Arctic Ocean

Stories 1 - 20 |  Next >>

This Grim Arctic Milestone Is Only Years Away
This Grim Arctic Milestone
Is Only Years Away
NEW STUDY

This Grim Arctic Milestone Is Only Years Away

Decades after its first 'ice-free' day, ocean could be mostly water for months and months

(Newser) - If the Arctic were a color, it would be white. But not for long, apparently. Scientists say to expect a "blue Arctic" in summer months within a decade as emissions from the burning of fossil fuels continue to warm the planet, melting Arctic sea ice . Researchers used climate models...

Sinkhole on Arctic Seafloor Could Hold a City Block
Huge Sinkholes
Are Forming on
Arctic Seafloor
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Huge Sinkholes Are Forming on Arctic Seafloor

Permafrost is melting beneath the ocean, as on land: researchers

(Newser) - Melting permafrost has been wreaking havoc on the Arctic landscape, triggering ground collapses that leave deep holes in the earth. Now we have evidence that the same thing is happening under the ocean. Large sections of permafrost, or permanently frozen ground, were submerged as glaciers melted around the end of...

Arctic Ocean Began Warming Earlier Than Anybody Thought
Scientists Question Models
After Arctic Ocean Finding
in case you missed it

Scientists Question Models After Arctic Ocean Finding

Water was warming earlier than thought, researchers say

(Newser) - The Arctic Ocean began warming years before previously documented, new research shows—a finding that has scientists concerned about the accuracy of their models. The study showed the water temperature in parts of the polar region have risen about 2 degrees Celsius since 1900, as warmer and saltier water from...

Barriers Aren't Stopping the Oil. Now, Arctic Ocean Is in Peril

Booms put in place to contain spill in northern Siberia last month haven't been working well

(Newser) - Fuel is flowing toward the Arctic Ocean in Russia's far north following a major diesel spill last month. Some 150,000 barrels of diesel—nearly half as much fuel as leaked in the Exxon Valdez tanker spill in Alaska in 1989—were released near the mining city of Norilsk...

Odd Find in Arctic: 'What on Earth Were They Doing There?'

Several new chlamydia species found in high-pressure, oxygenless environment

(Newser) - Not many studies have been conducted on the diversity and ecological systems of the bacteria that causes chlamydia. So, per Newsweek , researchers from Sweden's Uppsala University and Norway's University of Bergen headed up to Loki's Castle—a field of hydrothermal vents in between Norway, Iceland, and Greenland—...

Massive Earthquake Shakes Remote Research Station

6.8 undersea quake struck in Arctic Ocean

(Newser) - A powerful earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.8 struck in the Arctic Ocean Friday, northwest of a largely uninhabited and remote Norwegian island, officials said. No injuries or damage were immediately reported. The Norwegian earthquake center NORSAR says the quake was recorded at 2:49am in the sea...

'Hotspot' of Plastic Trash Found in the Arctic
'Hotspot' of Plastic Trash
Found in the Arctic
NEW STUDY

'Hotspot' of Plastic Trash Found in the Arctic

Scientists fear effects on animals already under threat

(Newser) - In a further sign that plastic is not-so-slowly taking over our oceans , scientists say they've found a "hotspot" of plastic pollution from bags, bottles, and toys in Arctic waters. And the amount of plastic amassing on the ocean surface, in sea ice, and possibly even on the ocean...

Arctic Ocean Doing Its Best Atlantic Ocean Impression

And that's not great news for sea ice

(Newser) - The "Atlantification" of the Arctic Ocean is underway. And no, that doesn't mean we're about to get the polar bear version of Outkast, but rather that the Arctic Ocean is rapidly becoming more like the Atlantic Ocean, according to new research published Thursday. The Arctic Ocean has...

White House Conditionally Approves Shell's Arctic Drilling

Permits still needed, but drilling could start this summer

(Newser) - In a big victory for the petroleum industry, Shell has been granted conditional White House approval to start drilling for oil and gas in the Arctic this summer, the New York Times reports. "We have taken a thoughtful approach to carefully considering potential exploration in the Chukchi Sea, recognizing...

