Canada's booth at the IPY Conference in Oslo. Credit: Mark Terry. CanadianGeographic.ca
THIS TIME: Arctic Tundra to Shrink by 51 Percent / Arctic aboriginals wonder if they’ll be pawns again in the new rush to develop the North / Methane Releases From Arctic Shelf May Be Much Faster Than Anticipated /
Date: Saturday, July 3, 2010
Time: 9:00am – 4:00pm
Location: The Barbican Theatre, The Barbican, Plymouth
The Marine Institute Blue Lectures will feature seven awesome speakers from the world of sport, adventure, film and science. Be inspired by listening to their remarkable stories and firsthand accounts of some of the challenges faced by the earth from climate change. Between them, these seven speakers have scaled Everest, stood at both Poles, dived in the world’s oceans and sailed non-stop around the world. Each talk will captivate the audience and motivate you to want to make changes in your lifestyle to help protect the things you really care about. The full line-up of speakers and timetable for The Marine Institute Blue Lectures has now been announced as follows: (more…)
Education Through Expeditions
ANTONY JINMAN, PROJECT FOUNDER:
“My aim is simple. It is to inspire and educate children globally about world climate change and to do so through my interactive expeditions and related school outreach work. My focus is primarily, but not exclusively, on the arctic regions, its Inuit people, its animals and landscape.”
Education Through Expeditions is a Community Interest Company which aims to provide educators with current and innovative distance-learning resources to support climate change education.
The Portal. The principal learning vehicle that will reinforce this aim is the Education Through Expeditions world website; a two dimensional interactive portal which will act as a show-case for ongoing global expeditions and research projects and create a hub of learning about climate change within the home, at school and other community settings… (more…)
Arctic sea ice cover heading towards another record low?
OSLO, May 31, 2010: The September 2007 sea ice minimum was probably the lowest extent of sea ice aerial extent in the Arctic in 50 years, definitely since satellite observations began in 1979. Last week the sea ice cover fell below the recorded extent at the same time in 2007. Over the two upcoming weeks, shrinking sea ice will thus be one of the hottest science topics… Read more at IPY-OSC.no
Arctic Ice May 2010
May 6, 2010 – The Arctic melt already more rapid than average this year, has begun to accelerate. No doubt that by the end of May 2010, there will be much less sea ice than there was in May 2007… More info & the graph at ScientificBlogging.com
First Soil Atlas of the Northern Circumpolar Region published
May 4, 2010 – The JRC Institute for Environment and Sustainability (IES) has published the first Soil Atlas of the Northern Circumpolar Region bringing together soil data for all the land masses above the latitude of 50° North. The maps describe the major soil types found in this region, together with their principal properties and characteristics, their main forming processes and their use… Read more at Eoportal.org.
Sewage, jet fuel spilled in Arctic
CBC, May 31, 2010 – Millions of litres of harmful contaminants — including sewage and jet fuel — have been spilled across great swaths of Canada’s pristine Arctic in recent years, an analysis by The Canadian Press has found… All facts at CBC News.
Polar Bears not at Risk: Nunavut, Canada
NUNAVUT, May 31, 2010 – Polar bears have most recently been considered to be a species of special concern in Canada. A federal scientific committee has recommended that the same status apply to the species again. The Nunavut government does not think the polar bear should be classified as a species of special concern under the federal Species at Risk Act, says territorial Environment Minister Daniel Shewchuk… Read more at EyeOnTheArctic
Satellite images show that the iceberg on which Verheggen placed his sculptures in March have started to move.
ArtDaily.com reports that the big moment for the sculptures of Dutch artist Ap Verheggen has come. The iceberg in Greenland on which he placed his artwork “Dog Sled Riders” back in March has broken loose. The uncertain journey can be followed on the website www.coolemotion.org, via GPS, photos, and video. (more…)
Here I would like to share the current results of the Siberian part of the Snow Change International Research Project realization. It took me real efforts to find this information. The project I am about described has its own website, but its owner doesn’t have time to publish a very interesting research results info on its online resource. Therefore, I asked a regional coordinator, the Northern Forum Academy chairman, Vladimir Vasiliev, to present the text to me. He did, but it was totally written in Russian. So I have translated it into English and not sure yet if some terms sound correctly. If any, just let me know about mistakes.
About: SnowChange is a not-for-profit independent cooperative organisation with headquarters in Finland. Head of International Affairs: Tero Mustonen
Status: Active. Website: SnowChange.org.
Project Mission
The international community network of SnowChange spans all eight Arctic states. Most of the member communities and families are from the various Arctic Indigenous Nations and other subsistence communities.
The project involves working with the various Northern areas and peoples on the topics of ecological, especially climatic and weather changes from the scientific and traditional knowledge point of view. In addition to the community documentation Snowchange as well works to advance local Indigenous knowledge in the global context and advance decolonisation of the North in the face of rapid changes.
