Polar News and Notes Current News

The dangers of climate change to Arctic mammals, such as polar bears and seals, have been studied and publicized widely. Sea birds seem to have received less attention. For one species, the ivory gull, the reason may be the sheer inaccessibility to its habitat — sea ice and the high cliffs of nunataks (hills or […]

Millions of southern Californians are expected to take part in the largest earthquake drill in U.S. history at 10 a.m. on November 13.
The Great Southern California ShakeOut drill is based on a magnitude 7.8 earthquake on the southern San Andreas Fault.
Not only is the drill unique in its size but it is also […]

Saying the world is in an “extinction crisis,” the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) released its 2008 Red List of Threatened Species during a meeting in Barcelona, Spain, October 5-14.
 A new study to assess the world’s mammals shows at least 1,141 of the 5,487 wild mammal species, or almost one in four, […]

Stormy weather in the Arctic may have unanticipated effects on global warming, according to a new study by NASA. Researchers were looking to confirm a theory that a warming climate could cause an increase in storminess. They now believe it may be possible that new sinks for carbon dioxide may emerge from the relationship between […]

One of the world’s largest and most prestigious prizes has been awarded to the climate researcher who is credited with coining the term “global warming.” The geochemist from Columbia University, Wallace S. Broecker, receives the $885,000 Balzan Prize for his breakthrough studies in climatology and his early warnings about changes in the climate.
In 1987, Broecker […]