naturalfeature:arctic sea

Finland-Norway rail link planned to fit Arctic sea routes - Reuters
▻https://af.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idAFKCN1SF0YE

https://s2.reutersmedia.net/resources/r/?m=02&d=20190509&t=2&i=1385234687&w=1200&r=LYNXNPEF480JF#.jpg

A Finnish company said on Thursday it planned to develop a railway connection between north Finland and Norway’s Kirkenes port to link with potential Arctic shipping routes at an estimated cost of between 3-5 billion euros (2.6-4.3 billion pounds).
[…]
Finland’s Finest Bay Area Development said it had signed a memorandum of understanding with Norway’s Sør-Varanger Utvikling to investigate how to build a railway and its impact on the environment, society and the economy.

“An Arctic railway would connect Finland to the Northeast Passage,” Kustaa Valtonen, a director at Finest Bay Area Development, said in a statement. “We will provide a faster trade route between Asian and European markets.”

The company also plans an undersea tunnel between Finland’s capital Helsinki and Estonia’s capital Tallinn.
[…]
Last year, a Finnish government study concluded a railway connection to Kirkenes would take at least 15 years to build and would not be economically viable.

“We expect to see a significant increase in cargo traffic between Europa and Asia. Their study did not cover it too well,” Valtonen told Reuters.

Finest’s planned 100 km (60 mile) tunnel for linking Helsinki with Estonia’s capital Tallinn got in March a provisional 15 billion euros in financing from China’s Touchstone Capital Partners.

EDIT : j’avais oublié la légende de la photo. D’illustration ! on est à plus de 1000 km et 8°30’ plus au nord que Kirkenes… Presque la distance Helsinki - Kirkenes.

Arctic Wildlife’s Last Habitat Will Be Ice Strip
▻https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2018/01/arctic-wildlife-sea-ice/?sf206808415=1

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/content/dam/magazine/rights-exempt/2018/01/last-ice/last-ice-climate-change-ocean-sea-animals-3.ngsversion.1513659870309.adapt.1900.1.jpg

Within a few decades such vistas are unlikely to exist, at least not here, during summer. As the planet heats up, the summer sea ice and all the superbly adapted life it supports—the bears, the seals, the walruses, the whales, the Arctic cod, the crustaceans, the ice algae—may well vanish around Baffin. As we fly over the vast frozen expanse, it almost strains belief to think that we’re witnessing—and with the rest of humanity, helping to cause—its demise. In the 1980s satellite data showed that Arctic sea ice extended on average across nearly three million square miles at the end of summer. Since then more than a million square miles has been lost—an area roughly the size of Alaska, Texas, and California combined.

Climate models suggest that by the 2050s, less than 200,000 square miles of perennial sea ice will remain. The good news, such as it is: What’s left will collect in a compact region, not here but farther north, above Greenland and Canada’s Ellesmere Island. That shrunken redoubt will be the last stand for many of the Arctic’s wild things.

“The animals that depend on the edge of the sea ice for a living will be congregating there in the summer,” says marine ecologist Enric Sala, leader of the National Geographic Society’s Pristine Seas project. “It will be like one of those watering holes in Africa where everybody shows up.”

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/interactive-assets/nggraphics/ngm-1801-last-ice/build-2017-12-19_10-53-36/ngm-assets/img/ngm-1801-last-ice_ai2html-desktop-medium.jpg

#arctique #climat #cartographie #visualisation

Maersk sends first container ship through Arctic route | Reuters
▻https://uk.reuters.com/article/arctic-shipping-maersk/maersk-sends-first-container-ship-through-arctic-route-idUKL8N1VE3NM

A Maersk vessel loaded with Russian fish and South Korean electronics will next week become the first container ship to navigate an Arctic sea route that Russia hopes will become a new shipping highway.

The Arctic voyage by the 3,600 20-foot container capacity Venta Maersk is the latest step in the expansion of the so-called Northern Sea Route which is becoming more accessible to ships as climate change reduces the amount of sea ice.

The brand new Venta Maersk, one of the world’s largest ice-class vessels, will also collect scientific data, said Maersk, underlining that the voyage is a one-off trial for now.

The decision by Maersk, the world’s biggest container shipping group, to test out the route is a positive sign for Russia, which hopes this could become a mini Suez Canal, cutting sea transport times from Asia to Europe.

