News Briefing: 30 May 2022 Rising global temperatures have accelerated the growth of the Batagaika Crater in Siberia, which is the largest permafrost landslide in the world. This “Gateway to the Underworld” crater is more than 86 meters deep and 1 kilometer wide. It formed several decades ago when abrupt permafrost thaw collapsed the land […]
European Space Agency, 25 May 2022 Rain fell on the highest region of the Greenland Ice Sheet for the first time ever recorded during the summer of 2021. Several intense “atmospheric rivers” in combination with a heatwave swept along Greenland, elevating summer temperatures above freezing. Atmospheric rivers are warm, meandering air currents filled with moisture […]
Communications Earth and Environment, 27 May 2022 Long-term summer warming in the Antarctic Peninsula has increased the severity of Antarctic heatwaves by 25% over the past century, largely as a result of rising human emissions. During February 2020, the Antarctic Peninsula experienced one of the most intense heatwaves ever recorded in Western Antarctica, with temperatures […]
Black carbon (BC) accelerates ice loss in the Arctic and creates a feedback loop exacerbating global heating; and has health impacts for local communities. BC from Arctic shipping is increasing as reduced sea ice opens up access to trans-Arctic shipping routes. As a result, between 2015 and 2019, black carbon emissions from shipping in the […]
News Briefing: May 2022 At this week’s Antarctic Treaty Mechanism meetings in Berlin, the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) released a key synopsis of the changes taking place in Antarctica and the Southern Ocean. The ACCE Report summarizes the past decade of scientific evidence; and clearly states that global emissions must be reduced to […]
Scientific Reports, 20 May 2022 The combination of rapid sea ice loss with increased human activity – including commercial shipping and oil and gas development – threaten bowhead whale populations in the Arctic. Bowhead whales are one of the few species that live their entire life in Arctic and sub-Arctic regions, living in close association […]
Nature Climate Change, 19 May 2022 Rising temperatures will accelerate glacier ice loss in the Hindu Kush Himalaya, disrupting previously reliable freshwater resources for millions. The Himalayan mountains experience the impacts of climate change more intensely than most other regions of the world, due in part to their high altitude. The glaciers in these mountains […]
Nature Communications, 20 May 2022 Warming in the tropical Pacific Ocean served as the main driver behind the melting of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet ten thousand years ago; and similar conditions today may cause its destabilization. Rising ocean temperatures in the tropics can shift westerly wind currents to the south and generate “atmospheric rivers” […]
Loss of sea ice is associated with permafrost thaw in Earth’s past, likely in part due to damaging wave action. This side event explores that connection, and looks at projections should temperature rise continue. The main presenters include Dr. Gustaf Hugelius, Co-Director of the Bolin Center of Climate Research/Stockholm University; and Robbie Mallet, a Cryosphere […]
Journal of Glaciology, 12 May 2022 Glaciers in the Jáchal river basin of Argentina are rapidly losing ice. One-quarter of the Agua Negra glacier has disappeared within the past sixty years due to unusually high temperatures, exacerbated by a long-term drought. As global temperatures rise, these mountainous desert regions of Argentina experience more intense dry […]
The Cryosphere, 5 May 2022 Arctic sea ice plays a crucial role in protecting the Alaskan coastline from open ocean waves generated in the Beaufort Sea. Seasonal sea ice forms near the shore during the fall, gradually merging with the thicker multi-year ice to create a layer across the surface that dampens the waves underneath. […]
Nature Geoscience, 5 May 2022 The accumulation of sea ice near the Antarctic Peninsula provides a buffer that dampens approaching ocean waves, preventing them from smashing into the ice shelves that buttress the glaciers and ice sheet behind. This layer of defence stabilizes the Antarctic Ice Sheet, reducing the number of icebergs breaking off from […]
News just reached us of the death of renowned Arctic scientist Dr. David Barber, founder and Director of the Centre for Earth Observation Science (CERC) at the University of Manitoba, on April 15 at the age of 61. Although most known for his sea ice research, Dr. Barber’s work reached into all realms of Arctic […]
Greenland’s ice is 3 kilometers thick, and runs entirely to its bedrock base, the center of which is below sea level. What is the tipping point of Greenland, where the altitude of the ice sheet is so lowered by surface melt that near-complete loss is unavoidable? This session offers an explanation of this important and […]
News Brief: 11 May 2022 Record-breaking heatwaves and rapid glacier melting triggered a devastating flood last week that wiped out a bridge, damaged homes, and swept away two major power plants in the Hunzu district of Pakistan. Extremely high temperatures over the past month accelerated snow and ice loss from the Shishpar glacier, increasing the […]