EcoWorldly

Bylot Ice Cap on Bylot Island, one of the Canadian Arctic Islands, August 14, 1975 (USGS)

The Arctic: Cooling No More.

A group of climatologists at Northern Arizona University are confirming that 2000 years ago, the Earth’s Arctic region had already entered a prolonged cooling phase. The phase continued up through the Middle Ages and on past the so-called Little Ice Age (1400 - 1800 C.E.). However, that all started to change (in the positive direction) between 1850 and 1900 C.E.–roughly in parallel with the onset and rise of the Industrial Revolution in the U.S. and Europe. And, by 1950, the warming trend had picked up in earnest.

The results of their 2000-year reconstruction of Arctic temperatures also showed clearly that four of the five warmest decades occurred in the period between 1950 and 2000. This buttresses the mounting evidence (such as that from the International Polar Year studies) of recent climate change and would suggest some newer mechanism at work impacting global temperatures.

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The spotted seal, a sea ice-dependent Arctic species, has been denied Endangered Species Act protection by the Obama Administration.

Disappointment: The Center for Biological Diversity has announced that the Obama administration denied Endangered Species Act protection for the spotted seal, a species whose habitat is rapidly melting away due to global warming.

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This week in the journal Nature scientists give the most comprehensive view of thinning ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica to date.

Scientists from British Antarctic Survey (BAS) and the University of Bristol analyzed 50 million satellite measurements (from NASA) to show the massive ice loss on these polar giants.

The result are surprising, even to the scientists.
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Finally, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is reviewing the status of the Pacific walrus to determine whether or not the marine mammal will receive Endangered Species Act protections.

The Center for Biological Diversity stated that the Pacific walrus (Odobenus rosmarus divergens) is facing a double threat to its ice habitat: Global warming and increased oil development.

A petition seeking protection for the Pacific walrus was submitted by the Center back in February 2008. After the USFWS failed to respond to the petition, the Center filed a lawsuit - prompting the USFWS to take action.

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A new study by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), released today, says that the effects of warming in the Arctic are “dire… far worse than previous projections.” Dr Martin Sommerkorn, senior climate change advisor for WWF’s Arctic program (who works on this stuff everyday) says: “What they found was a truly sobering picture.”

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Two cargo ships set out last week from the port of Vladivostok to traverse Russia’s Northeast Passage, marking the first time commercial ships have attempted the normally ice-bound route across Russia’s Arctic shore without the aid of icebreakers.The two ships, Fraternity and Foresight, owned by German shipper Beluga Shipping GmbH, received permission to travel the route last Friday.

Bound for the Netherlands from South Korea, the route will cut 4,000 nautical miles from the typical 11,000-mile route through the Suez Canal, helping realize a “considerable” reduction in fuel consumption and CO2 emissions, said Niels Stolbert, president and CEO of Beluga.

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It’s early Sunday morning at Halley Research Station, Antarctica. The sun is rising quickly on the horizon, the wind is low and the temperature outside is a modest -18 degrees C. Conditions look perfect. As I look across the dining room at my friends and colleagues Niv and Colin I see two smiling faces nodding back at me. Today we are going to head out to the coast and attempt to explore a large crevasse at a point on the Ice shelf known as Creek Five.

Halley Research Station sits on the Brunt Ice Shelf 15km in from the edge of the shelf. It is the British Antarctic Surveys most southerly and remote research station. I am lucky enough to be a member of the eleven strong wintering team working as the chef on Station. With the impending arrival of 24 hour darkness we are all keen to make the most of the remaining daylight, taking every opportunity to make the most of our time in this amazing place. Read the rest of this entry »

During the winter months on the Antarctic continent not only do we experience 24 hour darkness but we are privileged to see the aurora australis.  Here at Halley Station we were looking forward to experiencing many a night gazing at the dancing lights as they flitter across the sky.   Reading the small print however, revealed that there is a cycle of activity that revolves around an 11 year period.  It seems that 2009 is a low solar activity year and hence our expectations might have been a bit high.

Large flares or solar explosions from the sun will expel numerous amounts of solar particles which make their way towards Earth.  These particles come into contact with the Earth’s magnetosphere and are directed towards the polar regions.  High energy particles then cascade into the highest parts of the Earth’s atmosphere, ionising gases.  It’s this process that emits the glows that we see on Earth.  The variation of colour is a result of particles with different energies ionising different gases. Read the rest of this entry »

Finally - some great news for cute Knut, the famous two-year-old polar bear that captured the hearts of many!   The white-as-snow bear is getting the chance to make a very special love connection with a two-year-old stunner named Gianna.  Read the rest of this entry »

The Greenland shark is just a nuisance to fishermen. It is toxic for humans to eat. It gets caught in our nets.

Thousands are thrown back into the sea each year.

“It’s a large predator that devours fish, squid, seals and other marine life, and it also ruins the lines and nets of the halibut fishermen,” says Leif Fontaine, the head of Greenland’s fishing and hunting association.

“Entire trawlers are sometimes full of sharks and they are caught everywhere, especially off the east and west of Greenland, to the fishermen’s great dismay,” says Bo Lings who used to work on a big trawler.”

In Uummannaq, Greenland sharks represent more than half of the waste disposed of by the local fishermen.

They can weigh a ton and be 23 feet long.

So, why not get some use out of them?

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