Temperatures leap 40 degrees above normal as the Arctic Ocean and Greenland ice sheet see record June melting

Ice is melting in unprecedented ways as summer approaches in the Arctic. In recent days, observations have revealed a record-challenging melt event over the Greenland ice sheet, while the extent of ice over the Arctic Ocean has never been this low in mid-June during the age of weather satellites.

Steffen Olsen, an Arctic researcher with the Danish
Meteorological Institute, and dogs set out to retrieve
 oceanographic moorings and a weather station over
 meltwater topping sea ice in northwest Greenland on Thursday.

Greenland saw temperatures soar up to 40 degrees above normal Wednesday, while open water exists in places north of Alaska where it seldom, if ever, has in recent times.

It’s “another series of extreme events consistent with the long-term trend of a warming, changing Arctic,” said Zachary Labe, a climate researcher at the University of California at Irvine.

And the abnormal warmth and melting of ice in the Arctic may be messing with our weather.

Read the story from The Washington Post by Jason Samenow -  “Temperatures leap 40 degrees above normal as the Arctic Ocean and Greenland ice sheet see record June melting.”

Global Warming Is Pushing Arctic Toward ‘Unprecedented State,’ Research Shows.

Global warming is transforming the Arctic, and the changes have rippled so widely that the entire biophysical system is shifting toward an "unprecedented state," an international team of researchers concludes in a new analysis of nearly 50 years of temperature readings and changes across the ecosystems.

Sheenjek River, Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Arctic forests are turning into bogs as permafrost melts beneath their roots. The icy surface that reflects the sun's radiation back into space is darkening and sea ice cover is declining. Warmth and moisture trapped by greenhouse gases are pumping up the water cycle, swelling rivers that carry more sediment and nutrients to the sea, which can change ocean chemistry and affect the coastal marine food chain. And those are just a few of the changes. 

The researchers describe how warming in the Arctic, which is heating up 2.4 times faster than the Northern Hemisphere average, is triggering a cascade of changes in everything from when plants flower to where fish and other animal populations can be found.

Read the Inside Climate News story by Bob Berwyn - “Global Warming Is Pushing Arctic Toward ‘Unprecedented State,’ Research Shows.”

Melting Arctic Permafrost Releases Acid that Dissolves Rocks

As temperatures rise in the Arctic, permafrost — permanently frozen ground — is defrosting at an alarming rate. But the permafrost isn't the only thing in the Arctic that's melting.

Runoff from melting permafrost in Alaska flows toward the sea.

Exposed rock that was once covered in ice is dissolving, eaten away by acid. And the effects of this acid bath could have far-reaching impacts on global climate, according to a new study.

Icy permafrost is rich in minerals, which are released when the ice melts. The minerals then become vulnerable to chemical weathering, or the breakdown of rock through chemical reactions, scientists recently reported. They investigated areas once covered by permafrost in the western Canadian Arctic, finding evidence of weathering caused by sulfuric acid, produced by sulfide minerals that were released when the permafrost melted.

Read the LiveScience story by Mindy Weisberger - “Melting Arctic Permafrost Releases Acid that Dissolves Rocks.”

Arctic’s strongest sea ice breaks up for first time on record

The oldest and thickest sea ice in the Arctic has started to break up, opening waters north of Greenland that are normally frozen, even in summer.

Scientists say thinning of the sea ice has reached
 even the coldest parts of the Arctic.

This phenomenon – which has never been recorded before – has occurred twice this year due to warm winds and a climate-change driven heatwave in the northern hemisphere.

One meteorologist described the loss of ice as “scary”. Others said it could force scientists to revise their theories about which part of the Arctic will withstand warming the longest.

Read the story from The Guardian  by Jonathan Wats - “Arctic’s strongest sea ice breaks up for first time on record.”

Shipping’s Heavy Fuel Oil Puts the Arctic at Risk. Could It Be Banned?

Heavy fuel oil—the molasses-like sludge left after the oil refining process—is among the dirtiest fuels on the planet, and yet its use by ships is widespread in the Arctic, a pristine environment where it could do significant harm.

The majority of the Arctic's black carbon, a short-lived climate
pollutant, comes from heavy fuel oil used in ships.

Burning the fuel contributes to climate change, and a spill in Arctic waters would be a nightmare for emergency response coordinators. But it's cheap, and attractive for ships making long hauls, the kind of traffic on the rise as climate change makes Arctic shipping easier.

