Arctic News

A collection of news items taken from the world's newspapers that relate to the Arctic. This site is updated as news items appear in the popular press. All links will take you to sites outside of the PRISM site. Use your back button to return.

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August, 2007


• August 13, 2007 - Arctic sea ice set to hit new low - BBC
  Arctic sea ice is expected to retreat to a record low by the end of this summer, scientists have predicted.
  
  

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June, 2007


• June 8, 2007 - Melting Glacier Draws Scientists To Arctic - The Washington Post
  Researchers are studying the Jakobshavn Glacier in Greenland to find out if climate change is causing it to melt more rapidly than in previous years.
  
  

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November, 2006


• November 13, 2006 - Poles apart, and melting - The Sydney Morning Herald
  THE volume of ice at both ends of the world appears to be shrinking. Earlier this year a study of Antarctica's ice sheet found it had lost about 152 cubic kilometres of ice a year since April 2002.
  
  

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June, 2006


• June 20, 2006 - Arctic mountain is a Noah's Ark for world's seeds - Time
  Work began yesterday on a “doomsday� vault buried in the Arctic permafrost that will become the guardian of 10,000 years of agriculture, protecting millions of seed samples in the event of a global catastrophe. The project, dubbed the Noah’s Ark for seeds, will catalogue and preserve more than threemillion species to ensure the long-term survival of the world’s vital food crops.
  
  
• June 1, 2006 - Studies Portray Tropical Arctic in Distant Past - The New York Times
  New studies show that the seabed around the North Pole indicates that some 55 million years ago the Arctic Ocean once had an average tempurature similar to that seen around Florida, about 74 degrees year -round. New data- obtained by core samples of the seabed offer important information that has allowed researchers to update computer simulations, which have in turn, indicated that the ocean water was much warmer that previously thought, by about 18 degrees, based on past computer generated models. Most data indicate that the incredible planet -wide warm up was caused by an enormous outburst of heat-trapping, or greenhouse, gases like methane and carbon dioxide much like the present day build up caused by human activities.
  
  
• June 1, 2006 - Hints of Oil Bonanzas Beneath Arctic Ocean - New York Times
  This is an additional article concerning the newest reports from core studies of Arctic bedrock. Petroleum companies are interested to note the vast amound of organic material that may lie between layers of sediment indicative of large deposits of oil.
  
  

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May, 2006


• May 31, 2006 - Scientists Say Arctic Once Was Tropical - newsday.com
  Scientists have found what might have been the ideal ancient vacation hotspot with a 74-degree Fahrenheit average temperature, alligator ancestors and palm trees. It's smack in the middle of the Arctic. First-of-its-kind core samples dug up from deep beneath the Arctic Ocean floor show that 55 million years ago an area near the North Pole was practically a subtropical paradise, three new studies show.
  
  
• May 15, 2006 - Meltdown fear as Arctic ice cover falls to record winter low - The Guardian
  Record amounts of ocean water failed to freeze over this last winter, leading to serious conditions for wildlife and to what some scientists are calling a "tipping point in global warming". In this case, winter water freezing is no longer capable of recovering from the warmer summer weather, and decreasing the overall amount of ice. Exposed darker water has greater capacity to absorb radiation from the sun, this in conjunction with warmer weather could cause global warming to spiral out of control.
  
  

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March, 2006


• March 22, 2006 - Groups Prepare for Contested Seal Hunt - ENN
  Protesters, celebrities and fishermen were gearing up for Canada's hotly debated seal hunt, set to get under way later this week in the gulf off the Atlantic Ocean. About 320,000 seal pups were killed during the hunt last year. The hunt plays a vital economic role in Newfoundland and Quebec fishing communities. Story defending the hunt from Guardian Unlimited.
  
  
• March 22, 2006 - NASA Radar Plane Gauges Arctic Snow Layer - ENN
  A radar-equipped NASA plane is flying low over the Arctic this week to measure the snow on top of sea ice, a finding with implications for polar bears and possibly humans, an ice scientist said this week. Polar bears raise their young in snow dens sitting atop sea ice so the depth of that snow is critical to their survival, said Thorsten Markus of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center outside Washington.
  
  
• March 22, 2006 - Retiree Plans To Paddle His Canoe Solo On 8,000-kilometre Trek - Canada.com
  A retiree, Jay Morrison, has made plans to paddle solo from the Gulf of St. Lawrence to the Beaufort Sea near Inuvik -- something no one has ever done in one year.
  