“A well-respected company like Maersk sending a container ship through the Arctic, definitely signals there’s something there,” Malte Humpert, a senior fellow at U.S.-based think-tank Arctic Institute, said.

Le Pôle Nord en phase dégel pour la deuxième fois de l’année ...

Another extreme heat wave strikes the North Pole - The Washington Post
▻https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/capital-weather-gang/wp/2018/05/07/another-extreme-heat-wave-strikes-the-north-pole/?noredirect=on

In four of the past five winters, the North Pole has witnessed dramatic temperatures spikes, which previously were rare. Now, in the lead up to summer, the temperature has again shot up to unusually high levels at the tip of the planet.

Scientists say this warming could hasten the melt of Arctic sea ice, which is already near record low levels.

Study: Whales in Ice-Free Arctic Face Emerging Threat from Ships – gCaptain
▻http://gcaptain.com/study-whales-in-ice-free-arctic-face-emerging-threat-from-ships

http://gcaptain.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/sea-ice-arctic.jpg

As climate change brings a longer ice-free season and more commercial ships to the Arctic, a new study is recommending that precautionary measures be put in place to minimize the negative impacts of increased vessel traffic on marine mammals, namely from threats including noise and ship strikes.

In the Arctic, mammals such as belugas and bowhead whales rely on a quiet environment to communicate and forage. But as Arctic sea ice shrinks and shipping traffic increases, vessel disturbance could very likely impact their social behaviors, distribution and long-term survival, according to the new study led by University of Victoria marine biologist Lauren McWhinnie.

Arctic Ocean ice near record low for winter, boost for shipping
▻https://www.reuters.com/article/us-climatechange-arctic/arctic-ocean-ice-near-record-low-for-winter-boost-for-shipping-idUSKBN1GZ2U

https://s1.reutersmedia.net/resources/r/?m=02&d=20180323&t=2&i=1244159384&w=1200&r=LYNXMPEE2M272#.jpg

Winter sea ice on the Arctic Ocean covered the second smallest area on record this year, part of a thaw that is opening the region to shipping and oil exploration and may be disrupting weather far to the south, scientists said on Friday.

The extent of floating ice likely reached an annual maximum of 14.5 million square kilometers (5.6 million square miles) on March 17, fractionally bigger than a record set in 2017, the U.S. National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) said.

2017 Arctic Report Card: Arctic sea ice keeps getting younger and thinner | NOAA Climate.gov
▻https://www.climate.gov/news-features/featured-images/2017-arctic-report-card-arctic-sea-ice-keeps-getting-younger-and

Despite the fact that the area of the Arctic Ocean covered by sea ice during the winter maximum has declined only slightly in recent decades, the ice itself is profoundly different than it used to be. Very old ice—thick, strong, and more melt-resistant—has nearly vanished, and the amount of first-year ice—thin, salty, and unlikely to survive the summer—has skyrocketed.

These satellite-based maps show the age of the ice in the Arctic at the end of winter in March 1985 (left) and March 2017 (right). The first age class on the scale (1, darkest blue) means "first-year ice,” which formed in the most recent winter. The oldest ice (>7, white) is ice that is more than nine winters old. Dark gray areas indicate open water or coastal regions where the spatial resolution of the data is coarser than the land map.

▻https://www.climate.gov/sites/default/files/styles/featured-image/public/SeaIceAge_1985_2017.png?itok=4ZPB9jD7
#arctique #glace #hiver #cartographie #climat

Arctic sea ice melt to exacerbate California droughts : study
▻https://www.reuters.com/article/us-science-arctic-california-drought/arctic-sea-ice-melt-to-exacerbate-california-droughts-study-idUSKBN1DZ16K

Trop souvent on veut faire croire que le changement climatique n’affecte(ra) que les pays pauvres

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Melting Arctic sea ice could render sun-soaked California vulnerable to a recurrence of the severe drought suffered in recent years as it is likely to cause high pressure systems that push away rain-bearing storms, a study released on Tuesday said.

#climat

Arctic sea ice may be declining faster than expected: study
▻https://www.reuters.com/article/us-canada-arctic-research/arctic-sea-ice-may-be-declining-faster-than-expected-study-idUSKBN1CT2JD

https://s3.reutersmedia.net/resources/r/?m=02&d=20171024&t=2&i=1206815049&w=&fh=545px&fw=&ll=&pl=&sq=&r=LYNXMPED9N1JJ#.jpg

Arctic sea ice may be thinning faster than predicted because salty snow on the surface of the ice skews the accuracy of satellite measurements, a new study from the University of Calgary said on Tuesday.

