Arctic Sea Ice: What, Why and What Next | Guest Blog
On September 19th, NSIDC, the National Snow and Ice Data Center, announced that Arctic sea ice has shrunk as far as it will shrink this summer, and that the ice is beginning to reform, expanding the floating ice cap that covers the North Pole and the seas around it. The Arctic Sea Ice extent this September was far smaller than the previous record set in 2007. At 3.4 million square kilometers of ice coverage, this year’s Arctic minimum was 800,000 square kilometers smaller than the 2007 record. That difference between the previous record and this year’s is larger than the entire state of Texas. What’s happening in the Arctic? Figure 1 - Ice in the Arctic is increasingly melting, exposing dark waters below. Conditions in the Arctic change dramatically through the seasons. When scientists and reporters talk about an ice-free Arctic, they’re usually speaking of the Arctic in summer, and especially in September, when ice coverage reaches its minimum. Is that plausible? 1. 2. 3. The Bad News
Bookshelf Porn
Mounting Evidence Suggests Sharks Are In Serious Trouble | Science Sushi
Can you imagine oceans without sharks? We may soon have to, as new research suggests may already be 90% of the way there. Studying shark populations can be tricky. As David Shiffman explains well, while there are a number of methods that can be used to study shark populations, quantifying just how far their numbers have fallen can be difficult. Sharks play a vital role in coral reef ecosystems. In an effort to answer the first, the research team crunched data from 1607 surveys from the NOAA Coastal Reef Ecosystem Division (CRED) to calculate the effect of human habitation on shark populations. “Around each of the heavily populated areas we surveyed — in the main Hawaiian Islands, the Mariana Archipelago and American Samoa — reef shark numbers were greatly depressed,” said Marc Nadon, lead author of the study. The team also looked at other factors that might be affecting shark populations, including temperature and reef productivity. Reference: Nolan et al.
Arctic Warming is Altering Weather Patterns, Study Shows
EDITOR'S NOTE: This story was originally published April 3. Given recent news that Arctic sea ice set a record low, it's a reminder that changes in the Arctic can affect the U.S. and Europe. By showing that Arctic climate change is no longer just a problem for the polar bear, a new study may finally dispel the view that what happens in the Arctic, stays in the Arctic. The study, by Jennifer Francis of Rutgers University and Stephen Vavrus of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, ties rapid Arctic climate change to high-impact, extreme weather events in the U.S. and Europe. The study shows that by changing the temperature balance between the Arctic and mid-latitudes, rapid Arctic warming is altering the course of the jet stream, which steers weather systems from west to east around the hemisphere. The jet stream, the study says, is becoming “wavier,” with steeper troughs and higher ridges. The strong area of high pressure shunted the jet stream far north into Canada.
6 WWI Fighter Pilots Whose Balls Deserve Their Own Monument
We usually think of fighter pilots as kick ass cowboys of the sky, living out our video game fantasies and handing out bitchin' nicknames all day long. But today's fighter pilots have nothing on the first of their kind -- the guys who appeared in the first world war when airplanes themselves were new and experimental. That is, instead of being surrounded by huge, sturdy metal planes with state-of-the-art avionics, these guys sat in rickety frames of plywood wrapped in flammable fabric, next to large tanks of highly combustible fuel. Then they took to the skies and tried to kill each other. So let's take a moment to salute... Sir David Grahame Donald Right off the bat, you're going to call bullshit on this story. Sir Grahame Donald started out like a lot of RAF pilots: young, brave and parachute-less. "It's not that the planes are worth more than your life, but...well, they are." ... Which is not a situation they teach you how to handle in pilot school. Artist's representation.
Coral Research
Why Coral Reefs? Our survival depends directly upon the health of our global ecosystems. Coral covers only about 0.2 percent of the Earth’s surface, yet coral reefs support 25 percent of all marine life with more density of life in reefs than any in other ocean habitat. Our life as humans depends on coral reefs. More than a billion people depend directly on reefs for their livelihood. Coral reefs contribute over 30 billion dollars to the world economy each year. In Kaneohe Bay, the barrier reef protects Coconut Island, the home of the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology (where our lab is located) as well as Oahu, the most populated island in the Hawaiian Island chain. Coral reefs play a critical role in the carbon cycle of our planet by taking calcium ions and dissolved carbon dioxide from the water and turning it into the calcium carbonate forming their hard skeletons. Coral reefs are in trouble and need our help. Locally, coral is being threatened in many ways.
North Pole melts, forms lake at top of the world
If this image (above) doesn't scare you about the effects of global warming, you must have icewater in your veins. Yes, that's the North Pole. It's now a lake. The photo is part of a time lapse recently released by the North Pole Environmental Observatory, a research group funded by the National Science Foundation that has been monitoring the state of Arctic sea ice since 2000. The North Pole has not completely melted away; there is still a layer of ice between the lake and the Arctic Ocean underneath. Arctic ice has been retreating dramatically in recent years, opening up the fabled Northwest Passage, which can now be successfully navigated in the summer months. You can view the full time lapse taken by the research team at the North Pole, which shows the formation of the lake, below. Related on MNN:
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