Arctic // Current

Sea Kayaking Adventure expedition explores North West Coast of Greenland

Self supported sea kayaking expeditions share many similarities to long distance bike... more

Luke_Bream
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4 days ago
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Multiyear ice in the Arctic gone

The multiyear ice covering the Arctic Ocean has effectively vanished, a startling... more

JanforGore
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11 days ago
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Polar Bear Habitat to be Protected

A vast swath of icy sea, barrier islands and coastal land on Alaska's oil-rich North... more

jefftego
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19 days ago
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US gives Shell green light for offshore oil drilling in the Arctic

Conservation groups based in Alaska have accused the Obama administration of repeating the mistakes of George Bush after it gave the conditional go-ahead for Shell to begin drilling offshore for oil and natural gas in the environmentally sensitive Beaufort Sea.

The Minerals Management Service, part of the federal Interior Department, yesterday gave Shell the green light to begin exploratory wells off the north coast of Alaska in an Arctic area that is home to large numbers of endangered bowhead whales and polar bears, as well as walruses, ice seals and other species. The permission would run from July to October next year, though Shell has promised to suspend operations from its drill ship from late August when local Inuit people embark on subsistence hunting.

The question of offshore oil drilling in the Arctic was one of the controversial environmental issues that confronted the Bush administration. Its permission for exploration in the Beaufort Sea, widely condemned by environmentalists, was struck down last year by a federal court on grounds that it had failed sufficiently to consider the impacts on bowhead whales and the subsistence activities of Inuit populations.

The ruling was later set aside and Shell withdrew its drilling plans.

According to the National Marine Fisheries Service, there are between 30,000 and 50,0000 bowhead whales in the world, with up to 9,000 of them feeding in the Beaufort Sea. The whales migrate twice a year through the area and are crucial to the subsistence economy of the Inupiat people.

Whale experts warn that the bowhead stocks are sensitive to noise and could be driven further off shore by the disruption of drilling. That in turn would have an impact on their chances of survival, which have already been harmed by early side-effects of global warming.

There are also fears that any drilling could lead to oil spills which would be impossible to clean up amid the Arctic's broken sea ice.

Shell must now satisfy the authorities that it has met air and water quality standards and safeguards for whale protection before it can begin drilling. The oil company's head in Alaska, Pete Slaiby, said objections had been taken into account.

"We sincerely believe this exploration plan addresses concerns we have heard in the North Slope communities which have resulted in the programmes being adjusted accordingly," he said.Conservation groups based in Alaska have accused the Obama administration of repeating... more

jefftego
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22 days ago
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Best of the Adventures in Travel Expo 2009: Trip on a Deal Ep. 41

http://www.triponadeal.com We scour the New York Javits Center convention floor for... more

triponadeal
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28 days ago
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Russian Arctic tribe at risk from Yamal gas projects

"The Nenets tribespeople of Russia's frozen Yamal peninsula have survived the age of... more

lookatmypix
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1 month ago
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Mighty caribou herds dwindle, warming blamed

ON THE PORCUPINE RIVER TUNDRA, Yukon Territory — Here on the endlessly rolling and... more

Vierotchka
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1 month ago
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Arctic seas turn to acid, putting vital food chain at risk

Carbon-dioxide emissions are turning the waters of the Arctic Ocean into acid at an unprecedented rate, scientists have discovered. Research carried out in the archipelago of Svalbard has shown in many regions around the north pole seawater is likely to reach corrosive levels within 10 years. The water will then start to dissolve the shells of mussels and other shellfish and cause major disruption to the food chain. By the end of the century, the entire Arctic Ocean will be corrosively acidic.

"This is extremely worrying," Professor Jean-Pierre Gattuso, of France's Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, told an international oceanography conference last week. "We knew that the seas were getting more acidic and this would disrupt the ability of shellfish – like mussels – to grow their shells. But now we realise the situation is much worse. The water will become so acidic it will actually dissolve the shells of living shellfish."

Just as an acid descaler breaks apart limescale inside a kettle, so the shells that protect molluscs and other creatures will be dissolved. "This will affect the whole food chain, including the North Atlantic salmon, which feeds on molluscs," said Gattuso, speaking at a European commission conference, Oceans of Tomorrow, in Barcelona last week. The oceanographer told delegates that the problem of ocean acidification was worse in high latitudes, in the Arctic and around Antarctica, than it was nearer the equator.

"More carbon dioxide can dissolve in cold water than warm," he said. "Hence the problem of acidification is worse in the Arctic than in the tropics, though we have only recently got round to studying the problem in detail."

About a quarter of the carbon dioxide pumped into the atmosphere by factories, power stations and cars now ends up being absorbed by the oceans. That represents more than six million tonnes of carbon a day.

This carbon dioxide dissolves and is turned into carbonic acid, causing the oceans to become more acidic. "We knew the Arctic would be particularly badly affected when we started our studies but I did not anticipate the extent of the problem," said Gattuso.