The report from the Canadian university’s Cryosphere Climate Research Group published in the academic journal Geophysical Research Letters found satellite estimates for the thickness of seasonal sea ice have been overestimated by up to 25 percent.

That means the Arctic Ocean could be ice-free much sooner than some scientific predictions, which forecast sea ice will first disappear completely during summer months between 2040 and 2050, according to lead author Vishnu Nandan.

Quantifying the effects of climate change

Last year was the hottest on record, Arctic sea ice is on the decline and sea levels continue to rise. In this context, satellites are providing us with an unbiased view of how our climate is changing and the effects it is having on our planet.

https://pbs.twimg.com/card_img/871747256415920130/my7Etf9-?format=jpg&name=600x314#.jpg

Here’s What Russia’s Military Build-Up in the Arctic Looks Like | Foreign Policy

▻http://foreignpolicy.com/2017/01/25/heres-what-russias-military-build-up-in-the-arctic-looks-like-trump-o

https://foreignpolicymag.files.wordpress.com/2017/01/russia-build-up-crop.jpg

Increasingly, U.S. officials have come to see that the opening Arctic is becoming more and more important — “strategic,” even, as they often say in Washington. But it always seems to slip through the bureaucratic cracks of the U.S. foreign and defense policymaking machine.

With Arctic sea ice receding thanks to scorching temperatures, a once-closed ocean is now open for business (and, potentially, mischief) part of the year. Russia is taking advantage of the thaw to ramp up its military footprint in the region. Now, lawmakers and outgoing defense officials are hoping the United States under Donald Trump can finally get into the game at the top of the world.

#russie #arctique #visualisation

Arctic sea ice, Greenland and Europe’s weird weather - Alaska - Ice-Blog - DW.COM

▻http://blogs.dw.com/ice/?p=17243

http://blogs.dw.com/ice/files/IMG_1250-1024x683.jpg

As I write this, I am sitting in a short-sleeved shirt with the window open, enjoying an unusually warm start to the month of May. It’s around 27 degrees Celsius in this part of Germany, pleasant, but somewhat unusual at this time. The first four months of this year have been the hottest of any year on record, according to satellite data.

The Arctic is not the first place people tend to think of when it comes to explaining weather that is warmer – as opposed to colder – than usual in other parts of the globe. But several recent studies have increased the evidence that what is happening in the far North is playing a key role in creating unusual weather patterns further south – and that includes heat, at times.

#arctique #climat

Arctic sea ice extent breaks record low for winter | Environment | The Guardian

▻http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/mar/28/arctic-sea-ice-record-low-winter?CMP=twt_a-environment_b-gdneco

https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/9c2456e2b4f023e34d3580b1e4d48f97f04b227f/0_277_4200_2520/master/4200.jpg?w=1200&q=55&auto=format&usm=12&fit=max&s=abd1b1eebae043d20ca9ee5434d20286

A record expanse of Arctic sea never froze over this winter and remained open water as a season of freakishly high temperatures produced deep – and likely irreversible – changes on the far north.

Scientists at the National Snow and Ice Data Centre said on Monday that the sea ice cover attained an average maximum extent of 14.52m sq km (5.607m sq miles) on 24 March, the lowest winter maximum since records began in 1979.

The low beats a record set only last year of 14.54m sq km (5.612m sq miles), reached on 25 February 2015.

“I’ve never seen such a warm, crazy winter in the Arctic,” said NSIDC director Mark Serreze. “The heat was relentless.”

#arctique #climat

PressTV-Arctic glaciers melting faster than previously imagined: UN
▻http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2015/12/01/439805/UN-United-Nations-Environment-Program-Arctic-glaciers

http://media.presstv.com/photo/20151201/0b8c8259-0ede-42f3-9d7b-2150ff8811ff.jpg

1. Earth’s two massive ice sheets are disappearing at a faster pace than scientists previously calculated. The United Nations Environment Program says global warming is almost certainly responsible for the decrease in the extent and thickness of the Arctic Sea ice.

2. Researchers at Edinburgh University in the UK have developed a new technology which is vastly superior to Wi-Fi in almost every way.

3. Archeologists have discovered rare remains of a dog-like dinosaur in the US. Around 100 million years ago, the plant-eating creature lived in a region called Appala-chia in what is today the eastern United States.