The scientific priority of Snowchange is currently in the following areas of the North:
- The Saami territories of Finland, Russia, Sweden and Norway
- Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), Murmansk and Republic of Karelia in Russian Federation
- Savo, North Karelia and Kainuu, Finland
- Iceland and Faroe Islands
- British Columbia, Northwest Territories and Nunavut, Canada
- Alaska, USA
In addition to the operations in all Arctic countries (United States / Alaska, Canada, Iceland, Greenland and Faroe Islands (Denmark), Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russian Federation) SnowChange has partners in Bolivia, Nepal, Ghana and New Zealand.
Report on the Snow Change project realization in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia)
Information from its regional coordinator, Vladimir Vasiliev
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Two Arctic/North Pole scientific expeditions. Take your time and enjoy the Arctic! This beauty is fragile. Climate changes and global warming, you know, do gain ground.
Video #1: Jean-Louis Etienne’s Generali Arctic Observer
A famous French Arctic explorer Jean-Louis Etienne’s The North Pole balloon crossing from Spitsbergen to Siberia’s Yakutia in April of 2010. Check out the Generali Arctic Observer expedition website. More info on his landing and rescue operation in Siberia’s Yakutia, north from the village of Batagai, Verkhoyansky region, at eYakutia.com.
Video #2: North Pole + Nuclear Icebreaker Yamal + Magic of Arctic Ice
From Russia’s Chukotka via the North Pole to Scandinavia by the Russian nuclear powered ice-breaker “Yamal”. You may also want to go to the North Pole. Hurry up! The Arctic is melting fast. It sounds like a joke, but, unfortunately, it is not.
If you can recommend more videos with the awesome Arctic views, please, share. Leave your links in comments.
Russia’s new space monitoring system, “Arktika” will help to reveal secrets of the Arctic. Four satellites will study the hard-to-reach regions around the North Pole. The first satellite of this system will be launched in three years.
The development of such a system will guarantee the implementation of Russia’s key tasks in the Arctic, said the head of the Russian Space Agency, Anatoly Perminov.
“Satellites should first and foremost explore oil and gas deposits in the seas of the Arctic Ocean,” said Anatoly Perminov. “To guarantee safety, the development of these fields and the delivery of hydrocarbon to consumers should be accompanied by space monitoring. The next task is to escort ships sailing between the Far East, Kamchatka and the Barents Sea. Establishing control over all kinds of economic activity that will be shifted to the far north of Russia will be another task of the space monitoring system,” Anatoly Perminov said.
The “Arktika” space monitoring system paves the way for making more precise weather forecasts for a long time period not only in Russia but in the Northern Hemisphere as a whole. Moreover, it could be used for assessing emergency situations. For one, the existing space systems have failed to monitor the spread of volcanic ash from a volcano in Iceland in the past weeks.
The Arktika space system consists of two satellites with radar systems and another two with equipment for hydro-meteorological monitoring.
Although Russia itself can implement the project, it is ready to establish cooperation with others, Anatoly Perminov said.
“Several foreign space agencies have already expressed their desire to be involved in the development of this system. This will make it possible to attract investment from state-run companies and private enterprises across the world,” Anatoly Perminov said.
The head of Russia’s space agency said that the country is planning to launch two satellites to guarantee reliable communication and television links to the northern regions. The project has aroused great interest among leading experts.
Only Russia, the US and Canada can independently develop such a system. At present, the Canadian experts are discussing the idea, while the Russian space corporations are ready to start implementing the project.
Via Eye on the Arctic.
This 340-year-old bow was reconstructed from several fragments found near melted patches of ice in the Mackenzie Mountains in the Northwest Territories. (Tom Andrews)
Melting ice pockets high in Canada’s Arctic mountains are slowly revealing the habits of caribou hunters over thousands of years as they moved from attacking with spears to bows and arrows — and even set traps to snare smaller snacks while they waited for their main prey.
Since 2005, archeologist Tom Andrews and colleagues have been piecing together how hunters in the area adapted over many generations, studying bits of tools grabbed from melting snowy patches in the remote Mackenzie Mountains in western Northwest Territories along the Yukon boundary.
Mountain boreal caribou have long sought refuge on the cooling patches, escaping annoying bugs and warmer temperatures over the summer months. Over generations, humans learned to hunt them there and have left tools buried deep beneath years and years of winter snow.
Now, said Andrews, the ice patches are slowly receding each year, likely due to global warming, revealing perfectly preserved relics of the past. (more…)
Sir David is filming for a BBC 1 series, Frozen Planet
Sir David Attenborough has realised a life-long ambition and reached the North Pole, the BBC has said.
The broadcaster, 84, is filming in the Arctic Circle for Frozen Planet, a BBC One series due to air in late 2011.
Sir David, who has also visited the South Pole for the series, said it was a “huge privilege” to reach both Poles.
The BBC said the seven-part series is the “ultimate polar expedition to the last great wilderness on the planet – before the regions change forever”.
Speaking from the Svalbard archipelago, 700 miles from the North Pole, Sir David said: “The Poles – North and South – look superficially very similar.
2009 (c) ColdUnited.com
