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- Inupiat of the Arctic Circle 2-00
- Editorial in Favor of Drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska (Boston Herald)
Argues that drilling in the Alaska Wildlife Refuge will not cause much damage. Also argues that drilling there will help to keep the price of oil down. 2-02
- Arctic Ocean (Wikipedia.org)
"The Arctic Ocean, located entirely in the north polar region, is the smallest of the world's five oceans (after the Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean, and Southern Ocean), and the shallowest." 10-04
- Arctic Circle
- Warmest Arctic in 400 Years (ABC News)
"This season has ushered in the warmest Arctic summer in 400 years. A NASA report to be released this week finds the polar ice pack has shrunk by nearly 30 percent since 1978, and new satellite photos show the melting is speeding up." 9-05
- Scientists: Arctic Ice Loss Triggering Global Warming (BBC News)
" 'September 2005 will set a new record minimum in the amount of Arctic sea ice cover,' said Mark Serreze, of the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC), Boulder, Colorado.' "
"The current rate of shrinkage they calculate at 8% per decade; at this rate there may be no ice at all during the summer of 2060."
" 'These dark areas absorb a lot of the Sun's energy, much more than the ice, and what happens then is that the oceans start to warm up, and it becomes very difficult for ice to form during the following autumn and winter.' "
" 'It looks like this is exactly what we're seeing - a positive feedback effect, a "tipping-point".' "
"The idea behind tipping-points is that at some stage the rate of global warming would accelerate, as rising temperatures break down natural restraints or trigger environmental changes which release further amounts of greenhouse gases."
"The Arctic Climate Impact Assessment, a four-year study involving hundreds of scientists, projected an additional temperature rise of 4-7C by 2100." 9-05
- Hydrothermic Activity Beneath the Arctic Ocean (Max Planck Society)
"The scientists had expected that the Gakkel ridge would exhibit 'anemic' magmatism. Instead, surprisingly strong magmatic activity in the West and the East of the ridge and one of the strongest hydrothermal activities ever seen at mid-ocean ridges were found. These results require a fundamental rethinking of the mechanisms of seafloor generation at midocean ridges" 12-05
- Study: Arctic Was Once Tropical (Washington Times)
"First-of-its-kind core samples dug up from deep beneath the Arctic Ocean floor show that 55 million years ago an area near the North Pole was practically a subtropical paradise, three new studies show."
"Millions of years ago the Earth experienced an extended period of natural global warming. But about 55 million years ago there was a sudden supercharged spike of carbon dioxide that accelerated the greenhouse effect."
"Scientists already knew this 'thermal event' happened but are not sure what caused it. Perhaps massive releases of methane from the ocean, the continent-sized burning of trees, numerous volcanic eruptions." 05-06
- Arctic Is Melting Fast (National Geographic)
" 'The Arctic is the early warning for the rest of the world,' said Sheila Watt-Cloutier of the Inuit Circumpolar Conference. 'What happens to the planet happens first in the Arctic. Protect the Arctic and we save the planet. … We must all take what action we can to slow the pace of climate change, while there is still time.' " 06-06
- Map of the Arctic Circle (BugBog.com)
Provides a map with the Arctic Circle clearly marked. 10-04
- -10-05-06 "Monster" Fossil Found in Arctic (BBC News)
"Norwegian scientists have discovered a "treasure trove" of fossils belonging to giant sea reptiles that roamed the seas at the time of the dinosaurs."
"The fossil hoard comprises 21 long-necked plesiosaurs, six ichthyosaurs and one short-necked plesiosaur. The bones were unearthed in fine-grained sedimentary rock called black shale." 10-06
- -08-11-07 Race for Arctic Seabed Is On (CBS News)
"Canada's prime minister announced plans Friday for an army training center and a deepwater port on the third day of an Arctic trip meant to assert sovereignty over a region, while Denmark said it was staking its own claim with a scientific expedition."
"Global warming has raised the stakes in the scramble for sovereignty in the Arctic because shrinking polar ice could someday open up resource development and new shipping lanes."
"As global warming melts the passage — which is navigable only during a slim window in the summer — the waters are exposing unexplored resources, and becoming an attractive shipping route. Commercial ships can shave off some 2,480 miles from Europe to Asia compared with the current routes through the Panama Canal." 08-07
- -05-17-09 Study: Summer Arctic Ice May Be Gone by 2013 (BBC News)
"The most extreme scenario was for the ice to retreat as soon as 2013, but that was dismissed by many as far too soon."
"Now Professor Wadhams, who has studied the Arctic for the past 40 years, says that there is 'almost a breakdown' in the ice-cover."
