As the Arctic warms, permafrost will degrade, potentially resulting in increased groundwater runoff as frozen ground that had blocked the flow of water melts. To investigate how groundwater systems will evolve as surface temperatures rise, Bense et al. developed a model to simulate an idealized aquifer covered by a layer of permafrost.
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Norway’s foreign political and security political foundation both during the Cold War and now creates predictability on both sides of the Russian-Norwegian border, says Head of the Norwegian Barents Secretariat Rune Rafaelsen.
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Nigel Richardson is excited by the stark beauty of Spitsbergen, the Norwegian island, but fears for its future.
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The Arctic Ocean is generally considered a remarkably quiet ocean, with very little mixing, because a cover of sea ice prevents wind from driving the formation of internal waves. To study this effect and investigate how melting sea ice might affect ocean mixing in the Arctic, Rainville and Woodgate analyze data from moorings in the northern Chukchi Sea.
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There is increased evidence that the Arctic could face seasonally ice-free conditions and much warmer temperatures in the future.
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Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Thursday that he is dissatisfied with the results of the recent climate change conference in Copenhagen.
"It was a lot of hot air. Unfortunately, no agreement was reached," he said in an interview with three state television channels, adding that it was not Russia's fault.
The UN climate summit, which took place in the Danish capital on December 7-18, was originally expected to see the signing of a new binding agreement to replace the Kyoto Protocol, some points of which expire in 2012. However, participants of the talks failed to agree on greenhouse emissions cuts and only agreed on measures to be taken to keep average increases in global temperatures below 2 degrees Celsius.
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A warming rate of more than 0.2 °C per decade is intolerable if the earth's ecosystems are to adapt, according to The German Advisory Council on Global Change. CICERO scientists adopted this rate and calculated that in order not to exceed it, cumulative emissions in the period 2010-2030 must not exceed approximately 190 gigatonnes of carbon (GtC).
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As global temperatures continue to rise, scientists are presented with the complex challenge of understanding how species respond and adapt. In a paper published in Insect Conservation and Diversity, Dr Francisco Rodriguez-Trelles and Dr Miguel Rodriguez assess this challenge.
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A map produced by Natural Resources Canada has pride of place in Arctic ambassador Anton Vasiliev's office, in the Stalinist-era skyscraper housing the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Centred on the geographic North Pole, the map shows how Russia and Canada dominate the Arctic region. Between them, the two largest countries on Earth account for three-quarters of the Arctic Ocean's coastline.
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It's not just about wildlife. Climate change will also pit nations against each other in a race for territory and power.
Scientists have declared that both of the world's ice caps are in perilous states; the Arctic is more vulnerable than the Antarctic because of added climate volatility at the top of the planet. The intuitive victims are the polar bear, and further down the line, the world's grandchildren. Those, certainly, are the victims who have received the most attention.
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Global warming, pollution, and the environmental consequences of energy production impose a greater burden on low-income, disadvantaged communities, and strategies to prevent these inequities are urgently needed. A provocative collection of articles on climate justice presents the global implications of climate change and its effects on human health and the environment in a special issue of Environmental Justice, a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.
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The Russian Ministry of Natural Resources claims that Russia and Norway intend to cooperate on research and exploration of oil and gas fields in the Barents Sea. Norway rejects the claim.
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Glaciers along the Gulf of Alaska are enriching stream and near shore marine ecosystems from a surprising source -- ancient carbon contained in glacial runoff, researchers from four universities and the U.S. Forest Service report in the December 24, 2009, issue of the journal Nature.
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A hovercraft proves invaluable when it comes to access and be mobile in the remote parts of the sea ice-covered Arctic. SABVABAA is moving swiftly along the ice edge and the advanced instrumentation on board allow collecting various type of data.
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Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN) has published a major analysis of the divisive issues at the heart of the debate over global warming and climate change. The article appears at the conclusion of the much-publicized United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, which sought to seal a comprehensive international agreement on dealing with global warming.
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Draft political declaration of the UN-sponsored Copenhagen conference on climate change that was proposed by U.S. President Barack Obama and supported by China, India, the South African Republic, and Brazil, has failed to rally support of a number of developing countries.
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A network of cameras deployed around the Arctic in support of NASA's THEMIS mission has made a startling discovery about the Northern Lights. Sometimes, vast curtains of aurora borealis collide, producing spectacular outbursts of light. Movies of the phenomenon were unveiled on December 17 at the Fall Meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco.
