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POPSRapid permafrost thaw expected
"Climate warming is degrading permafrost, and roads, runways and building foundations in many parts of the North have been buckling and cracking as the top layer of the ground thaws. The increasingly mushy ground also has created "drunken forests," where trees now lean at strange angles. At least 30 per cent of all the carbon stored in soils worldwide is found in the North -- and scientists worry rising temperatures will release carbon dioxide and methane, both potent greenhouse gases, now locked in the permafrost. "To me, probably the biggest uncertainty is whether methane emissions are going to go up, and if they are, by how much," says Lawrence. Last summer, the Arctic sea ice shrank to more than 30 per cent below average, setting a modern-day record. Temperatures over land in the western Arctic also were unusually warm, reaching more than 2 C above the 1978-2006 average and raising questions about whether the ice retreat was tied to the warming temperatures over land."
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POPSFamily found safe after six days lost in Arctic "During the day, the couple pulled the sled with the children inside, attempting to reach Hall Beach. Meanwhile, ground crews began searching for the family on Sunday when they failed to arrive. It wasn't until Thursday that the weather lifted and a helicopter and airplane were able to join the search. Bill Kennedy, a search co-ordinator in Repulse Bay, told The Canadian Press it was a group of Rangers -- mostly aboriginal military reservists -- who eventually found the family. They followed a set of tracks that led to a burned-out snowmobile that the family appeared to have set on fire as a smoke signal to rescuers, CP reported. However, heavy cloud cover had made it impossible for rescuers to see the plume of smoke. "
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POPSArctic Impact Crater Lake Reveals Interglacial Cycles in Sediments "The coring equipment and other instrumentation was set up using a tripod over the hole in the ice. The scientists were able to extract a core of the topmost 8.5 meters of sediment. The international team of researchers in the field included Guillaume St-Onge; Reinhard Pienitz, principal investigator; Veli-Pekka Salonen of the University of Helsinki, Finland; and Richard Niederreiter, coring expert. Please visit http://www.cen.ulaval.ca/pingualuit/index.html for more information."
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POPSHunting male polar bears could endanger species: data "... We have a policy to preferentially harvest males over females, and the argument behind that is that the females are the ones doing the reproduction," Polar bears typically mate from the beginning of April to the end of May, when males follow the trails of females in heat. If they like each other, they will mate over a period of about 2 1/2 weeks, after which the female is generally pregnant. The male will then wander off in search of other females. Study looked at the number of males that searched for and found females, how long the pairs stayed together, if the males found other mates, and how many females a male could fertilize in a breeding season. Molnar said there currently appears to be no problem with the pregnancy rate. In Lancaster Sound, for example, 99 per cent of females find partners. The paper says that if the number of males declined to a threshold of two males for every three females, it could lead to a dramatic and rapid reproductive collapse o
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POPSMan walks 10 hours across Arctic tundra while family waits in igloo "Their journey began Saturday night, when the three packed up their snowmobile with a couple of knives, five Arctic char and some seal fat. They set out from their home in Hall Beach, Nunavut, expected to arrive in Igloolik within two and a half hours - a distance of about 80 kilometres across fields of ice. Their trouble began when they had to made a detour overland because warmer temperatures had made the ice soft. Right around the time the engine on their snowmobile konked out, a blizzard blew in. "Luckily, I had my knives, including my snow knife. But it took me four hours to build an igloo in that blizzard," he recalled. Once Innuarak had their igloo built, the family started a fire with the seal fat and ate one of the five fish they'd brought with them." With the temperature outside dipping at one point to - 38 C with the windchill, they began to feel afraid."...
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POPSRemote-controlled aircraft would patrol Arctic: military "The military hopes to acquire the new aircraft within five years, but does not yet know how many it will buy or where it will buy them from. There is no estimate yet on how much the aircraft will cost, though Williams said the drones are typically less expensive than the Aurora patrol aircraft the military currently uses when it flies surveillance missions. UAVs are more affordable because they are generally smaller, lighter and cheaper to build than Auroras, and they use less fuel, need less maintenance and require fewer crew members with less training."
