Arctic – News Stories About Arctic - Page 9

Huge New
Cracks Seen in
Arctic Ice Shelf

May 24, 2008 6:24 AM CDT

Huge New Cracks Seen in Arctic Ice Shelf

Giant ice shelf is falling apart and could float away

(Newser) - A Canadian expedition has found a major new network of cracks, more than 10 miles long, in the Arctic's ice shelves, the BBC reports. Scientists say the huge shelves are disintegrating; pieces become "ice islands" that can float hundreds of miles away as climate changes takes hold. Arctic sea...

7 Minutes of Danger
in Mars Quest

May 23, 2008 2:52 AM CDT

7 Minutes of Danger in Mars Quest

Probe makes risky landing Sunday in hunt for water

(Newser) - The latest NASA mission searching for signs of life on Mars comes to a heart-pounding climax Sunday as the Phoenix Lander attempts to touch down at the red planet's pole in a hunt for water. The lander must perform complex maneuvers in which the whole mission is at risk for...

Canada Declares
Polar Bears
'At Risk'

Apr 26, 2008 1:07 PM CDT

Canada Declares Polar Bears 'At Risk'

Bears not quite endangered but still require protection

(Newser) - Canada has classified polar bears as a species of “special concern” requiring legislative protection, the BBC reports. While the panel of experts stopped short of declaring the bears endangered, it said that melting ice and hunting problems had put the bears in jeopardy. Canada is home to 15,000...

Old Arctic Ice Melting Away

Mar 18, 2008 7:22 PM CDT

Old Arctic Ice Melting Away

Formations older than 1 year see heavy declines

(Newser) - The Arctic's oldest, thickest ice is melting and may undermine the entire Arctic ice cap, NASA satellite photos show. Some 965,300 square miles of perennial ice, more than a year old, has melted over the past year—a 50% decrease. Losses of older, hardier frost are even greater: Three...

'Doomsday' Seed Vault to Open

Feb 25, 2008 3:57 PM CST

'Doomsday' Seed Vault to Open

Norwegian project will house all known crop species

(Newser) - The North Pole is no Fertile Crescent, but it will house collections of the world's crop seeds in a doomsday vault that will open tomorrow, AFP reports. The vault, built on Norwegian territory, contains three cold chambers that can hold a total of 4.5 million seed samples—twice the...

Alaska Against Polar Bear's Protection

Feb 23, 2008 7:52 PM CST

Alaska Against Polar Bear's Protection

State could lose $26 billion gas pipeline if species is called threatened

(Newser) - Alaska is opposing calls to save its polar bear population, fearing the state would have to protect dwindling sea ice and give up a multibillion-dollar gas project, the AP reports. Calls to save the bears have been "subverted by the lawyers for the extreme environmental organizations and the liberal...

Scientists ID Catastrophic Climate Change 'Tipping Zones'

Feb 5, 2008 4:34 AM CST

Scientists ID Catastrophic Climate Change 'Tipping Zones'

9 danger signs that disaster is inevitable

(Newser) - Scientists have identified nine danger zones where global warming could be pushed past the point of no return within years, the Independent reports. The scenarios include the melting of ice in the Arctic and Antarctic, the collapse of the Indian and West African monsoons, and the death of forests in...

Arctic Ice Vanishing 'Like Mad'

Jan 30, 2008 9:30 AM CST

Arctic Ice Vanishing 'Like Mad'

Researchers find Baffin ice cap shrunk by half in last 50 years

(Newser) - Ice caps on Baffin Island in the Canadian Arctic are "receding like mad" and could be gone completely within 50 years, LiveScience reports. The fields of ice have shrunk by half in the last 50 years and haven't been so small for at least 1,600 years, according to...

US Blunts Arctic Oil Warning

Jan 23, 2008 2:18 PM CST

US Blunts Arctic Oil Warning

Report's recommendations cut on US, Swedish objections

(Newser) - A top researcher for the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration was poised this week to deliver a stern warning against the oil drilling operations sweeping the Arctic—until politicians pulled the teeth from his report, Der Spiegel reports. The report needed approval from the Arctic council that commissioned it—...

Smithsonian Fudged Global Warming Facts 'for Politics'

Nov 16, 2007 4:08 AM CST

Smithsonian Fudged Global Warming Facts 'for Politics'

Accused of downplaying global warming

(Newser) - Government scientists claim officials at the Smithsonian National Museum downplayed global warming for political reasons in a 2006 exhibit on climate change in the Arctic. The museum's director insisted statements about the "scientific uncertainty" of climate change be included in the exhibit, reports the Washington Post. The director is...

