Topic: Arctic Ocean

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US unveils Arctic strategy, but is it keeping pace with other countries?

The National Strategy for the Arctic Region focuses on security, environment, and international cooperation. But with retreating sea ice creating opportunity as well as potential conflict, the US is seen as lagging.
Ancient Arctic was warm, wet, and green. What that says about the future.

A 1,000-foot core sample taken from a lake in Russia's northeast Arctic documents a period when the region was 14 degrees warmer than today, but with similar atmospheric CO2 levels.
With Arctic sea ice vulnerable, summer melt season begins briskly (+video)

The Arctic saw a record loss of summer sea ice in 2012, and the 2013 melt is off to a faster start than a year ago. Another record is uncertain, but warming has sapped the ice's staying power.
Spread of Antarctic ice: no longer a global warming paradox?

While Arctic ice shrinks to record lows, Antarctic ice has been increasing in winter. New study suggests summer melt in Antarctic is creating a surface layer of freshwater that freezes more readily in winter.
Warming Arctic: Receding ice leaves Hudson Bay polar bears less time to eat

Polar bears' territorial tendencies and the diminishing ice season on Hudson Bay are conspiring to leave the animals less time to eat, researchers say. This bodes ill for their ability to reproduce, and survive.
Shell halts Arctic oil drilling in 2013

Royal Dutch Shell PLC announced Wednesday it would suspend drilling for oil in the Arctic Ocean in 2013. Shell has experienced several setbacks this winter in its Arctic oil drilling plans.
On thin ice: As Arctic Ocean warms, a scramble to understand its weather

Increasing summer ice melt in the Arctic Ocean could shift global weather patterns and make polar waters more navigable. But scientists say forecasting Arctic ice and weather remains a massive challenge.
UN's focus on Middle East overlooks other urgent global matters

There's concern that issues like the debt crisis in Europe, an increase in the Pakistani heroin trade, and an armed struggle in Mali, to name a few, are being overlooked this week during the UN General Assembly.
Going for the record: Can anything stop 2012 from being warmest ever?

For super-warm 2012 to end up as an average year in the lower 48 states would require an astonishing, and record-breaking, cold snap over the final four months. That's not in the forecast.
Blocking patterns: How global warming might have worsened US drought

Two teams of researchers find that subtle changes brought about by global warming might be amplifying atmospheric blocking patterns, which keep weather conditions in place for a long time.
Putin on the birds: 'Only the weak ones didn't follow' me

Speaking at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, Russian President Vladimir Putin talked of leading a flock of birds and got in a veiled dig at voters who spurned him.
Arctic sea ice falls to record low. Global warming?

The decline in sea ice coincides with warming at the top of the world that has been occurring twice as fast there as it has for the northern hemisphere as a whole as the global climate warms.
Arctic ice to reach record lows, say scientists

Sea ice in the Arctic Ocean is likely to hit record lows next week, and then keep on melting, according to the US National Snow and Ice Data Center.
Did the huge Greenland glacier break apart because of global warming? Maybe not. (+video)

An ice island about twice the size of Manhattan broke away from Greenland's Petermann Glacier last week, but the calving was likely caused by ocean currents, not global warming.
What is subtropical plankton doing in Arctic waters?

The subtropical plankton in Arctic waters are likely the result of an isolated pulse of water that carried them outside their natural habitat, say scientists.
Disintegrating Greenland glacier photographed from space (+video)

A NASA satellite has spotted An iceberg twice the size of Manhattan breaking away from a glacier in northern Greenland.
Arctic drilling: US setting policy to protect environment, indigenous people

With receding sea ice allowing energy exploration in the Arctic, the US is set to unveil a five-year leasing plan that seeks to minimize the negative environmental impact of the drilling.
Global warming's evil twin threatens West Coast fishing grounds

Within the next few decades, ocean acidification – an effect of global warming – could leave sea creatures along the West Coast unable to maintain their protective shells, according to a new study.
What killed the woolly mammoth? A whole bunch of things, say scientists. (+video)

A combination of climate change, shifting habitats, and human predation drove the woolly mammoth to extinction, says a new study that rules out a single cause for the creature's demise.
Consumer Energy Report 'Race for the Arctic' exposes need for US to ratify UN treaty

As the world continues to seek out new energy sources, the Arctic Ocean is becoming a hot bed of activity. The US must ratify the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea in order to secure exclusivity rights to the lucrative area.
Bizarre Arctic discovery baffles NASA scientists (+video)

Scientists funded by NASA have uncovered a massive algae bloom flourishing beneath thick Arctic ice, radically altering our understanding of Arctic ecosystems.
Beneath Arctic ice, scientists find an ecosystem never imagined (+video)

Scientists report finding a massive bloom of phytoplankton hidden under Arctic ice, suggesting that, as the ice thins and melts, the region is becoming vastly more biologically productive.
New NASA discovery reveals mystery beneath Arctic ice (+video)

New NASA discovery: Researchers funded by NASA were surprised to discover phytoplankton blooms flourishing under thick layers of Arctic ice, upending preconceptions about Arctic ecosystems.
Gulf oil spill: Two years later, safety lessons ignored

In its rush to pump more oil, America is ignoring the key lesson of the Gulf oil spill two years ago. Complex drilling, wherever it occurs, comes with unknowable risks.
President Algae? Obama not green enough, say environmentalists

President Obama has blocked the Keystone pipeline, backed biofuels, and prioritizes the earth over people, say GOP presidential candidates. Environmentalists say Obama is a big disappointment. Who's right?