Concerns about the safety and use of the fuel in a delicate and remote environment led to it being banned in the Antarctic in 2011, but efforts to include the Arctic in that ban fell short.

Read the Inside Climate News story by Sabrina Shankman - “Shipping’s Heavy Fuel Oil Puts the Arctic at Risk. Could It Be Banned?”

Arctic melting could worsen future California droughts

Melting ice in the Arctic might seem a world away from California’s farms and aquifers. But droughts in the state could get worse as the Arctic melts.

Extent of Arctic sea ice in September 2016 versus the
1981-2010 average minimum extent (gold line). 

Summers in the Arctic Ocean are expected to be ice-free within a few decades. When that happens, the precipitation California receives could decrease as much as 15 percent.

Cvijanovic: “We see quite clearly sea ice shaping how much rainfall California receives.”

Read the Yale Climate Connections story by Diana Madson - “Arctic melting could worsen future California droughts.”

Factsheet: Climate Change and Soaring Arctic Winter Temperatures

THE ARCTIC has just experienced its fourth year in a row of soaring winter temperatures, driven by intensifying climate change.

The Climate Council’s ‘Climate Change & Soaring Arctic Winter Temperatures’ factsheet shows sea ice has reached record winter lows, with an area of ice equivalent to the size of the Northern Territory shrinking after severe heatwaves hit the region in January and February.

From the Climate Council - “Factsheet: Climate Change and Soaring Arctic Winter Temperatures.”

Warm Arctic? Expect Northeast Blizzards: What 7 Decades of Weather Data Show

The warmer the Arctic, the more likely the Northeast will be clobbered by blizzards, says a team of researchers who analyzed winter weather patterns going back to 1950.

Three extreme winter storms have hit the Northeast this
month, dumping several feet of snow and in some areas
bringing destructive coastal flooding. The Arctic,
meanwhile, has had record warmth.

Citing disruptive storms like Snowzilla (2016), Snowmaggedon (2010) and Snowpocalypse (2009), the climate scientists wrote that "heavy snowfalls are generally more frequent since 1990, and in many cities the most extreme snowfalls have occurred primarily during recent decades.”

Their study, published in the journal Nature Communications, links the increased frequency of extreme winter storms with the rapid and persistent warming of the Arctic since around 1990. When temperatures over the Arctic spike, especially high in the atmosphere, extreme winter weather is two to four times more likely in Boston and New York, while the U.S. West tends to see warmer and drier conditions, they conclude.

Read the Inside Climate News storey by Bob  Berwyn - “Warm Arctic? Expect Northeast Blizzards: What 7 Decades of Weather Data Show.”

How warm arctic weather caused the 'Beast from the East’

Europe is shivering through another day of freezing temperatures as cold air moves down from the Arctic and dumps snow across the continent.

The 'Beast from the East' has brought sub-zero
temperature temperatures to much of Europe.

The storm has been dubbed the 'Beast from the East' and it's caused temperatures drop as low as minus 30 degrees Celsius, forced schools to close, and even led to snowstorms in Rome.

While it may seem counter-intuitive, climate change researchers say the unseasonably cold weather is linked to rising temperatures in the Arctic circle.

Listen to the discussion on RN Breakfast -  “How warm arctic weather caused the 'Beast from the East’.”

‘Really extreme' global weather event leaves scientists aghast

Climate scientists are used to seeing the range of weather extremes stretched by global warming but few episodes appear as remarkable as this week's unusual heat over the Arctic.

Zack Labe, a researcher at the University of California at Irvine, said average daily temperatures above the northern latitude of 80 degrees have broken away from any previous recordings in the past 60 years.

"To have zero degrees at the North Pole in February - it's just wrong," said Amelie Meyer, a researcher of ice-ocean interactions with the Norwegian Polar Institute. "It's quite worrying.”

The so-called Polar Vortex - a zone of persistient low-pressure that typically keeps high-latitude cold air separate from regions further south - has been weakening for decades.

In this instance, "a massive jet of warm air" is penetrating north, sending a cold burst southwards, said Dr Meyer, who has relocated to Hobart to research on the southern hemisphere, and is hosted by Australia's Integrated Marine Observing System.

Read Peter Hannam’s story in The Age - “‘Really extreme' global weather event leaves scientists aghast.”

‘Autonomous' sci-fi novel author on her new book

Autonomous, written by Ars Technica’s Tech Culture Editor Annalee Newitz opens approximately 150 years in the future, on a pirate ship in a thawed-out arctic where the Northwest Passage is traversable and a vacation resort spreads out across a swath of former permafrost.

