SciencePoles news
Recent Polar Science and Climate Change news are featured here. Our news RSS feed will inform you when news are published on this website.
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Sea Ice Loss Forcing Polar Bears to Swim Longer Distances, Says USGS Study
03.05.2012
With Arctic sea ice on the decline, polar bears must swim nonstop for hundreds of kilometres in order to find food, according to a USGS study published in the Canadian Journal of Zoology.
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Climate Change Altering Marine Habitats in Arctic Ocean
26.04.2012
Released at the IPY “From Knowledge to Action” conference in Montréal, a new study indicates that climate change is affecting biodiversity in the Arctic and posing “significant challenges” to the survival of marine life in the region.
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Circumpolar Biodiversity Monitoring Program Releases Report on Trends in Arctic Wildlife
25.04.2012
According to a report from the Circumpolar Biodiversity Monitoring Program (CBMP) released on 23 April at the IPY “From Knowledge to Action” conference in Montreal, populations of many animal species are undergoing changes.
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Scientists Advocate Moratorium on Fishing in Arctic
24.04.2012
In an open letter released by the Pew Environment Group, more that 2,000 scientists from 67 countries are encouraging calling for a moratorium on commercial fishing in the Arctic until more research can be done on the regions that were once covered by sea ice throughout the year.
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Satellite Mapping Shows Emperor Penguin Populations Almost Double of Previous Estimates
16.04.2012
Using satellite imagery, an international team of scientists have shown that populations of emperor penguins in Antarctica have been severely underestimated. The study, published in the journal PLoS ONE, estimates that the population stands at 595,000 penguins –almost double previous estimates of 270,000 – 350,000.
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Increase Seen in Plant Biomass in Arctic Tundra
12.04.2012
According to a study conducted by researchers from the University of Virginia and the University of Alaska Fairbanks and published in Environmental Resarch Letters, the aboveground live biomass of Arctic tundra vegetation has increased by 19.8% all throughout the circumpolar North since 1982.
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Mystery Disease Afflicting Polar Bears, Seals and Walruses in the Arctic
12.04.2012
A mystery disease that has been blamed for the deaths of many seals and has infected walruses has now appeared in polar bears as well. According to the US Geological Survey (USGS), polar bears were found to have patchy hair loss and oozing sores. These symptoms are similat to what researchers…
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NRC Releases Synthesis of Reports on the State of the Polar Regions
04.04.2012
The US National Research Council (NRC) has just released a synthesis of reports from thousands of scientists from 60 countries who participated in research projects during the International Polar Year (IPY) 2007- 2008.
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Surface Lake in Antarctica Offers Clues to Ancient Life on Earth
31.03.2012
Stromatolites in the largest surface lake in Antarctica could help scientists better understand the conditions in which primitive life forms on Earth once thrived. A team of researchers was surprised to find stromatolites (structures that form in shallow water when the biofilms of microorganisms trap and cement grains of sediment and build…
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Penguin Breeding Cycles and Populations Affected by Warming along Antarctic Peninsula
26.03.2012
Rising temperatures along the western Antarctic Peninsula are affecting three different species of penguin that share the same breeding grounds in the region, according to research conducted by Prof. Heather Lynch and her colleagues at the Stony Brook University in Stony Brook, New York. Warming conditions have led to the…
