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 …
The earth is warming at an alarming rate, especially in the Arctic, where a marked decline in sea ice cover may have far-ranging consequences for endemic species. Little auks, endemic Arctic seabirds, are key bioindicators as they forage in the marginal ice zone and feed preferentially on lipid-rich Arctic copepods …
This summer, with sea ice across the Arctic Ocean shrinking to below-average levels, a NASA airborne survey of polar ice just completed its first flights. Its target: aquamarine pools of melt water on the ice surface that may be accelerating the overall sea ice retreat. NASA's Operation IceBridge completed the …
The U.S. Department of Interior on Thursday unveiled its final regulations on drilling in the U.S. Arctic Outer Continental Shelf to boost safety in the environmentally sensitive region. The rules set safety standards for exploratory drilling on the U.S. Arctic Outer Continental Shelf for vessels on Alaska's Beaufort and Chukchi …
The summer sea ice cover over the Arctic raced towards oblivion in June, crashing through previous records to reach a new all-time low. The Arctic sea ice extent was a staggering 260,000 sq km (100,000 sq miles) below the previous record for June, set in 2010. And it was 1.36m …
Plastic waste found on the beach at Sarstangen on Prince Carls Forland, on the west coast of Svalbard, Norway. Plastic dumped into the seas around the UK is carried to the Arctic within two years, scientists have revealed, where it does “extreme harm” to the fragile polar environment. Marine plastic …
Earlier this month, NASA scientists provided a visualization of a startling climate change trend — the Earth is getting greener, as viewed from space, especially in its rapidly warming northern regions. And this is presumably occurring as more carbon dioxide in the air, along with warmer temperatures and longer growing …
A somewhat controversial statement was made 4 years ago by Professor Peter Wadhams, head of the Polar Ocean Physics Group at Cambridge University, that the Arctic Ocean could well be free of sea ice within only a few years. While it’s arguable if making such statements publicly is a good …
Pink snow was a high-latitude curiosity described by Arctic explorers such as Britain’s John Ross. Upon receiving word of the reddish snow, the London Times speculated in 1818 that the color came from meteoric iron deposits. Biologists know now that the red hue is the result of a chemical reaction …
Continuous measurements of atmospheric methane (CH4) mole fractions measured by NOAA's Global Greenhouse Gas Reference Network in Barrow, AK (BRW), show strong enhancements above background values when winds come from the land sector from July to December from 1986 to 2015, indicating that emissions from arctic tundra continue through autumn …
Arctic sea ice fell to its lowest ever May extent, prompting fears that this year could beat 2012 for the record of worst ever summer sea ice melt. Data published by the US National Snow and Ice Data Centre (NSIDC) this week showed average sea ice extent for last month …
Due to changing climate, Arctic regions of North America are getting greener, with almost a third of the land cover looking more like landscapes found in warmer ecosystems, according to a new Nasa study. With 87,000 images taken from Landsat satellites, converted into data that reflects the amount of healthy …
The Arctic is on track to be free of sea ice this year or next for the first time in more than 100,000 years, a leading scientist has claimed. Provisional satellite data produced by the US National Snow & Ice Data Centre shows there were just over 11.1 million sq …
Washington, June 6 (IANS) Using 29 years of data from satellite imageries, NASA scientists have found extensive greening in the Arctic region, thanks to rising temperatures. The northern reaches of North America are getting greener, said the study that provides the most detailed look yet at plant life across Alaska …
The Arctic is on track to be free of sea ice this year or next for the first time in more than 100,000 years, a leading scientist has claimed. Provisional satellite data produced by the US National Snow & Ice Data Centre shows there were just over 11.1 million square …
We're sure everyone is aware by now, about how the Arctic region and its creatures are suffering the dire consequences of climate change and global warming. In a nutshell, the region is warming up twice as fast as the rest of the world. However, there is a massive stretch of …
Climate change is known for swelling the oceans and fueling extreme weather, but it may be also causing the curious emergence of a new type of bear in the Arctic. A bear shot in the frigid expanse of northern Canada is believed to be a grizzly-polar bear hybrid, a consequence …
The pace of Arctic warming is about double that at lower latitudes—a robust phenomenon known as Arctic amplification. Many diverse climate processes and feedbacks cause Arctic amplification, including positive feedbacks associated with diminished sea ice. However, the precise contribution of sea-ice loss to Arctic amplification remains uncertain. Through analyses of …
To study climate change, India is conducting a programme to monitor one of the major fjords on the Svalbard archipelago in the Arctic region, the government today said. In a written response to a question in the Lok Sabha, YS Chowdary, Minister of State for Earth Sciences, said the ministry …
Climate change and extreme weather - including unusually wet summers in the UK - linked to high pressure weather systems over Greenland Study finds increase in atmospheric high pressure systems since 1980s throughout all seasons High pressure weather systems drag unusually warm air over Greenland's Ice Sheet Greenland is one …
Earlier this month, a U.S. satellite known as F17 — which was primarily used for meteorological measurements — experienced operational failures that compromised the integrity of its data. And while there are similar satellites in orbit that can take over the data collection for now, they’re old enough that scientists …
