Arctic

“This Year is the Most Recent Example of What Is Expected to Continue: A Trend Toward Delayed Freeze-Up.”

November 12, 2009 -- Seasonal Arctic sea-ice recovery has been slower than many hoped this fall, erasing modest gains achieved during the relatively cooler summer. Daily observations of sea-ice extent this November are currently below the levels for corresponding dates from November 2007, when record lows were observed. November 2007 sea-ice extent was 11 percent below the long-term average. The next few weeks will be critical for building up enough new ice to avoid setting a new record low for November.    » read more »

Washington, DC - 09/17/2009 - More than 400 scientists from the U.S. and 20 other countries have signed a strongly worded letter urging the Obama administration to defer offshore oil and gas development in the U.S. Arctic Ocean until research can adequately assess potential risks to fragile marine ecosystems.

"The Arctic Ocean is our last opportunity to prevent damage to a pristine environment that will be a legacy to our children," said Henry Huntington, science director for the Pew Environment Group's Arctic program. "We must stop and do the thorough research that is needed to protect this special place that is already stressed by climate change."    » read more »

June 9, 2009 -- With Alaska at "ground-zero" in experiencing the impacts of global climate change, Senator Mark Begich today proposed five major policy initiatives to better help the 49th state and America adapt to what he called the "Second Arctic Century."

Building on the 100-year anniversary of the "discovery" of the North Pole, Begich called for ratification of two international treaties affecting the Arctic; creation of a Regional Citizens Advisory Council for the Arctic; appointment of an Arctic ambassador to advocate for American interests in the region; more funding for and better coordination of Arctic science; and a significant new investment in the infrastructure needed for a permanent American presence in the Arctic, including new ice-breakers and Coast Guard facilities.    » read more »

28 May 2009 -- Following an assessment of natural resources north of the Arctic Circle, researchers say that a full 30% of the world's undiscovered natural gas and 13% of its undiscovered oil could be found there.

The oil estimate is relatively small compared to the known reserves in major petroleum exporting countries, so researchers do not anticipate a major shift in the world's oil trade. However, they do expect the location and volume of predicted natural gas reserves inside the Arctic Circle to primarily benefit Russia.

These findings are from the first detailed, peer-reviewed, and geologically-based assessment of natural resources in that region.    » read more »

Recovery Act money will greatly enhance Arctic research

May 27, 2009 -- The National Science Foundation (NSF) announced today that it has made its first major award under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) to help construct the Alaska Region Research Vessel (ARRV). The ARRV is a 242-foot ship, to be operated by the University of Alaska Fairbanks, with a hull designed specifically to operate in seasonal Arctic sea ice and open waters surrounding Alaska.    » read more »

Seattle, WA - 02/05/2009 - The North Pacific Fishery Management Council (NPFMC) voted today to prevent the expansion of industrial fishing into all U.S. waters north of the Bering Strait for the foreseeable future to limit stress on ocean ecosystems in light of the dramatic impacts of global climate change in the Arctic. With no large-scale commercial fishing in the U.S. Arctic at present this decision establishes one of the largest preventative and precautionary measures in fisheries management history.    » read more »

WASHINGTON, Aug. 25, 2008 – The Coast Guard is testing and compiling initial lessons learned from its ongoing Arctic operations, a senior officer said last week.

“It became obvious to me 18 months to two years ago that with the retreat of the multiyear polar sea ice, the Coast Guard was going to have to do more than it had in the past to provide maritime safety and security to northern and western Alaska, the Arctic Ocean and the Beaufort Sea,” Coast Guard Rear Adm. Arthur E. Brooks, commander of the 17th Coast Guard District, told bloggers and online journalists during a teleconference on Aug. 21.    » read more »

05/14/2008 -- WASHINGTON, DC – Senator John Kerry made the following statement today after Sec. of Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne announced that he would list the polar bear as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. Kerry sponsored legislation earlier this year to protect polar bear habitat from drilling in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas, and he wrote a letter to Kempthorne earlier this week, asking that he adhere to a Federal court-ordered deadline by listing the polar bear under the Endangered Species Act.

Polar bear cub near Svalbard, Norway: Photo by Amanda Graham (CC)    » read more »

April 1, 2008 -- WASHINGTON -- This month, NASA begins the most extensive field campaign ever to investigate the chemistry of the Arctic's lower atmosphere. The mission is poised to help scientists identify how air pollution contributes to climate changes in the Arctic.

Preparations for the NASA ARCTAS field campaign: Chris Cantrell and Becky Anderson of the National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, Colo., assess an instrument’s operation on NASA's DC-8 aircraft during preparations for the ARCTAS field campaign. Photo: NASA    » read more »

February 11, 2008 -- New Arctic sea floor data released today by the University of New Hampshire and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) suggests that the foot of the continental slope off Alaska is more than 100 nautical miles farther from the U.S. coast than previously assumed.

The data, gathered during a recent mapping expedition to the Chukchi Cap some 600 nautical miles north of Alaska, could support U.S. rights to natural resources of the sea floor beyond 200 nautical miles from the coast.    » read more »

Alaska Natives and Conservation Groups Challenge Lease Sale

Juneau, AK (January 31, 2008) - Alaska Natives and conservation groups joined forces today to fight oil drilling in the Arctic’s Chukchi Sea. Thirty million acres of key polar bear, walrus, and whale habitat in the Chukchi Sea are scheduled to open to oil and gas companies on February 6, when the U.S. Interior Department’s Minerals Management Service (MMS) plans to hold bidding for drilling leases.    » read more »

Continues effort started by former Delaware Senator Bill Roth

November 7, 2007 -- Washington, DC – U.S. Senator Joe Biden (D-DE) joined his colleagues in the Senate today to support the Arctic Wilderness Act, a critical step towards preserving the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). The Act, introduced today by Senator Joe Lieberman (ID-CT), designates the coastal plain of ANWR as a wilderness area, ensuring that one of our nation’s last unspoiled natural landscapes is protected from attempts to open it for oil development.    » read more »

Mission part of increase in Arctic operations

Oct. 25, 2007 -- WASHINGTON – The U.S. Coast Guard announced a C-130 departed Barrow, Alaska today to fly 1,183 miles to the North Pole as part of an increase in Arctic orientation flights. The crew, which includes a representative from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Barrow community, will assess changes in maritime activity in the region as recently observed climate changes provide greater access to the Arctic.    » read more »

21 August 2007 -- Earlier this month a Russian expedition to the North Pole planted a Russian flag on the Arctic Ocean floor. In Focus, VOA's André de Nesnera looks at the Russian feat and discusses the Law of the Sea that governs the earth's oceans.

The 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea is a comprehensive document that sets rules for the use of the world's oceans.

Michael Byers, Law of the Sea expert at the University of British Columbia [Liu Institute for Global Issues], says the treaty has specific guidelines concerning the Arctic Ocean.    » read more »

14 August 2007 -- The Arctic is in danger. The world's north polar ice cap is melting. Over the last three decades, the area of the Arctic Ocean covered by sea ice at summer's end has shrunk significantly. Some forecasts predict that if the trend continues there will be no summer sea ice by as early as 2040.

A new film documents the impact of warming conditions on this historically ice-bound world and the animals that live there.    » read more »