Ongoing Coverage of Earth’s Polar Regions
Earth’s polar regions — the Arctic and the Antarctic — are far from where most of us live. What’s happening there now as a result of climate change, however, will end up affecting us in very direct ways. Melting glaciers and ice caps are raising sea level worldwide, and new research released in 2012 shows that the melting, especially in Antarctica,… Read More
CO2 May Fragment Glaciers, Driving Ice Into the Sea Faster
Scientists expect sea level to go up by 3 feet or so by the end of this century, thanks mostly to changes in the great ice sheets that dominate Greenland and Antarctica — but they worry about unknown factors that might drive ice into the sea faster than projected. Now a pair of MIT scientists has identified what might, in theory, turn out to be one… Read More
Scientists Close in on the Cause of Arctic Methane Leaks
It’s been called the Methane Bomb — a stash of gas buried under the Arctic seafloor whose heat-trapping power is much greater, molecule for molecule, than the carbon dioxide people usually worry about. As climate change forces the Arctic to warm, experts warn that methane could escape, speeding global warming. They can’t predict when the great esca… Read More
In Wake of Sea Ice Loss, Focus on New Models, Melt Ponds
In order to make improved projections, scientists are fine-tuning their understanding of the many influences on sea ice trends, including both manmade global warming and natural climate variability. The emerging science points to a very complex interplay between manmade global warming, natural climate variability, and sea ice dynamics that we’re on… Read More
Arctic Warming is Altering Weather Patterns, Study Shows
A recent study ties rapid Arctic climate change to high-impact, extreme weather events in the U.S. and Europe.… Read More
Forget the Melting Arctic, Sea Ice in Antarctica is Growing!
The ice that covers the Arctic Ocean has plummeted to its lowest level on record — but down at the other end of the world, the sea ice surrounding Antarctica has swelled. That’s no surprise, considering that winter is just ending in the Southern Hemisphere — but what may be surprising is that the overall extent of Antarctic ice has grown by about o… Read More
Avian Malaria in Alaska: The Climate Change Connection
A team of biologists has just announced the first documented case of bird-to-bird malaria transmission in Alaska. Writing in the journal PLOS ONE, they’ve shown that this frequently fatal illness, normally associated with the tropics and temperate areas, may be expanding its range. Since avian malaria doesn’t affect humans, said co-author Ravinder … Read More
It’s Official: Arctic Sea Ice Shatters Record Low
What makes this year unique is that the 2012 minimum is lower than any since modern satellite observations first began in the late 1970’s — and by a wide margin. The 2012 minimum of 1.32 million square miles (3.41 million square kilometers) shatters the previous mark of 1.61 million square miles (4.17 million square kilometers), which was set in 20… Read More
