Scientists may have seriously underestimated the speed at which Arctic sea ice will melt in the coming decades, according to a study published today. Researchers have found that the sea ice, which is essential for polar bears to hunt seals, is melting far more quickly than the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has … Read More
melting Arctic
Winter “Warmest on Record” As Arctic Reaches “Tipping Point”
This winter in the northern hemisphere was the warmest on record, the US government has admitted. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said the combined land and ocean temperatures from December to February were 1.3 degrees Fahrenheit above average for the period since record keeping began in 1880. During the past century, global temperatures had … Read More
Melting of Ice-Caps “Inevitable”
A critical meltdown of ice sheets and severe sea level rise could be inevitable because of climate change, scientists are preparing to warn their governments. New studies of Greenland and Antarctica have forced a the IPCC to conclude there is a 50% chance that widespread ice sheet loss “may no longer be avoided”.
Inuit Accuse US of Destroying Their Rights
A delegation of Inuit is to travel to Washington DC to provide first-hand testimony of how climate change is destroying their way of life and to accuse the Bush administration of undermining their human rights. The delegation to Washington will be led by Sheila Watt-Cloutier, the former chair of the Inuit Circumpolar Conference who was … Read More
Big Oil Sees New “Gold Rush” In the Melting Arctic
There is something of the ironic here. At the same time as scientists are meeting in Paris to put their final touches to the latest IPCC a report (which is warning over accelerated warming and melting), experts are meeting in Norway to discuss the future of the Arctic – one of its biggest threats is … Read More
Canadian Ice Shelf sets sail
Scientists studying satellite imagery from the Canadian Arctic have just discovered that the Ayles Ice Shelf broke free of Ellesmere Island sixteen months ago. In an AP story running widely this morning, Warwick Vincent of Laval University said: “This is a dramatic and disturbing event. It shows that we are losing remarkable features of the … Read More
Arctic: Summer Ice Gone by 2040
The Arctic could lose virtually all its summer sea ice by the year 2040 – 40 years earlier than previously thought – according to a study by leading climate scientists. A rapid acceleration in the loss of sea ice seen in recent years will be dwarfed by the massive melting, up to four times faster … Read More