News from the polar regions in October 2009 included a NASA air campaign to monitor the Antarctic ice sheets and coastal sea ice, continued concerns over the high levels of global carbon dioxide and climate change, and engineering technology to fight erosion. Missed these stories the first time around? Read on!

A laser technique used successfully to detect bacteria in frozen Antarctic lakes might be used to identify signs of life in Mars’ polar regions. The noninvasive technique does not disrupt the ice or destroy individual organisms. If used in astronomical studies, the technique might be employed via satellite monitoring or by an interplanetary rover.

This fall, NASA will fly a 157-foot long airborne laboratory (housed on a DC-8 aircraft) over West Antarctica, the Antarctic Peninsula, and coastal areas where sea ice is present. The flights are part of a six-year campaign called Operation Ice Bridge, an effort to continue monitoring changes to sea ice and ice sheets and better estimate future sea-level rise.

Sediment cores from ANDRILL (Antarctic Geologic Drilling Program) have provided evidence of a sudden and remarkably warm period in Antarctica approximately 15.7 million years ago. Researchers believe that the warm period, which lasted a few thousand years, was triggered by a shift of the jet stream in the Southern hemisphere.

While ice loss from the West Antarctic ice sheet is contributing to rising sea levels, the rate of loss may have been slightly overestimated. New GPS measurements are helping to correct and “ground-truth” prior measurements that were inferred from satellite data.

Tiny cameras attached to the backs of albatrosses in Antarctica reveal that the birds often feed alongside marine mammals such as killer whales. This strategy increases hunting efficiency for the birds, as their prey (fish) is directed to the surface by the whales, making them more accessible.

While the summer of 2009 saw a slight increase in the extent of Arctic sea ice, it still is on a downward trend leading toward ice-free Arctic summers – something that new research says is likely within a decade. One Arctic expert claims that the Arctic is essentially almost ice-free in the summer due to the disappearance of thick, multi-year ice that impedes navigation. An ice-free Arctic opens up new avenues to transportation and shipping, but also may set in motion positive climate feedbacks that will amplify the consequences of global warming around the globe.

One of the concerns about climate change in the Arctic is its large store of carbon. The region has historically served as a carbon sink, responsible for about 25 percent of the global net sink of atmospheric carbon dioxide. As the Arctic warms, thawing permafrost will release carbon into the atmosphere, amplifying global warming. This is concerning because global carbon dioxide levels are higher than they have been for the last 15 million years. At that time, global temperatures were 5-10 degrees Fahrenheit warmer, sea level was approximately 75 to 120 feet higher, and there was no permanent sea ice cap in the Arctic and very little ice on Antarctica and Greenland.

While some maintain that climate change is simply a natural variation in Earth’s history, new data from Arctic sediment cores show that these changes are unlike those seen during previous warming periods. The cores, spanning the past 200,000 years, indicate that the entire ecosystem has shifted and is different from that of past warm intervals.

As the Arctic warms and thaws, erosion becomes an increasingly serious problem, threatening villages and structures. Geosynthetic bags, developed by French and Norwegian partners, can be used to build protective infrastructures such as dykes and breakwaters. The bags are simply filled with soil and can easily be emptied if the structure is no longer needed.

As Canadian Inuit are moving away from their traditional diet and adopting a high-sodium, Western diet, their blood pressure is rising. In a 1992 survey, respondents reported consuming fish and seafood nearly three times a week, caribou nearly twice a week, and waterfowl once a week. By 2004, consumption of traditional foods had decreased significantly, and the consumption of packaged food, sweets, and soda had increased. Health experts are recommending that the Inuit, like others, reduce their consumption of packaged foods, sweets, and sodas.

Know of another significant news story from October that you’d like to share? Reactions to one of the stories mentioned above? Post a comment – we’d love to hear from you!