April, 29 2008 Norway dominates polar research
Norway has one of the world’s best competence on polar research. The country contributes with six percent of the world's total polar research, which is the fifth most in the world and more than Russia.
In research statistics Norway normally is far behind larger nations like Russia and USA, when it comes to the number of published scientific articles in international magazines. But there is one topic where Norway is among the most active nations in the world. Between 1981 and 2007 Norwegian scientists produced 4 000 articles which dealt with various topics within polar research, writes Norwegian newspaper Nordlys. This is six percent of the total global amount of such articles. In comparison Norwegian researchers contributes with only 0.6 of the worlds total research publications.
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April, 28 2008 The situation in the Barents Sea
Reduced ocean ice, increasing number of new species of fish from the south and fewer breeding birds along the coast are some of the consequences of temperature raise in the Barents Sea, a new Norwegian research report.
The report written by the Norwegian Polar Institute together with a number of other Norwegian research institutions gives a picture of the environmental developments in the Barents Sea. Among the conclusions is a significant rise in ocean temperatures over the last few years. This has led to large changes in the amount of ocean ice. The rising temperature has also led to a large number of fish species from southerly latitudes, now has migrated to the Barents Sea.
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April, 28 2008 New Book: The Ice Diaries
The previously untold complete story of the first vessel to reach the North Pole, the nuclear submarine USS Nautilus, will be released in July 2008 by Thomas Nelson Publishers. The book is written by Captain William Anderson, the captain of Nautilus for the trip, and by best-selling author Don Keith. THE ICE DIARIES tells the inside story of how Nautilus made three attempts to reach the North Pole beneath the polar ice pack. The first two almost ended tragically. The third attempt took the submarine and her crew of 116 through the North Pole, from Pacific to Atlantic, in late July and early August 1958 via the long sought Northwest Passage. The data collected about navigation in those high latitudes, the oceans, the sea bottom, and the pack ice contributed mightily to future exploration of the region. The mission was front page news worldwide and was later named one of mankind’s greatest adventures by Time Books.
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April, 17 2008 Arctic May Hold 8.5 Percent More Oil and Gas Than Estimated
The Arctic may hold 8.5 percent more of the world's undiscovered oil and gas resources than previously estimated, according to a researcher.
The region north of the Arctic Circle might contain 36 billion more barrels of oil equivalent than previously thought, or roughly twice the known reserves of Norway, said Steven Sawhill, a senior research fellow at Oslo-based research company Ocean Futures, at a conference today.
``Estimates of undiscovered resources are increasing and will probably continue to increase,'' he said.
Oil and gas producers such as StatoilHydro ASA are looking to the largely unexplored Arctic waters for petroleum deposits as existing production dries up. Rising demand for the fuel and surging oil prices have spurred exploration in harsher climates.
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April, 16 Rolls-Royce to design new research vessel
Rolls-Royce has been selected to design a new Norwegian research vessel to carry out significant environmental research at both the North and South Poles.
In its 2008 budget draft The Norwegian government allocated NOK 5 million to the projecting of a new ice-protecting research vessel in Norway. Now Rolls-Royce is chosen to design it.
The vessel will be outfitted to cover a wide range of marine research operations, such as monitoring fishing stocks, meteorological studies, sea floor sampling and mapping.
Creative design
"The Institute has sought creativity in our design and we have drawn on our expertise in such ships to deliver a solution for a technology-intensive vessel that can operate in the harshest environments", Einar Vegsund, Rolls-Royce design manager said.
The NVC 395 Polar ship will be designed for operations in waters covered by ice up to one metre thick and is classified to Polar 10 ice class. The contract is with the Norwegian Institute of Marine Research, but all Norwegian research institutes involved in polar research will be involved in both development and use of the vessel.
Rolls-Royce will draw on a heritage of ship design which now totals more than 800 ships either built or on order. These include a number of Arctic patrol vessels operated by Danish and Norwegian navies and Icelandic coastguard.
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April, 15 2008 Unlocking the warming Arctic's secrets
For our understanding of the Arctic environment and its fate as the climate changes, one relationship is more important than all the others being studied by scientists aboard the Amundsen, a Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker converted into a floating polar research base.
It's not the complex chemical exchanges between air, snow, ice and water. Not the intricate biology and zoological web which connects plankton to polar bears. Not even the powerful physical forces which power tides and currents through the archipelago.
Nor is it the millions of dollars of sampling and analysis apparatus that reduce the ship's decks to narrow passageways and overflow from a dozen laboratories.
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April, 9 2008 Why Is Arctic Sea Ice Melting Faster Than Predicted? NOAA Probing Arctic Pollution
NOAA scientists are now flying through springtime Arctic pollution to find out why the region is warming — and summertime sea ice is melting — faster than predicted. Some 35 NOAA researchers are gathering with government and university colleagues in Fairbanks, Alaska, to conduct the study through April 23.
“The Arctic is changing before our eyes,” said A.R. Ravishankara, director of the chemistry division at NOAA’s Earth System Research Laboratory in Boulder, Colo. “Capturing in detail the processes behind this large and surprisingly rapid transformation is a unique opportunity for understanding climate changes occurring elsewhere.”
April, 1 2008 Whaling scene found in 3,000-year-old picture
Northern hunters may have been killing whales 3,000 years ago and commemorating their bravery with pictures carved in ivory.
Archaeologists working in the Russian Arctic have unearthed a remarkably detailed carving of groups of hunters engaged in whaling — sticking harpoons into the great mammals. The same site also yielded heavy stone blades that had been broken as if by some mighty impact, and remains from a number of dead whales.
All of this adds up to the probability that the site, called Un’en’en, holds the earliest straightforward evidence of the practice of whaling, says Daniel Odess, an archaeologist at the University of Alaska's Museum of the North in Fairbanks. Odess co-led the expedition team, which reported its findings last week in Vancouver, Canada, at a meeting of the Society for American Archeology. “It’s about as close to a smoking gun as you’ll get in archaeology,” he says. It pushes back direct evidence for whaling by about 1,000 years, he adds.