It’s not gold that these pirates are after, however – it’s medicine. Meet Jack, a once-legitimate scientist from the Free Trade Zone (formerly North America) driven by idealism and necessity to spend her life reverse-engineering vital medicines desperately needed by a world ravaged by disease and climate change.

Her world is similar to ours in that capitalism, global economies, and Big Pharma continue to shape society. But it differs in that the development of advanced biotech has changed the very meaning of life: Robots with artificial intelligence – and containing a few human organs within their metal carapaces – now live among us, mostly as indentured servants.

Read the Yale Climate Connections story - “‘Autonomous' sci-fi novel author on her new book.”

Scientists Scan Horizon for Future Invasive Species Challenges

Shipping and mining in the Arctic. The spread of invasive microbial pathogens around the world. Changing agricultural practices. Use of genomic-modification tools. Those are among the 14 most significant issues that could affect the science and management of invasive species over the next two decades, according to an international team of ecologists, who published their findings in the journal Trends in Ecology and Evolution.

Shipping and mining in the Arctic. The spread of invasive
microbial pathogens around the world. Changing
agricultural practices. Use of genomic-modification tools.
 Those are among the 14 most significant issues that
could affect the science and management of invasive
 species over the next two decades, according to an international
 team of ecologists, who published their findings in
 the journal Trends in Ecology and Evolution.

“Environmental, biotechnological and sociopolitical trends are transforming risks of invasion worldwide. We have identified some potential game-changers,” says Prof. Anthony Ricciardi (McGill University), who led the study by 17 scientists from eight countries.

The journal article stems from a workshop organized by Prof. Ricciardi at the University of Cambridge last September, which gathered some of the world’s leading ecologists.

Read the Science and Technology Research News story - “Scientists Scan Horizon for Future Invasive Species Challenges.”

A powerful new tool reveals how climate change could transform your hometown

The climate is changing. Most people know that it's changing, and a sizeable majority even say they worry about those changes.

In almost every county in the United States,
 a majority of adults say they agree that the
climate is changing.

But at the same time, just 40% of Americans think it's going to harm them personally. And just 33% of Americans say they talk about climate change "even occasionally."

One of the reasons for this discrepancy may be that discussion of climate science tends to happen at the 30,000-foot level — examining global shifts in average temperatures and weather — or focuses on extreme environments, like the Arctic, where the impacts of climate change are most extreme.

But climate change is going to impact every corner of the Earth in some way or another.

Check out this report from Business Insider - “A powerful new tool reveals how climate change could transform your hometown.”

The Arctic Ocean Is Becoming More Like the Atlantic Ocean

The Arctic is undergoing an astonishingly rapid transition as climate change overwhelms the region.

The Arctic Ocean is becoming more
like the Atlantic, quickly

New research sheds light on the latest example of the changes afoot, showing that parts of the Arctic Ocean are becoming more like the Atlantic. Warm waters are streaming into the ocean north of Scandinavia and Russia, altering ocean productivity and chemistry. That’s making sea ice recede and kickstarting a feedback loop that could make summer ice a thing of the past.

“2015 was a really anomalous year when we had problems finding a suitable ice flow to launch our drifting buoys,”Igor Polyakov, an oceanographer at the University of Alaska who led the new study, said. “(There was) nothing like that in the past, and it became a motivation to our analysis: why was ice in 2015 so rotten? What drives this huge change?”

The findings, published in Science on Thursday, show that while warming air has a role to play, processes are playing out in the ocean itself that are fundamentally altering the region.

Read the Scientific American story by Brian Kahn from Climate Central -  “The Arctic Ocean Is Becoming More Like the Atlantic Ocean.”

North Pole Forecast To Be 50 Degrees Warmer Than Normal This Week

Temperatures soar in the Artic.

Temperatures in the Arctic are predicted to soar nearly 50 degrees above normal on Thursday in a pre-Christmas heat wave that will bring the frozen tundra scarily close to the melting point.

It’s the second year in a row the North Pole ― now in perpetual darkness after saying goodbye to the sun in late October ― has seen abnormally high temperatures around the Christmas holiday. It’s also the second time this year. In November, temperatures in the region skyrocketed 36 degrees above normal.

Read The Huffington Post story - “North Pole Forecast To Be 50 Degrees Warmer Than Normal This Week.”

Weird weather 2016: Year of melting ice, monster storms and Australia's big wet

At risk: shrinking Arctic ice is bad news
 for polar bears - and the planet.