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A new study from the Norwegian Fridtjof Nansen Institute concludes that a military dispute over natural resources in the Arctic is not very likely, and that dispassionate diplomacy is a more likely and rational way of dispute resolution than military confrontation.
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A little less than 2% of all red listed species in Norway are in Svalbard. At the moment only mammals, birds, fresh water fish and vascular plants are assessed in Svalbard. Several species are considered endangered.
As many as 70 species from Svalbard are on the Red List for Norway right now. The largest group are vascular plants with 51 species out of which 35 are considered endangered. Among the Svalbard mammals polar bear, walrus and harbour seal are listed too.
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A new study authored by Dr. Robert Kopp entitled "Probabilistic Assessment of Sea Level during the Last Interglacial Stage", was conducted by scientists at Princeton and Harvard Universities and published in Nature. It employs a new statistical approach to show that the Earth's polar ice sheets are vulnerable even to moderate global warming.
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After several unsuccessful drilling attempts the team's spirit is up again. In the early December the drill reached depth of 969,8 m and the thick layer of sandstone was found. The rock is porous enough to start tests on its ability to store carbon dioxide in the future. The project continues.
Longyearbyen CO2 lab has finalized the drilling operations at last. The drill reached a total depth of 969,8 meters.
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The Arctic Ocean, in particular that part of it under the ice cap, is Russia's last retaliatory refuge, that spot on the earth where any element of its strategic forces is comparatively safe from a Western first strike and least targetable by interceptor missiles after such an attack.
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An additional 2 degrees of global warming could commit the planet to 6 to 9 meters (20 to 30 feet) of long-term sea level rise.
A new analysis of the geological record of the Earth's sea level, carried out by scientists at Princeton and Harvard universities and published in the Dec. 16 issue of Nature, employs a novel statistical approach that reveals the planet's polar ice sheets are vulnerable to large-scale melting even under moderate global warming scenarios. Such melting would lead to a large and relatively rapid rise in global sea level.
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New models show the Arctic summer ice cap may nearly vanish in the summer much sooner that the year 2030, as earlier forecasted.
The report about the Arctic ice cap was presented at the UN climate conference in Copenhagen on Monday.
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A new analysis of the geological record of the Earth's sea level, carried out by scientists at Princeton and Harvard universities and published in the Dec. 16 issue of Nature, employs a novel statistical approach that reveals the planet's polar ice sheets are vulnerable to large-scale melting even under moderate global warming scenarios. Such melting would lead to a large and relatively rapid rise in global sea level.
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Upper atmosphere phenomena like northern lights are best studied in polar regions. Aurora is highly spectacular to watch. Shower of solar particles and ion-acoustic waves make aurora flicker and interfere with the navigation and communication equipment.
June Lunde from the Andoya Rocket Range has recently defended her PhD thesis on "Particle Precipitation: Selected Effects on Ionospheric Phenomena" at the University of Tromso.
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New discoveries about the deep ocean's temperature variability and circulation system could help improve projections of future climate conditions.
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While the Climaterati caucus over cappuccinos in Copenhagen about polar bear habitat and the fate of small island nations from rising sea levels, there are other possible climate change implications, too - those of the security kind. In fact, we’re already seeing them in the Arctic.
By many accounts, much of the Arctic sea ice is melting following a three-decade trend. But while the geographic North Pole belongs to no one, the area around it may hold as much as 20 percent of the world’s undiscovered, technically-recoverable natural resources.
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Ottawa's plan for Lancaster Sound conservation area is an assertion of sovereignty in what U.S., Russia consider 'international water'
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The situation in the High North was included in today’s meeting between U.S. President Barack Obama and Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg.
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Global warming is caused by radiation from the sun, according to a leading scientist speaking out at an alternative "sceptics' conference" in Copenhagen.
As the world gathered in the Danish capital for the UN Climate Change Conference, more than 50 scientists, businessmen and lobby groups met to discuss the arguments against man made global warming.
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High-resolution computer simulations performed by scientists at the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton (NOCS) are helping to understand the inflow of North Atlantic water to the Arctic Ocean and how this influences ocean climate.
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Abstract submission and registration is now open for the 2010 State of the Arctic Conference! The State of the Arctic Conference will be held 16-19 March 2010 at the Hyatt Regency Miami in Miami, Florida. The main goal of the conference is to review our understanding of the arctic system in a time of rapid environmental change. It will provide an open international forum for discussion of future research directions aimed toward a better understanding of the arctic system and its trajectory. Further information about the conference can be found at: http://soa.arcus.org.
