Ice Melt

416,000 Years Ago, All Greenland’s Ice Melted and Raised Sea Levels 5-20 Feet: A Warning from the Past

By Paul Bierman, University of Vermont, and Tammy Rittenour, Utah State University | – About 400,000 years ago, large parts of Greenland were ice-free. Scrubby tundra basked in the Sun’s rays on the island’s northwest highlands. Evidence suggests that a forest of spruce trees, buzzing with insects, covered the southern part of Greenland. Global sea […]

Arctic

Climate Crisis: Meltwater is Creating Millions of Hairline Cracks in Greenland’s Ice Sheet, Destabilizing it with a form of Hydro-Fracking

The Conversation

(The Conversation) – Alun Hubbard, University of Tromsø | – I’m striding along the steep bank of a raging white-water torrent, and even though the canyon is only about the width of a highway, the river’s flow is greater than that of London’s Thames. The deafening roar and rumble of the cascading water is incredible […]

Antarctica

Fractured Foundations: how Antarctica’s ‘landfast’ Ice is Dwindling and why that’s bad News

The Conversation

By Alexander Fraser, University of Tasmania; Christine Weldrick, University of Tasmania; Laura Dalman, University of Tasmania; Matthew Corkill, University of Tasmania and Pat Wongpan, University of Tasmania | – There’s more to Antarctic ice than meets the eye. Sea ice is not a uniform crust overlying the salty Southern Ocean. Our new research is the […]

Bangladesh

Climate Crisis: Himalaya Glacier Melt Feeds India’s and Pakistan’s Rivers, but 80% of Lower Level Glacier Mass could be gone this Century

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – A new report on ice in the Himalayas issued by The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) finds that at the lower elevations of the Himalaya mountains, the snow depth and mass are projected to decline 25% by 2050 (regardless of greenhouse gas scenarios, i.e. this is already baked […]

CO2

Carbon Dioxide in our Atmosphere hits High not seen for Millions of Years, threatening Accelerated Global Heating

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced Monday that parts per million of carbon dioxide in our planet’s atmosphere averaged 424 ppm in the month of May, reaching a level not seen for millions of years. In May 2022 it was only 421 ppm so this is a tremendous […]

Arctic

Arctic Ocean could be Ice-Free in summer by 2030s, with Global, Damaging and Dangerous Consequences

The Conversation

By Jonathan Bamber, University of Bristol | – (The Conversation) – The Arctic Ocean could be ice-free in summer by the 2030s, even if we do a good job of reducing emissions between now and then. That’s the worrying conclusion of a new study in Nature Communications. Predictions of an ice-free Arctic Ocean have a […]

Arctic

Climate Emergency: Once Lush Oregon Faces a future of Wildfires, Drought and Vanishing Mountain Glaciers

Oregon Capital Chronicle

By: Lynne Terry – Coastal erosion in Gleneden Beach in March 2021 caused houses to sit on the edge of the cliff. (Courtesy of Hailey Bond) ( Oregon Capital Chronicle ) – It’s likely to be hot again this summer in Oregon, and that trend is likely to continue. An Oregon State University […]

Climate Crisis

Arctic sea ice loss and fierce storms leave Kivalina fighting to protect its island from the sea – ‘we just can’t adapt this fast’

The Conversation

By P. Joshua Griffin, University of Washington | – As winds and waves from Typhoon Merbok devastated communities along the coast of Western Alaska in 2022, Reppi Swan Sr.’s phone began to ring at Kivalina, a barrier island 80 miles above the Arctic Circle. A neighboring family had lost 3 feet of land to the […]

Climate Crisis

Rapid Heating of Oceans Frightens Scientists: Threatens Marine Life, Coastal Areas

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The oceans are hot. They are hot in a way that surprises and distresses climate scientists, Everyone knew they would heat up because of the climate emergency. But no one thought it would happen this fast and with this intensity. Moreover, some of the side effects we are seeing, like […]