Arctic

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Melting Ice Opens Arctic to Trade, But US Lags

Climate change opens north to shipping, tourism, resource development

(Newser) - Climate change is melting away the main barrier to business in the Arctic—ice—but the US lags behind other countries seeking to exploit the region, the Anchorage Daily News reports. As receding ice opens the area to shipping, resource exploitation, and tourism, it's Russia and Canada who have established...

Climate Change Reverses 8 Millennia of Arctic Cooling

Temps, up 2.2 F Since 1900, Would Be 2.5 Degrees Cooler Without Greenhouse Gases

(Newser) - Summer temperatures in the Arctic have climbed 2.2°F since 1900 despite an 8,000-year cooling trend, the Guardian reports. For the past few thousand years, the orbit of the Earth and the changing tilt of its axis has put the Arctic 630,000 miles further from the sun...

US, Canada Team Up to Explore Uncharted Arctic

(Newser) - Canada and the US are letting their Arctic rivalry thaw long enough to launch an exploration mission, the Globe & Mail reports. A pair of icebreakers—one from each country—will set off next week into uncharted waters, working in tandem to clear a path and map North America's...

What Lies Beneath the Ice? Maybe the Flu

(Newser) - Another sign of the flu's ingenuity: Two researchers say it can hide for centuries in Arctic ice and re-emerge to infect birds and humans who are no longer immune to that particular strain, reports Wired. When rising temperatures cause the ice to melt, the flu springs back to life and...

Canada Gets Creative on Arctic Sovereignty

(Newser) - Canada has a message for Europe: Keep your mitts off our Arctic. The government has begun a multi-pronged strategy that combines tough diplomatic talk with a flurry of cultural events across the continent that stress the nation's long ties to the region, the Globe and Mail reports. Canada knows it...

Russia Warns of Arctic War
 Russia Warns 
 of Arctic War 
May 14, 2009 3:41 AM CDT

Russia Warns of Arctic War

New document says Moscow should prepare for polar resources battle

(Newser) - A document released by the Russian government suggests that the country should prepare for war in the Arctic within the next decade, as rising temperatures intensify the scramble for the region's vast oil and gas fields. Russia claims sovereignty over a 465,000-square-mile ridge, which the US and other northern...

Dinos Survived in the Arctic

(Newser) - A meteor strikes Earth, dust clouds block the sun, and shivering dinosaurs die off in the cold—right? Not so, say researchers who have dug up dinosaur fossils well above the Arctic Circle in Russia. Because the find includes fossilized dino eggshells, they say, dinosaurs settled up there and withstood...

Fossil of 'Missing Link' Walking Seal Found

Arctic creature's existence was predicted by Charles Darwin

(Newser) - The fossil of a semi-aquatic creature unearthed in northern Canada may hold the key to how seals and walruses evolved, the BBC reports. The carnivore—which resembles a cross between an otter and a seal—had feet that were webbed but weren't flippers. Scientists believe the animals walked on land...

Post Story on Arctic Calls Out Post Columnist Will

(Newser) - George Will takes a fair amount of flak for his view that global warming is a bunch of hooey. Now he's taking it from the news pages of his own paper, writes David Roberts in Grist. A story today in the Washington Post cites evidence showing a decline in Arctic...

Polar Bears' Other Threat: $35K Trophy Hunts

Foreign hunters spend thousands to catch dying Artic species

(Newser) - Polar bears, whose Arctic habitat is thawing out, have become the symbols of climate change, but they’re also prime targets for hunters in Canada, where trophy-hungry sportsmen cough up as much as $35,000 to bag a bear, the Independent reports. “This is probably the toughest hunt you...

Norway Summit to Debate Cutback in Polar Bear Hunts

Hunters kill 3% of polar bears each year

(Newser) - World leaders meet tomorrow in Norway to consider reducing polar bear hunting, reports the Independent. Conservation organizations estimate the polar bear population, particularly hard hit by global warming, will drop two-thirds to the brink of extinction over the next 50 years. Greenland, the US and Russia permit hunting by Inuit...

BBC Film Crew Captures 'Arctic Unicorns'

Elusive narwhals tracked on icy migration

(Newser) - A BBC crew has captured on film a hauntingly majestic pod of narwhals, their unicorn-like tusks slicing through Arctic waters. It's believed to be the first such film of the mysterious, elusive mammals, reports the BBC. The aerial team spotted the animals last summer as they negotiated their way through...

White House: US Must Assert Rights in Warming Arctic

Outgoing policymakers expect surge in region's military, commercial activity

(Newser) - With the Arctic getting warmer, the Bush administration predicts a multinational grab at resources there. To that end, it released a 10-page directive describing challenges the US faces and calling for an Arctic policy that underlines US concerns, the Washington Post reports. “The United States has broad and fundamental...

Arctic Melt Speeds Up
 Arctic Melt Speeds Up 


Dec 16, 2008 9:27 AM CST

Arctic Melt Speeds Up

Some temps 10 degrees hotter than normal

(Newser) - The Arctic is warming faster than the rest of the world, scientists have found, in a phenomenon not expected for at least another decade. This fall, temperatures in some areas of the Arctic were as much as 10 degrees warmer than normal thanks to Arctic amplification, which could mean the...

Will Undersea Methane Kill Us or Save Us?

It could be worse than CO2 or viable source of energy

(Newser) - If warnings about undersea methane are true, we can "kiss our winter boots goodbye," Kirsten Weir writes in Salon. In the doomsday scenario, vast stores of undersea gas deposits will melt and send heat-trapping methane into the atmosphere. But such a crisis would require a 10-to-15 degree Celsius...

Warmest Year Ever Threatens Arctic Wildlife

Greenland ice shelf loses 24 cubic miles to melting

(Newser) - The Arctic had its warmest year on record in 2007, and a new government report underscores the unsettling consequences for ice sheets and wildlife, ABC News reports. The report reiterates many of the familiar scenarios of late about the region—sea ice is vanishing at a record pace and permafrost...

Ancient Ice Find Cools Warming Fears

Canadians find chunk of permafrost that survived steamier climates

(Newser) - Canadian scientists have found the oldest chunk of ice in North America, the Globe and Mail reports, a discovery that suggests the earth’s carbon-laden permafrost may be more resistant to global warming than once thought. The 700,000-year-old chunk of Yukon ice has stayed frozen through two ancient, hotter...

Arctic Ice at 2nd-Smallest Level

Melting amid cool conditions raises red flags

(Newser) - Arctic sea ice shrunk to its second-lowest size this summer, up 10% from last year's record, reports Reuters. The melting may not appear as noteworthy as that of 2007, said one research scientist, but the season's conditions prove otherwise. Last year's mix of warm air and favorable winds shifted the...

New Way to Fight Global Warming: Wipe Your Feet

Scientist cleans visitors' shoes to keep plant invaders from taking root on Arctic isle

(Newser) - Global warming could make it easier for non-native plants to take root on the Arctic's Svalbard archipelago, but one researcher is fighting the problem on the ground level, Der Spiegel reports. Chris Ware has set up shop at Longyearbyen’s airport, where he cleans arriving passengers' shoes. "Dirt almost...

Both Arctic Passages Navigable for First Time

Using Northeast, Northwest shortcuts will be boon to shipping firms

(Newser) - In what scientists say is an historic moment, both Northeast and Northwest Passages are navigable as of this week, and shipping firms are salivating over the  possibilities, Der Spiegel reports. With an increasing number of largely ice-free days every summer, the radical shortcuts offered by the once-treacherous routes will eventually...

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