If Santa really lived at the North Pole his sleigh would run the risk of falling through the ice this week, empty or fully laden.

Temperatures in the high Arctic will approach melting point on Thursday, including near the North Pole, a massive 30 degrees or more above average for this time of the year.

Wide departures from temperature norms – usually on the warm side – have been a feature for a long while in the Arctic but this year's extremes qualify the region as home to probably this year's world's weirdest weather.

The polar extremes are part of what is highly likely to be declared as the hottest year in records going back to the 1880s. And so, with 2016 eclipsing both 2015 and 2014, the world would have set a new high mark for three years in a row.

Read Peter Hannam’s story in the Melbourne Age - “Weird weather 2016: Year of melting ice, monster storms and Australia's big wet.”

A Cruise Ship Just Sailed the Northwest Passage, Thanks to Climate Change

The famed Northwest Passage is being
opened up because of climate change.

The Northwest Passage originated as an unattainable and lethal legend when Europeans arrived in the Americas and longed for an easy sea route across North America. Now, a cruise ship has successfully traversed the route in only a month.

It wasn’t until 1906 that Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen successfully — but with extreme difficulty — navigated what had, until then, been a theoretical journey. In the years since, heavily fortified ships with icebreakers could only make it through the floes of the Arctic in summer, when sea ice was at its lowest.

Now, a massive 14-deck cruise ship has completed the journey that was a pipe dream just over one hundred years ago — and it’s raising a lot of concerns.

It took the Crystal Serenity just a month to glide through the waters from Alaska to New York — Amundsen needed three years.

What made this speedy voyage possible?

Read the Care2 story - “A Cruise Ship Just Sailed the Northwest Passage, Thanks to Climate Change.”

Global warming tightens its grip on the planet



A NASA image shows receding ice
cover over northern Canada.

The sea ice covering the most northerly part of our planet shrank last week to its second lowest level on record. Once stable at around 7.5m sq km in summer, the Arctic ice cap has been dwindling for several decades and dropped to an area of 4.1m sq km a few days ago, a victim of the rising fossil-fuel emissions and increasing temperatures that now beset the Earth. At the same time, the US space agency NASA announced that August 2016 had tied with July 2016 as the hottest month globally ever recorded. Our world is heating up dramatically.

As winter returns to the far north, its ice cover will slowly return, of course, though it will certainly not be restored to its former glory. The overall trend of summer Arctic sea-ice cover has been a steadily downwards one for the past 30 years, an inexorable decline that has deeply worrying implications for the region, and for the rest of the planet, as we report today. An Arctic that is regularly free of sea ice in summer – a real prospect for the middle of the century – will open up that fragile, pristine wilderness to all sorts of potential woes: overfishing; pollution related to oil drilling and mineral extraction; the eradication of indigenous species; and the destruction of native communities. In addition, with little or no ice left to reflect solar radiation back into space, and its dark waters absorbing more and more of that radiation, the Arctic will heat up even further, enhancing the global warming that has already taken a grip on the planet. As Professor Gail Whiteman, of Lancaster University, remarked last week: “Forget the FTSE: Arctic sea ice is the real barometer of global risk.”

Read The Guardian story - “The Observer view on global warming.”

World is not cooling, rather, we will 'vault' over 2015 record: NASA

No, the world is not cooling.

This year will vault over 2015 and set a new record for warm temperatures, NASA scientists said yesterday.

The average temperatures for the first half of this year are "so in excess" that it is worthy of note, said Gavin Schmidt, director of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies.

"2015 was also a very warm year, but 2016 has blown that out of the water," he said.

About 40 percent of the warmth this year is due to an El Niño, a circulation pattern that had elevated temperatures around the world and is just dying down. The rest of warmth is due to multiple factors, including very strong warming in the Arctic and human-caused greenhouse gas emissions, Schmidt said.

Read the ClimateWire story by E&E reporter, Gayathri Vaidyanathan  - “NASA scientists on 'cooling': Nope.”

Forum looks at 'Species on the Move'

Plants and animals all over the world are responding to warming temperatures, many by shifting where they live.

A team of international experts were in Tasmania’s Hobart in February to talk about the surprising ways climate change is affecting the planets natural ecosystems – from the Arctic to the tropics, on land and in the ocean.

The “Species on the Move” public forum heard how a changing climate is impacting Indigenous communities in the Arctic.

This special event featured a series of short talks and was followed by question and answer sessions.