#arctique #groenland #climat

NunatsiaqOnline 2015-09-09: NEWS: Arctic sea ice nearing annual minimum extent: data centre

▻http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674arctic_sea_ice_nearing_yearly_minimum_extent_data_center

http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/pub/photos/asina_N_stddev_timeseries_copy.jpg

If you live near Baffin Bay or Hudson Bay, you might have trouble accepting the forecasts showing that this year’s minimum sea ice extent, which typically occurs in mid to late September, is likely to come in as the third or fourth lowest in the satellite record.

But that’s the latest from the Colorado-based National Snow and Ice Data Center, which issued its latest news last week, based on recent satellite images.

#arctique #climat

Fathom Spotlight: 8 Things You Need To Know About Black Carbon And The Shipping Industry » Ship & Bunker

▻http://shipandbunker.com/news/features/fathom-spotlight/767141-fathom-spotlight-8-things-you-need-to-know-about-black-carbon-

http://s.shipandbunker.com/806F6B/sab/a/img/_mt_a1714613261726fec0798a9b6d03b727.jpg

The retreat of Arctic sea ice has led to renewed calls to exploit Arctic shipping routes. Whilst the diversion of shipping traffic through the Arctic will shorten shipping routes, the increased presence of ships in the Arctic region will heighten the deposition of black carbon (BC) aerosol.

In this week’s spotlight, Fathom takes a look at the impact of BC emission and deposition, the feedback mechanisms of BC on Arctic ice melt, and how the increase of Arctic shipping is likely to invite future regulation of emissions for ships voyaging across the Arctic shipping routes.

#transport #transport_maritime #arctique

Arctic melting opens sea route to more pollution - Climate News Network

▻http://www.climatenewsnetwork.net/arctic-melting-opens-sea-route-pollution

By Alex Kirby

Increasing loss of Arctic sea ice is likely soon to mean more ships being able to use the polar passage – affecting climate, health and air quality.

http://www.climatenewsnetwork.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/CROP-northwest-passage-marinebugs.jpg

LONDON, 14 February, 2015 − As Arctic sea ice continues to melt at an alarming rate, maritime traffic is set to increase − and with it the pollution emitted by ships’ engines.

A paper published by the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) says emissions of pollutants from vessels in the US area of the high Arctic could increase by between 150% and 600% by 2025.

Ships typically burn bunker fuel with a high sulphur content. As well as various greenhouse gases (GHGs), the engines also emit soot, or black carbon. And when this covers snow and ice, it reduces their ability to reflect sunlight away from the Earth, and so raises temperatures.

#arctic #transport_maritime #pollution #air

4 Signs the Arctic Is Getting Baked by Climate Change | Mother Jones
▻http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2014/12/arctic-sea-ice-polar-bears

The distressing Arctic prognosis is made abundantly clear in a new report card issued today by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The report card comes out every winter and provides an update of where things currently stand in the Arctic.

http://www.motherjones.com/files/sea-ice-map-630.jpg

A Strange New Gene Pool of Animals Is Brewing in the Arctic - Issue 101: In Our Nature
▻http://nautil.us/issue/101/in-our-nature/a-strange-new-gene-pool-of-animals-is-brewing-in-the-arctic-rp

http://static.nautil.us/3406_32fdab6559cdfa4f167f8c31b9199643.png

The journey began in spring 2010, just as the sea ice surrounding the North Pole began its annual melt. Two bowhead whales, 50-foot-long behemoths that scour the Arctic seas for plankton, each started from their homes on opposite sides of North America—one in the Beaufort Sea north of Alaska, the other in Baffin Bay on the west side of Greenland. As the summer progressed, sea ice shrank (to its third-lowest cover in the last 30 years), and the whales swam toward each other through the now ice-free passage above the continent. Two independent teams of scientists from Canada and the United States watched the whales closely via satellite. “We were all pretty excited,” recalls Kristen Laidre, a biologist at the University of Washington and member of the U.S. team. In September, in an inlet (...)