Melting Alaska, Tourist Hot Spot

Nov 14, 2007 1:31 PM CST

Melting Alaska, Tourist Hot Spot

Visitors flock to see climate change first-hand

(Newser) - Tourists traditionally head to Alaska for cruises and fishing, but for a growing number, it’s a global warming pilgrimage. Heating up five times faster than anyplace else, Alaska has drawn politicians, scientists, and now tourists to see the melting future, the Christian Science Monitor reports. “This has immediate...

Coast Guard Sets Up First Base in Warming Arctic

Oct 19, 2007 12:20 PM CDT

Coast Guard Sets Up First Base in Warming Arctic

Plan to respond to oil spills and cruise ship emergencies

(Newser) - The US Coast Guard is setting up a base in the rapidly warming Arctic to help patrol anticipated tanker and cruise-ship traffic in the hot new shipping area, reports the New York Times. Officials have also begun discussions with Russia about controlling expected traffic in the Bering Strait. The base,...

Canada Asserts Arctic Authority

Oct 8, 2007 2:55 PM CDT

Canada Asserts Arctic Authority

Ice melt inflames dispute over control of Northwest Passage

(Newser) - In the wake of this summer's record-shattering Arctic melting, Canada is asserting its control over the Northwest Passage, increasing patrols, and planning to build a military base, the BBC reports. Apparently undeterred by competing claims to the legendary waterway, the head of the Canadian Coast Guard says it's "important...

Record Heatwave Hits Arctic

Oct 3, 2007 8:09 AM CDT

Record Heatwave Hits Arctic

Scientists stunned as temperatures trigger drastic change

(Newser) - Record high temperatures have hit parts of the Arctic, triggering a dramatic melt off of sea ice and tundra, and shocking scientists, reports the Independent. Temperatures as high as 72 degrees fahrenheit (22C) on Melville Island, usually one of the coldest places in North America, melted permafrost and set off...

Arctic Melt Nears 'Tipping Point'

Sep 30, 2007 2:15 PM CDT

Arctic Melt Nears 'Tipping Point'

Bigger, dark sea will melt what's left faster, scientists fear

(Newser) - Arctic ice has shrunk so significantly this past summer that scientists fear the region is at a dangerous "tipping point" that could trigger accelerated melting and dangerous consequences for weather patterns and environments. Ice shrank 20% below 2005’s record low. Scientists theorize that the darker sea holds more...

Tourism Heats Up as Arctic Does

Sep 24, 2007 8:22 AM CDT

Tourism Heats Up as Arctic Does

Travelers flock to see dwindling ice caps, speeding up their destruction

(Newser) - The effects of global warming are drawing a crowd. About 1.5 million people will visit the arctic this year, as climate tourists swarm to see the world’s ice caps as they are beginning to melt. But it’s an ironic endeavor, the Wall Street Journal notes, because eco-tourists...

The Arctic Is Ours: Kremlin

Sep 21, 2007 2:33 AM CDT

The Arctic Is Ours: Kremlin

Russia claims polar mineral wealth

(Newser) - In the latest audacious claim by Russia, the nation is insisting that rock samples taken 13,000 feet beneath the North Pole prove that a large part of the Arctic seabed is rightfully Russian territory. The US, Canada, Norway and Denmark also have territorial claims to the mineral-rich area that's...

Sailors Find Iceless NW Passage

Sep 13, 2007 8:40 PM CDT

Sailors Find Iceless NW Passage

As ice thaws, yachts glide through Northwest Passage

(Newser) - It's smooth sailing in the Arctic nowadays. Even in recent years, the ice was apt to claim adventurers who dared navigate the Northwest Passage. This year the passage has no ice. And with global warming claiming some 38,000 square miles of ice a year, the Journal reports, the Arctic...

Bad News Plagues Bears

Sep 9, 2007 3:09 PM CDT

Bad News Plagues Bears

As ice caps melt, trophy hunters take aim, polar bears belong on endangered list

(Newser) - It's bad enough when 40% of your habitat will disappear by mid-century, but add trophy hunters taking advantage of a loophole in US law, and it's not a good time to be a polar bear, the Independent on Sunday reports. The bears are not listed as endangered so 950 pelts...

Arctic Thaw Set at 40% by 2050

Sep 7, 2007 6:47 PM CDT

Arctic Thaw Set at 40% by 2050

Researchers put 40% of Arctic underwater by 2050

(Newser) - At least 40% of the polar icecap will be gone by 2050, Seattle scientists predicted today, putting the meltdown way ahead of earlier predictions that so much ice would take a century to vanish. Greenhouse gases, which linger in the atmosphere for up to 50 years, are primarily responsible for...