets Melting Faster

Process to blame for a fifth of sea-level rise

(Newser) - The most expansive study yet is helping to clarify long-held uncertainties about polar ice. The melting of polar ice sheets has sped up since 1992, raising sea levels 0.43 inches—a fifth of their total rise since then. And while the melting ice sheets accounted for 10% of the...

China Muscles In on Race for Piece of Arctic Pie

Beijing increasingly aggressive as stakes get higher

(Newser) - As Arctic ice continues to melt at a disturbing pace , the "Cold War" in the region is heating up. Global superpowers, excited about the oil, gas, minerals, and shipping lanes that are being made newly available thanks to the melting ice, are vying for position in the region—and...

Uh-Oh, This Winter Might Be Nasty
 Uh-Oh, This Winter 
 Might Be Nasty 
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Sep 16, 2012 8:30 AM CDT

Uh-Oh, This Winter Might Be Nasty

Study blames melting Arctic ice

(Newser) - Get your winter coats ready. Thanks to melting Arctic ice , this year's hot summer could be matched by a harsh winter, reports Business Insider , picking up on a study in Nature . Sea ice levels in the late summer appear to be linked to the distribution of high and low...

Record Arctic Melt 'Like Doubling CO2'

Oblivion looms for summer sea ice, expert warns

(Newser) - The accelerating loss of Arctic sea ice is having an effect equivalent to doubling the greenhouse gas emissions that are causing the problem in the first place, warns one of the world's leading sea ice experts. The ice reflects sunlight, but as it disappears, the energy is absorbed by...

Arctic Ice Nears Record Melt
 Arctic Ice Nears Record Melt  
Aug 21, 2012 3:16 AM CDT

Arctic Ice Nears Record Melt

It 'just doesn't look like the Arctic Ocean any more'

(Newser) - The amount of sea ice in the Arctic is on course to hit a record low well before the end of melting season, scientists warn. The previous record was set in 2007, but that was a result of a "perfect storm" of conditions, while this year's melt is...

Huge Algae Blooms Found ... Under Arctic?

Discovery stuns scientists who figured it couldn't grow under ice

(Newser) - Scientists studying algae for NASA have discovered it in the most unusual of places: beneath the Arctic ice, reports AFP . What's more, there's a lot of it, defying the conventional belief that it couldn't grow there because there was too little light. The discovery, outlined in the...

The Arctic: The New Cold War?

Militaries vie for advantage as region heats up

(Newser) - To the world's military leaders, the debate over climate change is long over. They are preparing for a new kind of Cold War in the Arctic, anticipating that rising temperatures there will open up a treasure trove of resources, long-dreamed-of sea lanes, and a slew of potential conflicts. By...

Xena Actress Arrested After 3 Days on Oil Ship

Lucy Lawless, five other Greenpeace activists busted in New Zealand

(Newser) - Lucy Lawless was arrested today in New Zealand along with five other Greenpeace members, three days after they boarded an oil-drilling ship that had been contracted by Shell. Lawless, aka Xena: Warrior Princess, occupied the vessel to protest its plan to do exploratory drilling off Alaska. "This chapter has...

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