Tag Archives: Arctic

PLEA Network

22 October 2015, Carbon Brief, Five charts that show how Arctic and Antarctic sea ice is faring in 2015. At this time of year, there are big differences in what’s going on with sea ice at either end of the world. September saw the Arctic hit its fourth lowest summer minimum on record, while over in Antarctica, the winter maximum finished just above average, ending a streak of record highs in the last three years. Carbon Brief takes a look at what’s happened this year and how it fits in with long term trends. Summer minimum Scientists have been using satellites to measure sea ice extent at the north and south poles since the late 1970s. They take measurements daily, and record the annual minimum and maximum as an indicator of how the poles are changing. In the Arctic, the end of the summer marks the point when sea ice is at its smallest extent, before it freezes up again as temperatures fall. Scientists keep a close eye around the time the low is normally reached – usually mid september – then look for signs of ice accumulating again in order to pinpoint exactly when the summer minimum is reached. According to the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) in the US, the summer low occurred this year on 11 September. But because sea ice can throw in a late dip or surge, the NSIDC waited until 6 October before finally confirming this summer’s minimum of 4.41m square kilometers (sq km) – the fourth lowest on record. So how did the rest of the season shape up before this point? Read More here

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22 October 2015, Science Daily, Measuring the impacts of severe wildfires in the Arctic. Based on the number of acres burned, 2015 is shaping up to be the second most extreme fire year during the past decade in North America’s boreal region. Historically, the area has had one or fewer extreme fire years per decade. This season, 15 million acres burned in Alaska and Canada, according Northern Arizona University’s Michelle Mack, researcher and biological sciences professor, who is leading a NASA-funded project to measure the severe fire impacts in North America. “In the boreal region, there is a thick organic layer on the surface comprised of litter and soil, that in some cases is hundreds to thousands of years old,” Mack said. “Will more fires and hotter fires burn that layer and release it to the atmosphere and how deep will it burn into the soil?” These questions are part of NASA’s $100 million dollar, 10 year project called Arctic Boreal Vulnerability Experiment, also known as ABoVE. The experiment seeks to understand the vulnerability and resilience in the Arctic, where climate change is most pronounced and rapidly unfolding. Mack serves on the project’s international science team tasked with implementing the field campaign. Read More here

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Atlantic cold patch12 October 2015, Washington Post, Why the Earth’s past has scientists so worried about the Atlantic Ocean’s circulation. In the last month, there’s been much attention to a cool patch in the North Atlantic Ocean, where record cold temperatures over the past eight months present a stark contrast to a globe that is experiencing record warmth. And although there is certainly no consensus on the matter yet, some scientists think this pattern may be a sign of one long-feared consequence of climate change — a slowing of North Atlantic ocean circulation, due to a freshening of surface waters. The cause, goes the thinking, would be the rapidly melting Greenland ice sheet, whose large freshwater flows may weaken ocean “overturning” by reducing the density of cold surface waters (colder, salty water is denser). If cold, salty waters don’t sink in the North Atlantic and flow back southward toward Antarctica at depth, then warm surface waters won’t flow northward to take their place. The result could be a significant change to northern hemisphere climate, as less ocean-borne heat reaches higher latitudes. Read More here

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28 September 2015, The Guardian, Shell abandons Alaska Arctic drilling. Oil giant’s US president says hugely controversial drilling operations off Alaska will stop for ‘foreseeable future’ as drilling finds little oil and gas. Shell has abandoned its controversial drilling operations in the Alaskan Arctic in the face of mounting opposition. Its decision, which has been welcomed by environmental campaigners, follows disappointing results from an exploratory well drilled 80 miles off Alaska’s north-west coast. Shell said it had found oil and gas but not in sufficient quantities. The move is a major climbdown for the Anglo-Dutch group which had talked up the prospects of oil and gas in the region. Shell has spent about $7bn (£4.6bn) onArctic offshore development in the hope there would be deposits worth pursuing, but now says operations are being ended for the “foreseeable future.” Shell is expected to take a hit of around $4.1bn as a result of the decision. The company has come under increasing pressure from shareholders worried about the plunging share price and the costs of what has so far been a futile search in the Chukchi Sea. Shell has also privately made clear it is taken aback by the public protests against the drilling which are threatening to seriously damage its reputation. Ben van Beurden, the chief executive, is also said to be worried that the Arctic is undermining his attempts to influence the debate around climate change. His attempts to argue that a Shell strategy of building up gas as a “transitional” fuel to pave the way to a lower carbon future has met with scepticism, partly because of the Arctic operations. Read More here