Trash litter levels on the Arctic ocean floor are rising fast, with concentrations at one deep-sea station rising 20-fold in just a decade, according to new research from the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research.
Before getting into the crux of this article, it’s probably necessary to explain that the climatic changes that have occurred over the last tens of millennia (observable in the paleoclimate record) haven’t always been gradual, widespread, or consistent.
The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has released its 2015–2016 Arctic Report Card, providing specific data points to go along with the very weird weather of the last year.
While the headline may not be exact as of the time of publishing, air temperatures over the Arctic Ocean have been far, far warmer in recent times than is “normal.” To be more precise, temperatures in the Arctic were around 20° Celsius (36° Fahrenheit) warmer than is normal for this time of year — apparently as a result of 1) record-low sea ice extent in the region for this time of year, and 2) warm/wet air from further south being drawn towards the North Pole as a result of a “very wavy jet stream.”
2016 is very likely to be the hottest year on record when it’s over, according to a new assessment from the World Meteorological Organization. As it stands, preliminary data are showing that global temperatures in 2016 are roughly 1.2° Celsius above pre-industrial levels — not far below the supposed “safe” limit of 1.5° Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
Originally published on EdenKeeper.org Navigating through the icy waters of the Arctic, the Greenpeace ship “Arctic Sunrise” is delivering solar panels to the Inuit community of Clyde River, Nunavut. Delivering solar panels and a team to install the systems for the Clyde River community is Greenpeace’s way of offering a … [continued]
A somewhat controversial statement was made 4 years ago by Professor Peter Wadhams, head of the Polar Ocean Physics Group at Cambridge University, that the Arctic Ocean could well be free of sea ice within only a few years. While it’s arguable if making such statements publicly is a good … [continued]
As a reminder of why CleanTechnica does what it does, here’s a roundup of climate news that is sure to make your head drop. After checking these out, be sure to check out some other CleanTechnica stories to get your head back up to where it should be. NASA data: … [continued]
Originally published on Sustainnovate. By Henry Lindon As the vast majority reading this already know, this year’s winter has been quite strange — with temperatures throughout much of the northern hemisphere being considerably higher than at any other time since high-accuracy records began over a hundred years ago. Accompanying the … [continued]
Originally published on EnergyPost. By Karel Beckman Shell’s departure from the Arctic is a very significant event in the global energy picture, writes Energy Post editor-in-chief Karel Beckman. It is another sign that the End of the Oil Age is in sight. After Volkswagen, a second major European company had … [continued]
