Tag archives for Arctic
Exploring the Ghosts of Wrangel Island
Posted by Jennifer Niven on May 17, 2013 The history of Russia’s Wrangel Island is as dramatic and rugged as the island itself. The tragic 1913 Canadian Arctic Expedition and the equally tragic 1921 Wrangel Island Expedition were just two episodes from the island’s history as a holy grail of sorts for Arctic explorers. They were also the subjects of my first two…
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Icon of the Arctic, the polar bear thrives in the remote Arctic landscape of ice and snow. World-renowned polar bear scientist Ian Stirling offers his thoughts on the state of polar bears in the wild, the threats they face today, and insights from his recent book, Polar Bears: A Natural History of a Threatened Species.
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Delegates at the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species 16th Conference of Parties held in Bangkok in March rejected a proposal to ban international trade in polar bears and their parts. The decision caused a stir because polar bears face a precarious future. While some non-governmental organizations were deeply disappointed by the failure to uplist polar bears from Appendix II to Appendix I, which would have banned all international trade in the species and their parts, Steven Amstrup—a renowned polar bear scientist—believes that limitations on trade don’t address the real challenge facing the iconic animals.
Studies Link Warming to Increased Weather Extremes
Posted by Tim Profeta of Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions, Duke University on March 28, 2013 A new study in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) finds global temperatures to be one of the best predictors of hurricane activity. In fact, the PNAS study found that a one degree Celsius (1.8 degrees Fahrenheit) rise in global temperatures could multiply the frequency of Katrina-like storms by two to seven times. In the Arctic, melting sea ice—which reached its sixth lowest…
Slow Progress in Protecting Polar Waters
Posted by Claire Christian of Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition in Ocean Views on March 19, 2013 
Yesterday, I talked about the justification for imposing new requirements on ships that operate in polar waters. The good news is that countries with major presences in the Arctic and Antarctic agree that such requirements are necessary, and over the past decade have made slow but steady progress towards creating them. The bad news…
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On this week’s show, meet a woman who free-dives with great white sharks, a man who skied to the North Pole in the darkness of winter, and photographers who can turn such darkness into a colorful portrait of a world we can’t see.
Little-known Code Could Have a Major Impact on Polar Environments
Posted by Claire Christian of Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition in Ocean Views on March 18, 2013 
Scientists recently identified multiple new trans-Arctic shipping routes that will be accessible to non-ice-strengthened vessels in just a few decades., Given that such routes would have been unimaginable a few decades ago, this research is yet another sobering reminder of the massive changes that anthropogenic climate change has caused. At the other end of the…
Obama Announces Leaders of His Energy, Environment Team
Posted by Tim Profeta of Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions, Duke University on March 7, 2013 After weeks of speculation, President Barack Obama officially announced his selections to lead the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) on Monday. Gina McCarthy was chosen to lead the EPA, replacing Lisa Jackson, while Ernest Moniz will take over as energy secretary, replacing Steven Chu. Together, Obama said, they are charged with “making sure that we’re investing in…
A Wind Tax Credit, Indefinitely?
Posted by Tim Profeta of Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions, Duke University on February 21, 2013 In last week’s State of the Union address, President Barack Obama called for doubling research and development funding for renewable energy. A policy document released by the White House following the State of the Union proposes making the wind production tax credit—which was renewed in January for one year as part of the deal to avert the fiscal cliff—permanent. “To once…
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This photo essay offers a glimpse of the challenges that climate change presents for indigenous and local communities in northern Europe. An Arctic people of northern Finland whose livelihoods depend largely on their environment, the Skolt Sámi are searching for ways to remain resilient in the face of climate change. _____________________________________________________________________________ The land around Rautujärvi…
Heat Wave: 2012 Labeled Hottest Year on Record
Posted by Tim Profeta of Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions, Duke University on January 10, 2013 It’s official. Last year was the warmest year in history for the contiguous United States with at least 356 record high temperatures tied or broken, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Average temperatures in 2012 were above the 20th century average by more than 3 degrees Fahrenheit. Temperatures also beat a previous record set in 1998 by a full degree,…
Fiscal Cliff Deal Reached, Clean Energy Not Forgotten
Posted by Tim Profeta of Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions, Duke University on January 3, 2013 After months of negotiating, lawmakers in Washington, D.C., reached an agreement to avoid the so-called “fiscal cliff.” Featured in the measure is an extension of a renewable electricity production tax credit for wind, geothermal and some biomass projects, which gives credit for each kilowatt-hour of energy they produce. Highly contested prior to the bill’s passing was the credit’s impact on the wind industry. The credit, which offers 2.2 cents per kilowatt-hour of…
The Perils of Early Arctic Exploration
Posted by Cathy Hunter on December 14, 2012 
National Geographic founder A.W. Greely’s expedition to Lady Franklin Bay in 1881 tragically demonstrated the hardships and deadliness of attempts to explore the Arctic. Despite his many other achievements — including leading the relief efforts after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake — his reputation would forever be tainted.