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POPSSimultaneously, Russia and America Conduct Major War Games Russian strategic bombers Tu-160, Tu-95 and Tu-22M3, and Il-78 aerial tankers "will conduct flights over the Arctic region, the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans, and the Black Sea, with simulated bombing raids and firing of cruise missiles at testing grounds in northern and southern Russia," Colonel "Alexander Drobyshevsky said." (RIA Novosti). Part of these Russian war games will be conducted in the Arctic, within proximity of US and Canadian territory (Alaska and Canada's Arctic). "U.S. and Canadian fighter jets, including F-15s, were dispatched each time to escort the Russian planes in the exercises, which ranged from two to six aircraft,... "
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POPS ‘stunned’ Scientists Similar entries * Canada's typical summer heats up, especially in the Arctic * Arctic sea ice retreats to record low by end of summer with ominious consequences for global warming * Arctic Passage - Step Right Up, Sail on Through * Arctic to Skeptics: 'Read My Tips' * Hot Time -- Bad Timing The good news is that solutions to global warming exist, check out Ross Gelbspan’s Green Sheet and his vision for a pathway to climate peace. Or, check out the latest below: Federal report scorns Canada's climate-change plan for exaggerating carbon cuts * Scientists ‘stunned’ as Arctic sea ice shrinks to 30-year low * Green groups sue Canadian government over Kyoto targets * John Marburger, Climate Alarmist? * Recent books on global warming; Neros at their fiddling...
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POPS contrail.gi.alaska.edu Condensation trails (contrails) formed by aircrafts are sometimes visible from the ground for several hours. Numerous contrails are formed in the vicinity of main air- traffic routes; due to additional spreading effects contrails may contribute significantly to the total cloud cover. Continuous observational methods are used to study the formation of contrails in the subarctic setting of Fairbanks, Alaska. Since March of 2000 a contrail database has been established, which includes contrail characteristics, Federal Aviation Administration flight data, and atmospheric measurements derived from radiosonde ascents at Fairbanks International Airport. The contrail analysis is based on all-sky digital camera imagery and direct observations of aircrafts. Daily Overflights for Fairbanks, AK airspace. Note: Page was updated for the last time by Martin Stuefer, 13.Apr.2006. The flight data is no longer being updated. However, the flight archive is available. http://contrail.gi.al
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POPSBelching British Bogs Fueled Ancient Global Warming "Methane is a much more powerful greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, so a big and rapid release of methane from wetland deposits would represent a huge and rapid positive feedback," "There is a great deal of methane generated in wetlands by microbial activity. Warming or more precipitation could cause rates of microbially mediated methane production to increase," "Methane already appears to be seeping out of once frozen bogs in Siberia." Warmer, wetter weather is likely to promote methane release in wetlands worldwide"
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POPS Arctic sea ice cover at record low " Most researchers had anticipated that the complete disappearance of the Arctic ice pack during summer months would happen after the year 2070, he said, but now, "losing summer sea ice cover by 2030 is not unreasonable." Scores of peer-reviewed scientific studies have documented a steady, worldwide decline in ice cover, from the sea-bound ice covering the North Pole to the vast, land-based ice sheets that cover the Antarctic continent. Glaciers, from Greenland to the Alps to Mount Kilimanjaro near the equator, also have been vanishing."
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POPSRussia Seeks to Claim Arctic Mineral Wealth The Arctic until now has been considered international territory. Nations with land bordering the Arctic Ocean, including the United States, reject Moscow's contention that the area could belong to Russia. Denmark, which controls Greenland, is cooperating with Canada in arguing that the Lomonosov Ridge is an extension of North America, not Russia."
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POPSCanadian Ships to Enforce Arctic Soverignty "The ships will have a helicopter landing pad able to accommodate the new CH-148 Cyclone choppers due in the fleet over the coming years. In addition to their purchase cost, the government expects to spend another $4.3 billion to operate and maintain them over their 25-year lifespan. ""The world is changing. The ongoing discovery of the north's resource riches couple with the potential impact of climate change has made the region a growing area of interest and concern," Harper said.""
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POPSPutin's Arctic invasion: Russia lays claim to the North Pole - and all its gas, oil, and diamonds Sergei Priamikov, of Russia's Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute, said the notion was "strange" and warned other countries could make counter claims. Canada "could say that the Lomonosov ridge is part of the Canadian shelf, which means Russia should in fact belong to Canada, together with the whole of Eurasia", he observed drily. A diplomatic source said that Russia was "seeking to secure its grip on oil and gas supplies for decades to come. Putin wants a strong Russia, and Western dependence for oil and gas supplies is a key part of his strategy. He no longer cares if his strategy upsets the West".
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