Monday, October 3, 2011

Arctic ozone hole breaks all records

In the first three months of this year, something unprecedented happened in the skies over the Arctic. A large hole appeared in the ozone layer, far bigger than any seen there before.

The Arctic ozone layer suffers a little damage every winter, but the effect is normally short-lived. "This is a clear step beyond that," says Neil Harris of the University of Cambridge. As the measurements came in, ozone researchers began to debate whether the loss could be compared to that seen over the Antarctic. "It's the first time we've even discussed that question," says Harris.

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn20988-arctic-ozone-hole-breaks-all-records.html

Friday, August 26, 2011

Unmistakeable link between climate fluctuations and violence

First proof that climate is a trigger for conflict: study

The first scientific study to declare an unmistakable link between climate fluctuations and violence has been published in the journal Nature. The inquiry focuses on a naturally occurring pattern of climate change, but its authors say there is a disturbing lesson about violence driven by man-made warming.

http://news.yahoo.com/first-proof-climate-trigger-conflict-study-180748908.html

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Commercial exploitation of Greenland and the Arctic region… Denmark says, “We are not nervous”

By Flemming Emil Hansen, Dow Jones & Co, Image by Jeff Shea/NY Times

COPENHAGEN—Denmark this week launched its first formal strategy for the Arctic region, a plan intended to facilitate private investment and help international companies enter the far north as the ice melts and vast natural resources become accessible, the country’s foreign minister said in an interview.

The Arctic, which covers more than a sixth of the Earth’s landmass, plus the vast Arctic Ocean, has long been treated as a highly fragile ecosystem that must be protected against commercial exploitation. Denmark’s new strategy marks a shift in priority to focus on economic development and improving the living standards of local people, Lene Espersen told The Wall Street Journal.http://gcaptain.com/commercial-exploitation-greenland?29889&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Gcaptain+%28gCaptain.com%29

Saturday, August 20, 2011

Study Blames Humans for Half of Recent Arctic Ice Melt

August 16, 2011 11:56AM

A new study funded by the National Science Foundation is the first to attribute a specific proportion of the record Arctic ice melt to greenhouse gases and particulates from pollution. The study says about half the record ice loss is related to the increasing greenhouse gases, and that conditions will become more volatile from year to year.

About half the recent record loss of Arctic sea ice can be blamed on global warming caused by human activity, according to a new study by scientists from the nation's leading climate research center.

The peer-reviewed study, funded by the National Science Foundation is the first to attribute a specific proportion of the ice melt to greenhouse gases and particulates from pollution.

The study used supercomputers and one of the world's most sophisticated climate models to reach its conclusions, said lead author Jennifer Kay, a staff scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo. The paper was published last week in the scientific journal Geophysical Research Letters.

Kay said her study was an attempt to learn how much Arctic Ocean melting can be attributed to "natural variability" -- complex changes wrought by nonhuman forces -- and how much has been caused by greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and by atmospheric particulates.