Weaker Kyoto Protocol Extended at International Climate Negotiations
Posted by Tim Profeta of Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions, Duke University on December 13, 2012 After weeks of deliberation among representatives of nearly 200 countries, the United Nations climate talks ended with an agreement to extend the life of the Kyoto Protocol. The only global agreement in place to curb greenhouse gas emissions from industrialized nations, it was set to expire at the end of this year. The second phase of the Kyoto Protocol still leaves…
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As rising temperatures continue to shrink the extent of Arctic summer sea-ice, there has been much speculation as to why the ice cover on the opposite side of the planet has expanded slightly in recent years. Now British scientists have found the explanation–and it’s related to climate change. Using data gathered by U.S. military satellite-tracking…
Romney, Obama Make History with Failure to Mention Climate Change in Last Debate
Posted by Tim Profeta of Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions, Duke University on October 25, 2012 The final foreign-policy-focused presidential debate made history Monday when candidates Mitt Romney and Barack Obama failed to mention climate change. Despite historic drought and record melting of Arctic sea ice, failure to visit the topic marked the first time since the 1980s climate change hasn’t come up in a presidential debate. Some argued the climate should have come up, as almost every major international issue—food prices, military operations and…
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Kite-skiing across Canada, sibling adventurers Sarah and Eric McNair-Landry get an unexpected wake-up call from a polar bear.
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This year has seen the Arctic sea ice sheet melt further, and faster, than has ever been seen before in human history – a whopping 760,000 square kilometers less than ever recorded (which is 3.29 million square kilometers below the average minimum). Though images of polar bears and walrus stranded on melting ice-cubes pop…
What Is the True Social Cost of Carbon?
Posted by Tim Profeta of Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions, Duke University on September 20, 2012 A new study in the Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences contends that the U.S. government significantly underestimated the social cost of carbon in 2010 in its effort to establish a unified cost of carbon for various agencies to use when formulating policy. The government arrived at a cost at $21 per ton of carbon, but the new study argues the…
Deep-Sea Methane, Wind that Could Power World?
Posted by Tim Profeta of Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions, Duke University on September 13, 2012 The U.S. Energy Department announced plans to spend more than $5 million researching the potential to produce natural gas from deep-sea methane hydrates—ice-like formations that contain natural gas and are stable at depths of more than 300 feet. The Energy Department calls them “the world’s largest untapped fossil energy resource”—some estimate they are twice as abundant as all remaining…
Presidential Candidates, Studies Dissect Climate Change
Posted by Tim Profeta of Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions, Duke University on September 6, 2012 As campaigning for the November presidential election moves forward, President Barack Obama and his Republican challenger Mitt Romney spelled out their interpretations on one issue in a bit more detail than usual. To Science Debate, Obama identifies climate change as one of the most pressing concerns of the era and lists the steps he has taken during his…
Federal Court Tosses EPA’s ‘Good Neighbor’ Pollution Rule
Posted by Tim Profeta of Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions, Duke University on August 23, 2012 The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit this week threw out the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR), which set stricter limits on sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions from coal-burning power plants in 28 states and the District of Columbia. In a 2–1 ruling, the panel held the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) exceeded its authority under the…
Protecting the World’s Great Bird Nursery
Posted by Wildlife Conservation Society on June 13, 2012 Originally one of four Naval Petroleum Reserves, the NPR-A encompasses 23.5 million acres, including most of western Arctic Alaska. Handed over to the Department of Interior and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in the 1970s, the NPR-A was also recognized by Congress for its exceptional wildlife values. At that time, the Interior department created so-called Special Areas to be given “maximal protection” when balancing energy activities. Teshekpuk Lake was one such area.
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“Our elders are the best source of information. Better than science or the internet,” said Petr Kaurgin, a Chukchi reindeer herder from the remote Turvaurgin nomadic tribal community in north-eastern Siberia. Kaurgin delivered his message to climate scientists from Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and other Indigenous peoples at the closing of the Climate…
Record Temperatures May Bring More Than Just Early Spring Flowers
Posted by Tim Profeta of Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions, Duke University on March 22, 2012 Washington, D.C.’s famed cherry blossoms—now celebrating their centennial—decided to spring one on visitors, peaking well before the arrival of most Cherry Blossom Festival–goers. Spring’s forward leap is also causing coupling confusion among flowers and pollinators. Above-average temperatures are responsible for these early blooms, marking this the fourth warmest winter on record, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric…
