US News & World Report (December 28)
“It was about 37 degrees Fahrenheit warmer in the Arctic in November than it usually is this time of year. The week before Christmas, it was 50 degrees above the usual average. That is, to put it mildly, something quite out of the ordinary.” Even more troubling, “what every scientist in the world studying the Arctic knows is this: what happens in the Arctic doesn’t stay in the Arctic; and global warming is now permanently altering the region in ways that will have untold consequences. In fact, the Arctic system has changed so dramatically that it may now be vulnerable to tipping points that affect the entire planet.”
Tags: Arctic, Christmas, Consequences, Global warming, Planet, Tipping points, Troubling, Vulnerable
New York Times (July 22)
“Given the rapid changes in that region, the fishing ban hasn’t come too soon.” With the Arctic melt proceeding faster than many imagined, the U.S., Canada, Russia, Norway and Denmark have proactively “put a ‘No Fishing’ sign on the high seas portion of the central Arctic until full scientific studies have been conducted.”
Tags: Arctic, Ban, Canada, Changes, Denmark, Fishing, High seas, Norway, Russia, Scientific studies, U.S.
Time (October 23)
“We’re in the final few months of what’s shaping up to be the hottest year on record. In September, Arctic sea ice melted to its smallest extent in satellite records, while the Midwest was rocked by a once-in-a-generation level drought. Global carbon dioxide emissions hit a record high in 2011 of 34.83 billion tons, and they will almost certainly be higher this year….Given all that, it might seem reasonable to think that climate change —and how the U.S. should respond to it — would be among the top issues of the 2012 presidential election.” Instead, climate change has gone largely unmentioned.
Tags: Arctic, Climate change, CO2, Drought, Presidential election, U.S.
Washington Post (August 27)
“The extent of Arctic sea ice has reached a record low, a historic retreat that scientists said is a stark signal of how climate change is transforming the global landscape.” Typically the summer low comes in mid-September so the ice cover may continue to shrink beyond its current size of 1.58 million square miles. This year, “the ice melted at an unprecedented 38,600 square miles per day during the first part of August.”
Tags: Arctic, Climate change, Record low, Sea ice
The Economist (June 16)
Glaciers are retreating and permafrost is thawing in the Arctic, where June snow cover is just 80% of what it was in the 1960s. As the habitat changes, some species will win and others will lose. “Perhaps not since the 19th-century clearance of America’s forests has the world seen such a spectacular environmental change. It is a stunning illustration of global warming, the cause of the melt. It also contains grave warnings of its dangers. The world would be mad to ignore them.”Glaciers are retreating and permafrost is thawing in the Arctic, where June snow cover is just 80% of what it was in the 1960s. As the habitat changes, some species will win and others will lose. “Perhaps not since the 19th-century clearance of America’s forests has the world seen such a spectacular environmental change. It is a stunning illustration of global warming, the cause of the melt. It also contains grave warnings of its dangers. The world would be mad to ignore them.”
Tags: Arctic, Glaciers, Global warming, Habitat, Species
The Economist (September 24)
Arctic ice is disappearing faster than previously thought. The ice is now estimated to be just half as thick as it was 1979 “and there is probably less ice floating on the Arctic Ocean now than at any time since a particularly warm period 8,000 years ago, soon after the last ice age.” Models had predicted that summer ice would disappear by century end. Instead “at current rates of shrinkage… this looks likely to happen some time between 2020 and 2050.”
Arctic ice is disappearing faster than previously thought. The ice is now estimated to be just half as thick as it was 1979 “and there is probably less ice floating on the Arctic Ocean now than at any time since a particularly warm period 8,000 years ago, soon after the last ice age.” Models had predicted that summer ice would disappear by century end. Instead “at current rates of shrinkage… this looks likely to happen some time between 2020 and 2050.”
http://www.economist.com/node/21530079
Tags: Arctic, Global warming, Ice, Summer
