Melting Alaska, Tourist Hot Spot

Climate change opens north to shipping, tourism, resource development

(NEWSER) - Climate change is melting away the main barrier to business in the Arctic—ice—but the US lags behind other countries seeking to exploit the region, the Anchorage Daily News reports. As receding ice opens the area to shipping, resource exploitation, and tourism, it's Russia and Canada who have established transport rules and studied the ocean floor. "It's like the new Strait of Gibraltar," says a Coast Guard captain of the Bering Strait. More»

Essential organisms affected by melting ice: study

(NEWSER) - Melting Arctic ice has spurred tiny organisms in the region to bloom far earlier, a study suggests—a shift which could have disastrous results for the entire Arctic ecosystem. Phytoplankton are at the root of the food web there: zooplankton subsist on them, fish eat the zooplankton, birds eat the fish, and so on. But now, phytoplankton populations are peaking as many as 50 days earlier than they were just 14 years ago, reports the Washington Post . "A 50-day shift is a big shift," says one expert; the study's author calls the trend "obvious and significant." More»

Mama grizzly, papa polar means threatened baby

(NEWSER) - Melting arctic sea ice isn’t just threatening polar bears’ lives—it’s threatening their gene pool. The loss of ice means more contact between polar bears and genetically-similar grizzlies, which means cross-breeding, scientists say. Hunters have shot at least two polar-grizzly crosses since 2006, the Independent reports. Other species appear to be mixing, too, including beluga whales and narwhals, as well as bowhead and right whales. More»

Temps, up 2.2 F Since 1900, Would Be 2.5 Degrees Cooler Without Greenhouse Gases

(NEWSER) - Summer temperatures in the Arctic have climbed 2.2°F since 1900 despite an 8,000-year cooling trend, the Guardian reports. For the past few thousand years, the orbit of the Earth and the changing tilt of its axis has put the Arctic 630,000 miles further from the sun than in the year 0, which would have left the region 2.5°F cooler than it is today without human intervention, scientists say. They blame greenhouse gases for the cranked-up heat. More»

(NEWSER) - Snorkelers and scuba divers aren’t the worst threat to the embattled coral reefs of the world—climate change, commercial fishing, and pollution take top honors—but the casual tourist can lessen, and even mitigate, the damage he or she causes, Slate reports. Of course, snorkelers shouldn’t purposefully snap off pieces of the majestic underwater life forms. But carelessly dragging equipment across coral, or walking on it, while looking for a better view is equally destructive. More»