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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25% of World’s Carbon Sink in Arctic Land and Seas, but Climate Warming Could Change That
15.10.2009
According to their results published in the journal Ecological Monographs, Dr. David Mcguire of the US Geological Survey and the University of Alaska at Fairbanks and his colleagues show that Arctic lands and oceans are responsible for approximately one quarter of the global carbon net sink. However this trend could…
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Arctic Likely to Be Ice-Free during Summer within 20 Years
15.10.2009
New research shows that the Arctic Ocean be ice-free in summer within the next 20 years. Most of the melting will likely to occur within the next 10 years, although winter ice will likely remain for several hundred years.
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Gateway to Northwest Passage to Become Marine Conservation Area
15.10.2009
Lancaster Sound, located off the northern tip of Baffin Island in Canada's Nunavut Territory, is the eastern gateway to the Northwest Passage. The Government of Canada, the Government of Nunavut, and the regional land claim organization are talking about signing a memorandum of understanding making Lancaster Sound a Marine Conservation…
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New Clues on Formation of Krill Swarms
15.10.2009
Krill swarm formation, a subject previously unstudied by science, hasbeen investigated recently by a team of scientists from the BritishAntarctic Survey. The report, which was published in the journal DeepSea Research I, shows the team discovered two types of swarm.
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Some Caribou Herds’ Numbers Declining While Others Rising in Alaska
14.10.2009
The decline of two of Alaska's largest caribou herds is clear in the Western Arctic part of Alaska; yet herds in the Central Arctic part of Alaska appear to be doing well. According to a report form the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, the Teshekpuk, Central Arctic and Fortymile…
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Habitat of Sea Otters in Alaska Now Protected
12.10.2009
Sea otters used to be plentiful in the 1970's with a population of about 100,000, yet with fewer than 40,000 left and 90% of the species found in Alaska, it was placed on the US Endangered Species List in 2005. Now, some four years later, another move has been taken…
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Polar and Tropical Temperatures Nearly the Same 50 to 60 Million Years Ago
12.10.2009
Some 50 to 60 million years ago the temperature difference between thesea waters near the equator and at the poles was very small: This is theconclusion reached by a team of scientists from Utrecht University, the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ) and the Universityof California at Santa Cruz…
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Increase in Polar Bear Sightings as Arctic Sea Ice Melts
07.10.2009
The warming of the Arctic has a new documented consequence, as oil companies are reporting a greater number of polar bears near their installations. Oil companies looking for new drilling sites are converging on the same area as polar bear fleeing the thinning sea ice.
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2009 Arctic Sea Ice Minimum Shows Slight Recovery but Remains Low Overall
07.10.2009
The 2009 minimum sea ice extent was the third lowest on record since the beginning of satellite measurements in 1979, which meant a slight recovery in 2009 compared to the minimum extents of 2007 and 2008. However National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) Director Dr. Mark Serreze cautioned that…
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Antarctic Expedition Looking to Learn More about Weddell Seals’ Survival Strategies
06.10.2009
Eight years after her last visit to Antarctica to study the habits of the Weddell Seal, Biologist Terrie Williams from the University of California at Santa Cruz (UCSC) has returned to Antarctica to find out how the Weddell seal can survive the cold temperatures underneath the sea ice at McMurdo…