His research suggests that 10% of the Arctic Ocean will be corrosively acidic by 2018; 50% by 2050; and 100% ocean by 2100. "Over the whole planet, there will be a threefold increase in the average acidity of the oceans, which is unprecedented during the past 20 million years. That level of acidification will cause immense damage to the ecosystem and the food chain, particularly in the Arctic," he added.

The tiny mollusc Limacina helicina, which is found in Arctic waters, will be particularly vulnerable, he said. The little shellfish is eaten by baleen whales, salmon, herring and various seabirds. Its disappearance would therefore have a major impact on the entire marine food chain. The deep-water coral Lophelia pertusa would also be extremely vulnerable to rising acidity. Reefs in high latitudes are constructed by only one or two types of coral – unlike tropical coral reefs which are built by a large variety of species. The loss of Lophelia pertusa would therefore devastate reefs off Norway and the coast of Scotland, removing underwater shelters that are exploited by dozens of species of fish and other creatures.

"Scientists have proposed all sorts of geo-engineering solutions to global warming," said Gattuso. "For instance, they have proposed spraying the upper atmosphere with aerosol particles that would reduce sunlight reaching the Earth, mitigating the warming caused by rising levels of carbon dioxide.

"But these ideas miss the point. They will still allow carbon dioxide emissions to continue to increase – and thus the oceans to become more and more acidic. There is only one way to stop the devastation the oceans are now facing and that is to limit carbon-dioxide emissions as a matter of urgency."Carbon-dioxide emissions are turning the waters of the Arctic Ocean into acid at an... more

JanforGore
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1 month ago
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Why Supervillains Hate Global Warming

The melting of the polar ice caps has supervillains all in a panic. It's not just that... more

atomiclegion
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1 month ago
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Arctic Sea Ice Reaches Third-Lowest Level Recorded, 200 Walruses Dead

The Arctic sea ice has reached the third-lowest level ever recorded, and according to... more

TwilightEarth
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1 month ago
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The cost of climate change

It's a great tragedy that the initial dramatic effects of global warming are felt more... more

hyperion74
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1 month ago
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Scientists find CO2 link to Antarctic ice cap origin

PHOTO: An iceberg, which scientists say broke off from the Antarctic ice cap, floats... more

julesrs007
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1 month ago
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Polar Ice Cap Becomes New Sea Lane

Global Warming "controversy" may be over.

Progresshiv
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1 month ago
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Arctic ecosystems changing, may be irreversible

The dramatic changes sweeping the Arctic as a result of global warming aren't just... more

JanforGore
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2 months ago
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No drilling in America's Arctic!

For thousands of years, the icy waters of the Arctic Ocean have nurtured irreplaceable species including polar bears, whales and seals, and a unique human culture. But in the next few weeks, the Obama administration will make a series of crucial decisions that could determine whether America's Arctic will survive and thrive or be sacrificed to destructive and dangerous oil and gas drilling.

At stake are the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas--the Polar Bear Seas, home to 1 in 5 of the world's already diminished polar bear populations--as well as the rich fishing grounds of Bristol Bay. During the last eight years, the oil and gas industry and the Bush administration pushed hard to open these fragile waters to industrial-scale oil and gas exploration and drilling.

The rush to drill ignored the fact that the Arctic is probably the least-understood region on Earth and that the most basic scientific research is lacking to guide decisions that could alter the Arctic ecosystem forever. An oil spill in icy waters would be a disaster we have no idea how to clean up.

The Arctic is ground zero of the global warming crisis. Its seas, its wildlife and its people are already suffering the harmful effects of a warming world. Extracting more oil and gas would not only directly damage the Arctic ecosystem, but burning those fossil fuels will make global warming worse, while doing nothing to meet the nation's need for clean energy.

Now is the time to urge President Obama and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar to treat America's Arctic as a national treasure and put the brakes on irresponsible oil and gas drilling. Let them know that the Arctic's places, species and people are too precious to allow further oil and gas activity without a comprehensive, science-based plan to protect the region's unique wildlife and the people whose culture and livelihoods depend on them.

Until September 21, Secretary Salazar is asking for Americans' opinions on a Bush-era plan for selling Arctic oil and gas leases. Soon he also will decide whether to permit Shell to drill in the Arctic Ocean in 2010 and whether to defend a Bush-era sale in the Chukchi Sea that offered the pristine area to oil companies without complying with environmental laws.

Secretary Salazar should throw out the Bush-era leasing plan and cancel the illegal Chukchi Sea leases. He should call a "time-out" on all new oil and gas activity in the Arctic Ocean--including pending drilling plans--until he develops a science-based, comprehensive approach to managing the region that will ensure a legacy of a healthy, living Arctic for future generations.

These upcoming decisions present the Obama administration with the opportunity to chart a new course for the Arctic. Please take a minute to urge them to do so.For thousands of years, the icy waters of the Arctic Ocean have nurtured irreplaceable... more