The Arctic This Week Take Five: Week of 11 September, 2023
Cruise Ship Runs Aground in Greenland As reported by AP News on September 14, the Danish Joint Arctic Command announced that the luxury cruise ship MV Ocean Explorer was successfully freed after it ran aground in Greenland on September 11. The ship, with 206 people on…
Rounding the curve
Both Arctic and Antarctic sea ice appear to be heading toward their respective seasonal limits, reaching the lowest extent at the end of summer in the north, and the highest extent as winter ends in the south. In the Antarctic,…
The Arctic This Week Take Five: Week of 21 August, 2023
Canadian North Faces Its Worst Fire Season As reported by Al Jazeera on August 23, Canada is experiencing its worst fire season on record. According to the Canadian Forest Fire Centre, there have been 5,881 fires recorded so far, with 1,036 fires currently…
Arctic fox conservation efforts yield 16 newborn cubs
The Arctic fox is a critically endangered species in Finland Inspectors from Finland’s wildlife agency Metsähallitus have discovered two new dens made by critically endangered Arctic fox. The dens were found in Finnish Lapland, where a total of at least…
Arctic Soil Methane Consumption: A Deeper Look into its Impact in Drier Climates
Arctic wetlands have long been recognised as sources of the potent greenhouse gas methane (CH4). Conversely, well-drained soils play a crucial role in removing methane from the atmosphere. In the expansive Arctic and boreal biomes, these well-drained upland soils, with…
Arctic warming by abundant fine sea salt aerosols from blowing snow
Abstract The Arctic warms nearly four times faster than the global average, and aerosols play an increasingly important role in Arctic climate change. In the Arctic, sea salt is a major aerosol component in terms of mass concentration during winter…
Biden-Harris Administration Takes Major Steps to Protect Arctic Lands and Wildlife in Alaska
Department of the Interior cancels oil and gas leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge; proposes new protections in National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska The Biden-Harris administration today announced significant steps to protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (Arctic Refuge)…
Sea ice is shrinking. These maps show by how much
It can be hard to visualize the magnitude of change underway on a warming planet. What does a hundred gigatons of ice look like? How many millions of Olympic swimming pools can you imagine? Our charts with this article aim…
Late summer heat wave avoids central Arctic
While the first half of August saw a rapid pace of Arctic sea ice loss, the pace slowed during the latter half of the month as mostly cooler conditions set in. Antarctic sea ice extent increased during the second half of the month….