This is the 33rd issuance of the annual assessment now known as State of the Climate, published in the Bulletin since 1996. As a supplement to the Bulletin, its foremost function is to document the status and trajectory of many components of the climate system. However, as a series, the …
An area of an Antarctic ice shelf almost the size of New York City has broken into icebergs this month after the collapse of an ice bridge widely blamed on global warming, a scientist said Tuesday. "The northern ice front of the Wilkins Ice Shelf has become unstable and the …
The Obama administration said on Tuesday it rolled back a Bush-era rule excusing oil and gas companies in polar bear habitat from special reviews designed to ensure they are not harming the animals. The Alaska energy industry said the move could slow exploration and production activity in the state. Environmental …
A fast melt of ice from the Andes to the Arctic should be a wake-up call for governments to work out a strong new United Nations treaty this year to fight climate change, Norway said on Tuesday. Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere, starting two-day talks of the eight Arctic nations …
A thaw of Arctic ice will open "plenty of opportunities" in oil and gas exploration and shipping even though the overall impact of global warming will be damaging for the region, Norway's Foreign Minister said. Jonas Gahr Stoere, who will host a meeting of the eight-nation Arctic Council in the …
The southern ozone hole has changed weather patterns around Antarctica and cooled the air above the east part of the continent, according to new research.
An expansion of sea ice around Antarctica is linked to a hole in the ozone layer high in the atmosphere, according to a study on Tuesday that helps clear up a mystery about global warming. The findings, by scientists at the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) and the U.S. space agency …
Alaskan Inuits, Australian aborigines and Pygmies from Cameroon have a message for a warming world: native traditions can be a potent weapon against climate change. At a summit starting Monday in Anchorage, Alaska, some 400 indigenous people from 80 nations are gathering to hone this message in the hope that …
The head of a British team walking to the North Pole on a mission to gauge how fast Arctic ice sheets are melting said on Friday he was surprised by how little permanent ice he had found so far. Pen Hadow and two other adventurers set off in early March …
educing emissions of black carbon and other short-lived pollutants that contribute to global warming could buy the world crucial time while governments begin the slow overhaul of global energy systems that will be required to reduce emissions of CO2, climate modelers reported in Nature Geosciences.
Norway became on Wednesday the first Arctic state to agree limits to its northern seabed, stopping short of the North Pole in a regional territorial scramble driven partly by hopes of finding oil and gas. Norway's newly defined continental shelf covers 235,000 sq kms (90,740 sq miles), or three-quarters the …
Some European birds will have to fly further as global warming shifts their breeding grounds northwards in the biggest challenge to the tiny migrants since the Ice Age, scientists said on Wednesday. Some types of warbler would have to add 400 kms (250 miles) to twice-yearly trips up to 6,000 …
Coastal erosion may reshape the Arctic coast completely THE rate of coastal erosion in the Arctic is one of the highest in the world. It has doubled over the past 52 years and is accelerating. This spells trouble for communities living by the shore such as the Shishmaref in Alaska …
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Monday urged tighter controls on cruise ships and tourists in Antarctica to prevent further environmental damage to the fragile region. Addressing an international meeting on both the Antarctic and the Arctic, Clinton said as tourism increases to Antarctica there must be more regulations …
Some 80 percent of Arctic ice may disappear in 30 years, not 90 as scientists had previously estimated, according to a new study on the impact of global warming. "The amount of the Arctic Ocean covered by ice at the end of summer by then could be only about 1 …
This report is the sixth `State of the Arctic environment report' that has been prepared by AMAP in accordance with its mandate. It presents the results of work conducted during AMAP's third phase (2002-2008) in relation to three priority areas persistent organic pollutants, human health, and radioactivity. This report is …
ECORA is a Global Environment Facility (GEF) project initiated by the Arctic Council Working Group on the Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna (CAFF), UNEP/GRID-Arendal, and the Russian Federation that uses an integrated ecosystem management approach to conserve biodiversity and minimize habitat fragmentation in the Russian Arctic. The main phase …
After paring 23 climate models down to the best half-dozen, two researchers now say with new confidence that arctic summer ice will most likely disappear around 2037. But none of the select models predicts a tipping point--a sudden jump to an ice-free summer Arctic.