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What is the impact of climate change on the ice-covered regions of Earth? How does deglaciation affect global sea level changes?
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Every second, a vast quantity of cold, dense seawater equal to six times the combined flow of every land river on Earth streams over an ocean-floor ridge that stretches between Greenland and Scotland. This deep southbound current, flowing from the Norwegian, Iceland and Greenland seas into the North Atlantic, is the lower limb of the Gulf Stream and its northerly extension, a great conveyor belt of ocean heat and salt that transports warm tropical water north from the equator. Most climate change models predict global warming will slow these flows, in part by altering a key component of the Atlantic's circulation, called deep-water formation...
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The field studies were part of the research programmes of the University of Silesia, conducted in co-operation with the Institute of Geophysics PAS.
The studies were carried out in the following locations:
* on the scree slope of the Fugleberget foothill
* on the 6m high marine terrace, close to the shore
* on the Hansbreen forefield moraine system.
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It doesn’t seem like anyone took much notice, but last week marked the 50th anniversary of an exemplary international success — the signing of the Antarctic Treaty that turned the global Deep South into a demilitarized zone “forever to be used exclusively for peaceful purposes.”
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Developing countries react furiously to leaked draft agreement that would hand more power to rich nations, sideline the UN's negotiating role and abandon the Kyoto protocol
The UN Copenhagen climate talks are in disarray today after developing countries reacted furiously to leaked documents that show world leaders will next week be asked to sign an agreement that hands more power to rich countries and sidelines the UN's role in all future climate change negotiations.
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The average temperature in Norway has never been measured at higher levels than in the periode since 2000, registrations from all over the country show.
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With growing concerns about the effects of global warming on polar bears, it's increasingly important to understand how other environmental threats, such as mercury pollution, are affecting these magnificent Arctic animals.
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This year is likely to be the fifth warmest on record and the first decade of this century the hottest since records began, the World Meteorological Organization said on Tuesday.
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Nearly 40 scientists have embarked on the icebreaker Aurora Australis for a six-week trip covering about 7,000 nautical miles of the Southern Ocean. The science trip, undertaken by the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD), will mainly focus on two key projects: the assessment of the impacts of bottom fishing and ocean acidification.
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As Captain Benoit Hebert steers the icebreaker l'Astrolabe on Monday through a stormy Southern Ocean heading for Antarctica his thoughts will soon turn to the dangers of icebergs.
Large icebergs have recently been spotted floating hundreds of kilometers (miles) north of Antarctica -- a sign of the accelerating melt of East Antarctica due to climate change.
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The first joint Norwegian-Russian report on the Barents Sea Ecosystem raises concerns about sea mammals’ reproduction due to the ongoing climate changes.
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The Northwest Passage is to be renamed to the Canadian Northwest passage, after a bid on the issue passed almost unanimously in the House of Commons.
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Officials from 192 countries will gather in Copenhagen on Monday, December 7, to discuss how to curb global warming.
According to scientists, in order to prevent further escalation of negative climate changes such as floods, droughts and tsunamis, it is necessary to keep the temperature from rising by more than 2 degrees Celsius.
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South Dakota State University researchers and their colleagues elsewhere in America and in France have found compelling evidence of a previously undocumented large volcanic eruption that occurred exactly 200 years ago, in 1809. The discovery helps explain the record cold decade from 1810-1819.
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Climate change which the planet is likely to face in the 21st century would provide direct benefits to no country, although producers of energy efficient equipment could benefit from it, a corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences said.
"I am completely sure that climate change itself would be beneficial for no country, including Russia," Victor Danilov-Danilyan said during an online conference organized by RIA Novosti ahead of the UN Climate Change Conference due in Copenhagen on December 7-18.
"That is why for us, as well as for everybody, the meeting in Copenhagen is very important," the expert said.
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Scientists from the U.S., Canada and Russia race to map the Arctic Ocean under the looming deadline of a U.N. treaty. Adapted from a one-hour documentary on CBC-TV.
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The largest known mass extinction in Earth's history, about 252 million years ago at the end of the Permian Period, may have been caused by global warming. A new fossil species suggests that some land animals may have survived the end-Permian extinction by living in cooler climates in Antarctica. Jörg Fröbisch and Kenneth D. Angielczyk of The Field Museum together with Christian A. Sidor from the University of Washington have identified a distant relative of mammals, Kombuisia antarctica, that apparently survived the mass extinction by living in Antarctica.
