Polar News and Notes Arctic

News from the polar regions in August includes alarming news for Arctic sea ice, polar bears, and Greenland’s massive glaciers and insights into Antarctica’s past climate and current response to global climate change. Missed these stories the first time? Read on!
While news early in the month predicted that the 2008 Arctic sea ice minimum would […]

PolarTREC (Teachers and Researchers Exploring and Collaborating) is currently accepting applications. Teachers are invited to submit an application to participate in field research learning experiences during the 2009 (Arctic) or 2009-2010 (Antarctic) field seasons.
Through the PolarTREC program , over 40 K-12 U.S. teachers will spend two to six weeks in the Arctic or Antarctic, working […]

Looking ahead to a time when the “freezing land and seas of the Arctic are likely to be getting hotter in terms of geopolitics,” Durham University in the United Kingdom has dawn up a map that plots boundaries, disputed claims, and potential trouble spots.
Martin Pratt of the university’s International Boundaries Research Unit says the map […]

Well inside the Arctic Circle, scientists have found vents in the submerged Mid-Atlantic Ridge spewing out water as hot as 570 degrees Fahrenheit. This is the farthest north anyone has seen black smoker vents — so called because it appears as if dark smoke is billowing from them. In fact, the “smoke” is actually iron- […]

Last fall, Iceland established a committee on climate change to guide the government’s policy on environmental issues. This summer the first report was delivered—with predictions of significant changes. For example,

 Farmers will be able to grow wheat and pumpkins by the middle of the century.
 Fish species, such as cod, haddock flounder, halibut, and sole, that have […]