  
• March 22, 2006 - Barents Sea Disappointment for Statoil - Aftenposten
  Statoil confirmed Wednesday that a well at its Uranus prospect in the Barents Sea failed to find producible oil or gas but said it had not lost hope of a discovery in the area. Map of Barents Sea region from MSN Encarta.
  
  
• March 22, 2006 - Inuit Alarmed By Signs of Global Warming - MSNBC
  The Inuit, described by one of their leaders as "sentries for the rest of the world,"say this winter was the worst in a series of warm winters, replete with alarms of the quickening transformation that many scientists believe will spread from the north to the rest of the globe.
  
  
• March 21, 2006 - Russian Nuclear Subs To Survey Arctic Continental Shelf Borders - Novosti
  Russian nuclear-powered submarines will participate in a project to survey Russia's continental shelf borders in the Arctic, a source in the defense ministry said Tuesday. The greater part of the Russian Arctic shelf zone is below a thick icecap so systematic surveys could only be provided by nuclear subs.
  
  
• March 21, 2006 - Oil Gushes Into Arctic Ocean From BP Pipeline - Independent Online
  Across the frozen North Slope of Alaska, the region's largest oil accident on record has been sending hundreds of thousands of litres of crude pouring into the Arctic Ocean during the past week after a badly corroded BPO pipeline ruptured. Similar stories from Houston Chronicle and STL .
  
  
• March 20, 2006 - Proposed Mackenzie Valley Pipeline Spurs Arctic Mega-plan - Vancouver Sun
  A proposed Mackenzie Valley natural gas pipeline is still before the regulators and it's already creating massive new plans for industrial development in the Arctic. Vancouver-based West Hawk Development has unveiled plans to strip-mine extensive coal reserves along the Mackenzie River and begin building $2 billion worth of coal gasification plants to tie into the pipeline within four years.
  
  
• March 20, 2006 - Treading On Thin Ice - Guardian Unlimited
  Canada's warmest winter on record is putting pressure on wildlife and politicians alike. By Canadian standards it was balmy, with temperatures 3.9C (39F) above normal across the country, and 8C (46.4F) higher than usual in parts of the north.
  
  
• March 17, 2006 - Senate Panel To OK ANWR Drilling Bill By Mid-May - Reuters
  he U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will approve legislation by mid-May to open Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling, according to the panel's chairman.
  
  
• March 16, 2006 - Democrats Want U.S. Budget Bill to Drop Oil Drilling - ENN
  Senate Democrats will try to remove language from a pending budget bill that calls for the government to raise billions of dollars in leasing fees from oil drilling in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
  
  
• March 14, 2006 - Arctic Laid Bare in Planet Documentary - Reuters
  A new movie is due from French filmmakers next week. This film, “The White Planet� follows a wide cast of animals through the changing seasons in this breathtaking but harsh universe sculpted by ice and wind.
  
  
• March 12, 2006 - Pollution Soaring To Crisis Levels In Arctic - Guardian Unlimited
  Scientists, at an atmospheric monitoring station in the Norwegian territory of Svalbard, have found that levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere near the North Pole are now rising at an unprecedented pace.
  
  
• March 10, 2006 - Three Months Adrift On Pack-Ice - The Independent Bangladesh
  French adventurer, Jean-Louis Etienne, is completing his "Pack-ice mission" - a voyage of three months adrift between the North Pole and Greenland on board a tiny capsule similar to that used in the Apollo space mission.
  
  
• March 9, 2006 - Fishery Bosses Ban Pacific Krill Fishing - CBS
  The Pacific Fishery Management Council, an advisory board to the National Marine Fisheries Service, moved to prohibit krill fishing off Pacific shores. The recommendation must now be approved by the agency.
  
  
• March 3, 2006 - Iditarod Sled Dog Race Moved - MSNBC
  Warmer weather in Alaska has prompted organizers of the Iditarod Trail sled dog race to divert the famed contest to a route with enough snow. Sparse snow at the southern end of the course has moved the grueling 1,100-mile race from its traditional route. This year it will start in Willow, a small community 30 miles north of Wasilla, where it usually begins. Similar story from ENN
  
  
• March 3, 2006 - Ice Warrior Arctic Expedition - BBC
  A diary exerpt from British explorer Jim McNeill who is attempting to become the first person to travel to all four North Poles. Keep up with his expedition at the BBC.
  
  

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February, 2006


• February 23, 2006 - Greenland Starts Quota To Save Polar Bears - ENN
  Greenland's government on Wednesday introduced the ice-capped island's first hunting quota for polar bears, which scientists believe are threatened by the effects of global warming.
  