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Content:
1. Oslo Science Conference, 8-12 June 2010
2. IPO at AGU Fall Meeting
3. IPY EOC update
4. APECS Update
5. IPO during December 2009
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The 30-year record low in Antarctic snowmelt that occurred during the 2008-09 austral summer was likely due to concurrent strong positive phases for two main climate drivers, ENSO (El Niño -- Southern Oscillation) and SAM (Southern Hemisphere Annular Mode), according to Dr. Marco Tedesco, Assistant Professor of Earth & Atmospheric Sciences at The City College of New York.
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The U.S. government violated the Endangered Species Act by failing to curb use of pesticides that have been accumulating in the Arctic food chain and in the fat of polar bears, a species listed as threatened, environmentalists charged in a lawsuit on Thursday.
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The Norwegian Customs Authorities have introduced risk assessment of cargo exported to non EU countries, Svalbard included. In order to comply with regulation in force Bring Logistics AS is tightening up the rules for declaring goods for export to Svalbard.
Risk assessment of cargo is imposed on all Customs Administrations as members of World Customs Organisation for the purpose of securing the global trade with goods. The risk assessment is based on risk management standards and detailed information about shipments.
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Svalbard was more than 8 °C warmer than normal average in November.
The average temperature measured in November this year at the Svea mine on Svalbard north in the Barents Sea was -2,7 °C, or 8,8 °C above normal, reports the Norwegian Meteorological Institute. The temperature measuring at Svea started back in 1978. At Svalbard airport in Longyearbyen, the average temperatures was –1,9 °C, that is 8,4 °C above normal.
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There is no cause to state that for last 100 years there were no analogues of ice area minimum observed now.
The Arctic ice cover significantly decreased during last decades. In September 2007 the absolute ice area minimum in the central Arctic was observed. In September 2008 and September 2009 the second and third ice area minimums were observed accordingly. These facts are indubitable. But there is a condition concerning current situation which is necessary to mention for understanding. Hereinabove ice area minimums for the whole Arctic were obtained within satellite observation period, duration of which now does not exceed 30 years.
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Now the debates between ecologists, who are the supporters of the statement about the influence of greenhouse gases of anthropogenic origin on climate, and scientists physicists, who explain that climate changes occur because of directly environmental reasons, are very demonstrative.
However the main argument of the ecologists is – climate warming still being observed during last years with contemporary accumulation of anthropogenic carbon dioxide in atmosphere. That is why the greenhouse gas hypothesis as the evident one is accepted without any control. Unfortunately this point of view is dominant in conclusions of Intergovernmental group of experts on climate change, United Nations Program on Environment, World Meteorological Organization.
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The international Antarctic Treaty bringing together at present over 47 countries turns 50 on Tuesday. The treaty envisages demilitarisation of the area of Antarctica and the use of the sixth continent and southern seas around it exclusively for peaceful purposes.
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The first comprehensive review of the state of Antarctica's climate and its relationship to the global climate system is published Dec. 1, 2009 by the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR). The review -- Antarctic Climate Change and the Environment -- presents the latest research from the icy continent, identifies areas for future scientific research, and addresses the urgent questions that policy makers have about Antarctic melting, sea-level rise and biodiversity.
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Wetlands from Bangladesh to Florida submerged. Drought and devastating heat in important granaries such as the Yangtze floodplain in China or Ukraine. Rains that come too often or too hard in India or the U.S. Northeast. The list of potentially devastating impacts from climate change is a long one. But with greenhouse gas emissions continuing to climb and concentrations in the atmosphere rising by roughly two parts per million (ppm) a year, climate catastrophes are looking more and more imminent.
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Last week, Svalbard Science Centre opened its doors for Longyearbyens school children. Many of the activities were related to evolution - a tribute to the Darwin year 2009.
Svalbard Science Centre traditionally arranges an open day as the polar night falls over Longyearbyen. This year, the main theme was evolution and Longyearbyens school children could learn about the adaptations needed to survive the arctic winter and how the counterflow system in the reindeers nose helps the animals to keep warm.
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William Patterson, from the University of Saskatchewan in Canada, and his colleagues have shown that switching off the North Atlantic circulation can force the Northern hemisphere into a mini 'ice age' in a matter of months. Previous work has indicated that this process would take tens of years.
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