At least twice, the Arctic Ocean was a freshwater pool cut off from other oceans and capped with almost 3,000 feet of ice. Source: https://www.livescience.com/arctic-ocean-freshwater.html
Tag: Arctic Ocean
New study finds polyester fibers throughout the Arctic Ocean
A new study has found that pollution from microplastics is widespread in the Arctic Ocean, and 92% of those particles are minuscule synthetic fibers from our clothes. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/polyester-fibers-arctic-ocean-microplastic-pollution…
The long decline of Arctic sea ice
Forty years of satellite data show that 2020 was just the latest in a decades-long decline of Arctic sea ice. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/decline-of-arctic-sea-ice-1979-2019…
‘Zombie’ greenhouse gas lurks in permafrost beneath the Arctic Ocean
Experts say we need to improve our patchy knowledge of subsea permafrost. Source: https://www.livescience.com/subsea-permafrost-greenhouse-gas.html
2020 Arctic Report Card: Sea ice loss, extreme wildfires
NOAA’s 2020 Arctic Report Card describes a region that is warming even more rapidly than scientists expected. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/arctic-report-card-2020-sea-ice-loss-extreme-wildfires…
Sluggish start for Arctic sea ice freeze-up
Early ice retreat amid warm Arctic air temperatures set the stage for the slow refreeze in 2020. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/sluggish-start-for-arctic-sea-ice-freeze-up-2020…
Trump Administration, In Late Push, Moves To Sell Oil Rights In Arctic Refuge
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The New York Times: The Trump administration on Monday announced that it would begin the formal process of selling leases to oil companies in a last-minute push to achieve its long-sought goal of allowing oil and gas drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. That sets up a potential sale of leases…
Why Arctic sea ice has stalled, and what it means for the rest of the world
In the next few decades, scientists expect we’ll see an ice-free Arctic Ocean throughout the summer. That prospect got much closer in 2020, due in part to the exceptional summer heatwave that roiled the Russian Arctic. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/why-arctic-winter-sea-ice-stalled-2020…
‘Sleeping Giant’ Arctic Methane Deposits Starting To Release, Scientists Find
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Guardian: Scientists have found evidence that frozen methane deposits in the Arctic Ocean — known as the “sleeping giants of the carbon cycle” — have started to be released over a large area of the continental slope off the East Siberian coast, the Guardian can reveal. High levels of the potent greenhouse gas…
The Arctic hasn’t been this warm for 3 million years
The last time CO2 concentrations reached today’s level was 3 million years ago, during the Pliocene Epoch. Hear from geoscientists who see evolving conditions in the Arctic as an indicator of how climate change could transform the planet. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/arctic-warmest-3-million-years…