2014 Arctic sea ice extent - 6th lowest in millennia | Dana Nuccitelli | Environment | theguardian.com

▻http://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent/2014/oct/20/2014-arctic-sea-ice-extent-6th-lowest-in-millennia

Despite claims of Arctic sea ice ‘expansion’, 2014 saw the 6th-least ice in more than 1,450 years

The National Snow and Ice Data Center has reported that this year we saw the 6th-lowest minimum Arctic sea ice extent on record. Research has shown that most of the long-term decline in sea ice, or the “death spiral” as it’s come to be known, is due to human-caused global warming.

http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2014/10/18/1413593571945/00c36199-0fac-468c-86d4-76d93ce98cba-460x313.jpeg

Natural factors play a role in the extent of the Arctic sea ice as well, especially changes in weather conditions on a year-to-year basis. For example, 2012 shattered the previous record low Arctic sea ice extent because on top of the human influences, the weather conditions were ripe for a dramatic decline that year. In 2013 and 2014, weather conditions were closer to normal, so they didn’t break the 2012 record. As a result, the usual suspects have declared that Arctic sea ice is now “expanded” compared to two years ago.

http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2014/10/18/1413593352665/120afee8-e360-4a99-ab75-cabf94d6b08c-bestSizeAvailable.jpeg

#arctique #climat #glace

A Strange New Gene Pool of Animals Is Brewing in the Arctic - Issue 14: Mutation
▻http://nautil.us/issue/14/mutation/a-strange-new-gene-pool-of-animals-is-brewing-in-the-arctic

http://static.nautil.us/3406_32fdab6559cdfa4f167f8c31b9199643.png

The journey began in spring 2010, just as the sea ice surrounding the North Pole began its annual melt. Two bowhead whales, 50-foot-long behemoths that scour the Arctic seas for plankton, each started from their homes on opposite sides of North America—one in the Beaufort Sea north of Alaska, the other in Baffin Bay on the west side of Greenland. As the summer progressed, sea ice shrank (to its third-lowest cover in the last 30 years), and the whales swam toward each other through the now ice-free passage above the continent. Two independent teams of scientists from Canada and the United States watched the whales closely via satellite. “We were all pretty excited,” recalls Kristen Laidre, a biologist at the University of Washington and member of the U.S. team. In September, in an inlet (...)

Norway’s new Arctic giant spyship | Barentsobserver

▻http://barentsobserver.com/en/security/2014/03/norways-new-arctic-giant-spyship-17-03

This is the first photo of what is to be the most important military intelligence vessel for NATO in the Barents- and Arctic Seas.

By Thomas Nilsen March 17, 2014

▻http://barentsobserver.com/sites/barentsobserver.com/files/styles/grid_8/public/main/articles/marjata.jpg?itok=PCkcN4qC

“This is an important project to ensure Norway’s interests in the North. Control with the development there is strategically important for Norway,” says Head of the Norwegian Military Intelligence Lieutenant General Kjell Grandhagen.

#norvège #surveillance #contrôle #espionnage #bateau_espion

Climate change is here now and it could lead to global conflict
Nicholas Stern
▻http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/feb/13/storms-floods-climate-change-upon-us-lord-stern

In fact, the risks are even bigger than I realised when I was working on the review of the economics of climate change for the UK government in 2006. Since then, annual greenhouse gas emissions have increased steeply and some of the impacts, such as the decline of Arctic sea ice, have started to happen much more quickly.

We also underestimated the potential importance of strong feedbacks, such as the thawing of the permafrost to release #methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, as well as tipping points beyond which some changes in the climate may become effectively irreversible.

(...)

The lack of vision and political will from the leaders of many developed countries is not just harming their long-term competitiveness, but is also endangering efforts to create international co-operation and reach a new agreement that should be signed in Paris in December 2015.

#climat

Climate Science in Action (Earth Focus: Episode 60)
▻http://www.filmsforaction.org/watch/climate-science-in-action-earth-focus-episode-60

From researching the pace of Alaskan glacier melt to how changes in Arctic sea ice affect our weather, climate scientists go to some of the most remote areas on Earth to help us understand our...

Arctic melting ‘affects temperate zones’ | Climate News Network

▻http://www.climatenewsnetwork.net/2013/12/arctic-melting-affects-temperate-zones

Tim Radford

Weather extremes in temperate countries may be the consequence of the melting of Arctic snow and ice, according to Chinese and American scientists.

LONDON, 18 December – The shrinking Arctic sea ice – a loss of 8% per decade during the last 30 years – isn’t just bad news for polar bears. It could be bad news for citizens of Europe and the United States who like to think they live in a temperate zone.

Qiuhong Tang of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and colleagues from Beijing and the US report in Nature Climate Change that they have identified a link between declining snow and ice in the polar north, and catastrophic heat waves, droughts and floods in the mid-latitudes.

#climat #arctique