Not only was August 2020 the 2nd-warmest August on record, but the Northern Hemisphere had its warmest summer on record, and the globe as a whole had its 3rd-hottest 3-month season. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/northern-hemisphere-2020-hottest-summer-on-record…
Tag: sea ice
Winter ice in the Bering Sea is doomed to disappear within decades
A study of winter sea ice in the Bering Sea over the past 5500 year suggests that all the ice will be lost within decades, with knock-on effects for the Arctic Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2253501-winter-ice-in-the-bering-sea-is-doomed-to-disappear-within-decades/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
Planet Ceres Is An ‘Ocean World’ With Sea Water Beneath Surface, Mission Finds
The dwarf planet Ceres — long believed to be a barren space rock — is an ocean world with reservoirs of sea water beneath its surface, the results of a major exploration mission showed on Monday. The Guardian reports: Ceres is the largest object in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter and has its own gravity, enabling the Nasa Dawn…
Penguin Poop Seen From Space Leads To Discovery of New Colonies
Satellite-mapping technology “that detects stains on the ice from penguin droppings” has revealed there are more Emperor colonies than previously known in fast-warming Antarctica, reports Bloomberg: Eleven new colonies of the species were found, taking the census to 61 across the polar continent, according to a study by scientists at the British Antarctic Survey published Wednesday. The scientists used images from…
Satellites discover new penguin colonies from space
Satellite images have revealed 11 previously unknown emperor penguin colonies in Antarctica, identified by telltale reddish-brown guano stains the birds leave on the ice. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/satellite-new-emperor-penguin-colonies-from-space…
Will Global Warming Drive Polar Bears Toward Extinction?
An anonymous reader quotes the New York Times:
Polar bears could become nearly extinct by the end of the century as a result of shrinking sea ice in the Arctic if global warming continues unabated, scientists said Monday. Nearly all of the 19 subpopulations of polar bears, from the Beaufort Sea off Alaska to the Siberian Arctic, would face being wiped out…
Climate change may kill off nearly all polar bears by 2100
Unchecked climate change will doom all but one of the world’s populations of polar bears before the end of the century, as vanishing sea ice increases their annual fasts beyond their limits Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2249343-climate-change-may-kill-off-nearly-all-polar-bears-by-2100/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
Giant A-68 iceberg 3 years on
The colossal iceberg that split from Antarctica’s Larsen C ice shelf in July 2017 is now in the open waters of the South Atlantic, about 650 miles (1,050 km) from its birthplace. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/giant-a-68-iceberg-summer-2020…
Arctic explorers find unusually thin ice as a result of climate change
The biggest ever science expedition to the Arctic found sea ice that was so unusually thin it could threaten future efforts to study the effects of climate change in the region Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2248111-arctic-explorers-find-unusually-thin-ice-as-a-result-of-climate-change/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
A rare ozone hole is open over the Arctic
Since March 14, ozone over Earth’s Arctic has decreased to what’s normally considered ‘ozone hole levels.’ Scientists expect this year’s Arctic hole – the largest ever seen over the Arctic – to close again around mid-April 2020. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/unusual-ozone-hole-opens-over-arctic…