  
• February 20, 2006 - Pioneers Keep Flocking To Russia's Frontier - BBC
  Salekhard, the capital of the Yamal peninsula region, is finding itself to be a busy place these days. Gas workers are being taken by helicopter from Salekhard to the gas-rich areas of the peninsula.
  
  
• February 20, 2006 - Northern Hamlet, Like Other Mackenzie Delta Communities Split on Pipeline - National Post (Canada)
  People in the tiny Inuit hamlet of Tsiigehtchic in the Northwest Territories are split on whether they should vote for or against building a natural gas pipeline through the Mackenzie Valley. Some see it as an opportunity for financial gain and community growth while others see it as harmful to the environment and disruptive.
  
  
• February 20, 2006 - Explorer Set For Historic Arctic Adventure - BBC
  British Arctic explorer Jim McNeill sets off on Monday on one of the most demanding polar expeditions ever attempted. His 1,000-mile solo journey will involve attempts to reach three of the four North Poles: the magnetic, the geographic, the geomagnetic and the Arctic. The last is a point never before reached by a lone explorer. Similar story from The Independent.
  
  
• February 20, 2006 - Bipartisan Effort Keeps Icebreaker Here - Seattle Times
  Alaskan politicians think the Coastguard icebreaker, the Healy, should be based closer to the ice where it is needed. But the people of Seattle think that it should remain in Seattle, where it has been based for many years. It looks like the efforts of Washington state politicians will enable the state to keep the icebreaker in their port for at least one more year, especially since it appears that moving it to an Alaskan port would be quite expensive initially.
  
  
• February 17, 2006 - Proposed Arctic Pipeline Obstacle: Warming - MSNBC
  Environmental hearings on Canada's proposed $6 billion Mackenzie Valley pipeline opened with warnings that the safety of the pipeline and the natural gas fields that feed it is threatened by climate change that already is damaging northern roads and airstrips.
  
  
• February 17, 2006 - Russian, Norwegian Foreign Ministers To Meet In Moscow - Novosti
  The foreign ministers of Russia and Norway will meet in Moscow this week to discuss problems connected with the fishing industry and delineating maritime borders, as well as energy projects and other important issues.
  
  
• February 16, 2006 - Greenland's Glaciers Losing Ice At Faster Rate -
  Satellite observations indicate that Greenland's glaciers have been dumping ice into the Atlantic Ocean at a rate that's doubled over the past five years, researchers reported. This study by Eric Rignot and PRISM's Pannir Kanagaratnam was published in this week's issue of Science. Similar story from Guardian Unlimited.
  
  
• February 16, 2006 - Norway, Russia Close To Strategic Partnership... - Novosti
  The Norwegian foreign minister said Thursday that the Scandinavian country and Russia were close to forming a strategic partnership. The partnership would allow Norwegian oil and gas companies to participate in Russian projects off the Arctic coast.
  
  
• February 16, 2006 - Legal Case Against US On Climate - BBC
  U.S. conservation groups have begun a new legal case aimed at forcing government action on climate change. They have filed a petition with the UN arguing that Waterton-Glacier Peace Park, a protected area, is being damaged by rising temperatures. Learn more about the park.
  
  

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January, 2006


• January 17, 2006 - Melting Ice Threatens Canada's Polar Bears - Mail & Guardian
  Residents of Churchill, a town in Northern Canada, are being threatened by hungry polar bears. The polar bears are hungry because warming temperatures have made the seals, the typical polar bear food, harder to catch.
  
  
• January 12, 2006 - New Area In Alaska Arctic Opened To Drilling - MSNBC
  The Bush administration has opened nearly half a million acres of federal land in northeastern Alaska to oil drilling — a move blasted by environmentalists but praised by industry, which notes the area is in a long-designated petroleum reserve.
  
  
• January 11, 2006 - Interior Dept. Clears Way For Oil Leases In Part of Alaska's North Slope - USA Today
  The U.S. Department of the Interior said it would allow oil development in virtually all of the wetlands surrounding Lake Teshekpuk in the northeast corner of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska. The lake region includes one of the most important molting areas in the Arctic for wild geese and areas sought out by caribou herds for calving.
  
  
• January 9, 2006 - Polar Bears Carry Chemicals - Windsor Star
  A new Canadian-led study shows that polar bears are showing unusually high concentrations of a chemical (PBDEs) in their fat. PBDEs were used as fire retardants in the 1990s, but most U.S. based manufacturers have stopped using them.