Greens Blast Arctic 'Carve Up'

(NEWSER) - Canada and the US are letting their Arctic rivalry thaw long enough to launch an exploration mission, the Globe & Mail reports. A pair of icebreakers—one from each country—will set off next week into uncharted waters, working in tandem to clear a path and map North America's continental shelf. The research is likely to lay a foundation for future claims to the Arctic's riches. More»

As ice thaws, yachts glide through Northwest Passage

(NEWSER) - It's smooth sailing in the Arctic nowadays. Even in recent years, the ice was apt to claim adventurers who dared navigate the Northwest Passage. This year the passage has no ice. And with global warming claiming some 38,000 square miles of ice a year, the Journal reports, the Arctic could be open to commercial and recreational sailing by 2020. More»

Bears now seen eating cubs on sea ice

(NEWSER) - Male polar bears have long been known to prey on cubs and even females, but bear cannibalism is more widespread than earlier thought, and may be on the increase because of climate change, researchers warn. Most previous sightings of bear eating bear involved animals on shore late in the year, but several sightings have been reported recently of polar bear cannibalism taking place in summer while the bears were still using floating sea ice as platforms to hunt seals, MSNBC reports. More»

Scramble for melting Arctic starting to heat up

(NEWSER) - As melting ice continues to make more of the Arctic Sea accessible every year, Russia is planning to annex an area of the sea the size of Texas and Arizona combined. The Kremlin is expected to stake its claim to the waters at the United Nations, arguing that the Siberian continental shelf is connected to undersea Arctic ridges, the Christian Science Monitor reports. More»

Report adds 2 to 3 feet to global sea level prediction

(NEWSER) - Global sea levels are likely to raise two or three feet more than previously predicted this century, because the Arctic is melting significantly faster than expected, scientists conclude in a new report being presented to international officials today. The report, which examined the past six years' worth of data, predicts a 35- to 63-inch rise over 1990 levels by 2100. That's a drastic departure from a 2007 climate change report by the UN that predicted a 7- to 23-inch rise in sea levels, MSNBC reports. More»