Explorers to Canoe for 9 Months— Upstream

Gulf-to-Arctic canoe journey has never been undertaken before

(Newser) - Paddling a canoe for up to 12 hours a day, sometimes while covered in ice, may not be every person's idea of a good time, but for six outdoor adventurers, that's exactly what they'll be doing until September. Iowans Luke Kimmes and Jarrad Moore, along with four...

Once-Frozen Arctic Sea Now Gets 16-Foot Waves

Which could further contribute to ice melt: study

(Newser) - Good news for Arctic surfers? The Beaufort Sea, part of the Arctic Ocean, was long covered in a perpetual layer of ice; not so anymore. Now, the area has seen waves 16 feet high thanks to warmer temperatures, scientists say in a new study, per National Geographic . The giant waves...

Thanks, Humanity: Ocean Floor Is a Garbage Dump

Study of 32 ocean sites finds not one free of human litter

(Newser) - In the depths of European oceans, you'll find coral, sand—and old Heineken cans. Yup, human litter can be found even in the most far-reaching places on the planet, according to one of the biggest scientific surveys ever done of the seafloor. Using video and trawling surveys between 1999...

Inside Russians' 6mph Road Trip to Canada

Journey took 70 days, passes through North Pole

(Newser) - Talk about a road trip: Russian explorers spent the past two-and-a-half months driving from Russia to Canada via the North Pole. But instead of car bingo and the alphabet game, they passed their time clearing the route with a pickaxe, gazing upon the aurora borealis, and spotting the occasional polar...

Open by 2050: North Pole Shipping Lanes

 Open by 2050: 
 Shipping Lanes 
 in North Pole 
in case you missed it

Open by 2050: Shipping Lanes in North Pole

Climate change opening up China-Europe shortcut

(Newser) - Climate change has got its upside if you happen to own a shipping company. Researchers say that by 2050, the Arctic ice sheet will be weak enough for cargo ships to take the northern route between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans without the aid of icebreakers, the Guardian reports. Ships...

Arctic Ice Hits Drastic New Low
 Arctic Ice Hits Drastic New Low 

Arctic Ice Hits Drastic New Low

Melt ends with ice 293K square miles below 2007 record

(Newser) - Sea ice in the Arctic shrank to a record low on August 27 —and kept shrinking for 20 days. The sea has finally begun to refreeze after bottoming out on September 16 at 1.32 million square miles, almost 300,000 square miles less than the record set at...

Woman Dies After Botched Sea Rescue

Janet Richardson, 73, spent nearly eight minutes in frigid waters

(Newser) - Janet Richardson left England for Norway last month, intending to see the Northern Lights with her husband. But little more than a week into the cruise, the 73-year-old, who suffered from diabetes, fell ill on the ship and began to suffer from internal bleeding. A botched rescue led to the...

Walruses Short-Changed on Fed Protection

Endangered tuskers 'low on the totem pole'

(Newser) - The Interior Department has decided that walruses are endangered enough to warrant protection—but it's not going to give it to them. The threat to the Pacific walrus from global warming reducing Arctic sea ice is very real, officials say, but limited government resources mean protection will have to wait...

Acid Ocean Will Dissolve Sea Creatures' Shells

Researchers uncover another devastating impact of global warming

(Newser) - Waters around the North Pole are absorbing so much carbon dioxide that acid in the ocean will soon begin dissolving sea creatures' shells, scientists warn. By 2018 10% of the Arctic Ocean will be corrosive, spelling potential disaster for the food chain as crustaceans begin to die off, reports the...

Ocean Census Surprises Scientists
Ocean Census Surprises Scientists

Ocean Census Surprises Scientists

Effort to chart all undersea life by 2010 finds 5K new species

(Newser) - Somewhere under the Antarctic Ocean, brittle starfish completely cover a submerged mountain. In the Pacific, sharks congregate in a region with few food sources but plenty of opportunity for romance. Those facts, along with an accounting of more than 5,000 newly discovered species, are part of the results of...

Arctic Ice at 2nd-Smallest Level

Melting amid cool conditions raises red flags

(Newser) - Arctic sea ice shrunk to its second-lowest size this summer, up 10% from last year's record, reports Reuters. The melting may not appear as noteworthy as that of 2007, said one research scientist, but the season's conditions prove otherwise. Last year's mix of warm air and favorable winds shifted the...

Stories 1 - 20 |  Next >>