"Over most of the Arctic, there has been a massive decline in the amount of so-called multi-year ice - ice that is tough enough to withstand the summer warmth." 05-09
- Understanding Climate Change in the Arctic (Damocles-EU.org)
"Arctic news is a selection of international Internet news items related to climate issues in the Arctic and is updated daily." 05-09
- Arctic Ice on Greenland (GreatestPlaces.org)
"In this frigid Arctic environment, approximately 85 percent of the island's surface is covered by a permanent ice cap. Averaging 5,000 feet in thickness, the ice cap in some places is as much as 14,000 feet thick and includes about 10 percent of all the ice in the world." 05-09
- Arctic Ice on Greenland (Physorg.com)
"So far, flights led by Krabill have found evidence that, in general, ice along Greenland's coast is thinning while some areas inland are thickening. Still, the net change points to an overall loss. There's enough ice and snow in Greenland to raise sea level by about 7 meters (23 feet) if it were to all melt." 05-09
- -09-03-09 Study: Arctic Warming But Should Be Cooling (MSNBC News)
"The Arctic is warmer than it's been in 2,000 years, according to a new study, even though it should be cooling because of changes in the Earth's orbit that cause the region to get less direct sunlight." 09-09
- Arctic Circle (Virtual Classroom)
Provides resources on the history and culture of the Arctic Circle, as well as an opportunity to critically examine some to the premises of cultural research.
- Grades 10 - 12 - Arctic Circle (Virtual Classroom)
Provides an opportunity to critically examine - and challenge - some to the premises of cultural research, using a population within the Arctic Circle as a case study. 10-04
- Arctic Circle Worksheets (AbcTeach)
Provides dozens of worksheets to help children have a better understanding of this region of the world. 8-01
- Arctic Circle (Wikipedia.org)
Provides information about the location of the Arctic Circle. 10-04
- The Arctic (InfoPlease.com)
"Region, primarily made up of the frozen Arctic Ocean, that surrounds the North Pole. Land masses include islands and the northern parts of the European, Asian, and North American continents." 10-04
- Arctic Studies Center (Smithsonian Institute)
"The Arctic Studies Center, in addition to its research and publication projects, is committed to Arctic discovery and education. In response to viewer feedback to our web site, ASC has compiled resources for teachers, school children and those interested in learning more about the north and the people who live there." 10-04
- Arctic Glossary (Smithsonian Institute)
Provides a simple glossary. 10-04
- Arctic Ocean (CIA.org)
"The Arctic Ocean is the smallest of the world's five oceans (after the Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean, and the recently delimited Southern Ocean)." 12-05
- The Arctic (InfoPlease.com - Encyclopedia)
"Arctic, the northernmost area of the earth, centered on the North Pole. The arctic regions are not coextensive with the area enclosed by the Arctic Circle (lat. 66°30'N) but are usually defined by the irregular and shifting 50°F (10°C) July isotherm that closely corresponds to the northern limit of tree growth and that varies both N and S of the Arctic Circle. The regions therefore include the Arctic Ocean; the northern reaches of Canada, Alaska, Russia, Norway, and the Atlantic Ocean; Svalbard; most of Iceland; Greenland; and the Bering Sea." 01-06
- -10-08-05 Ice Masses Monitor Lost (BBC News)
"The European Space Agency has confirmed that its ice mission Cryosat has been lost off the Russian coast."
"The satellite fell into the Arctic Ocean minutes after lift-off from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia."
"The £90m (135m euro) craft was designed to monitor how the Earth's ice masses are responding to climate change." 9-05
- -11-04-05 Senate Votes to Cut $35 Billion in Budget (Washington Post)
"The Senate approved sweeping deficit-reduction legislation last night that would save about $35 billion over the next five years by cutting federal spending on prescription drugs, agriculture supports and student loans, while clamping down on fraud in the Medicaid program."
"The measure would also open Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling, a long-sought goal of the oil industry that took a major step forward after years of political struggle. A bipartisan effort to strip the drilling provision narrowly failed." 11-05
- Permafrost Disappearing (Scientific American)
"The top 11 feet of soil in the Arctic continues to thaw. Sinkholes are opening, highways buckling, houses and forests tilting, all of which is wreaking havoc on landscapes, wildlife and cities from Murmansk to Juneau. This permafrost layer--defined as soil that remains icy cold for more than two years--covers nearly a quarter of the land in the Northern Hemisphere. But that total is shrinking and new models show that it may nearly disappear by the end of this century."
"Even more troubling, this permafrost layer contains anywhere from 20 to 60 percent of the carbon trapped in soils in the world." 12-05
- -12-27-05 Worldwide Protests Scheduled on Global Warming (CBS News)
"From the Arctic Inuit who are losing their ice caps and polar bears to activists demanding urgent action on global warming, thousands of people will hit the streets en masse Saturday across North America and other parts of the world." 12-05
- -01-14-06 Global Warming May Trigger a Very, Very Long Warming (International Herald Tribune)
"The Arctic, particularly, is filled with what amount to flippable climate switches, including natural repositories of carbon, like boggy tundra, that could emit vast amounts of greenhouse gases should the current warming trend pass certain points, said Jonathan Overpeck, the director of the Institute for the Study of Planet Earth at the University of Arizona."
"This could amplify warming and take the climate into a realm beyond anything experienced through human evolution." 12-05
- -03-23-06 Oceans to Rise (USA Today)
"At the current rate of rising temperatures, by the year 2100 Arctic summers could be as warm as they were 130,000 years ago. Back then, in a time known as the last interglacial, the oceans were 20 feet higher than they are now."
"That does not mean the researchers are predicting a 20-foot ocean rise by the end of this century; more like a couple of feet, they think. But such a warming is expected to accelerate melting of the polar ice and could lead to considerable additional sea-level rise, they said." 03-06
- -03-27-06 Is It Too Late to Stop Global Warming? (ABC News)
"A prime example: decayed vegetation in the Arctic, which contains massive amounts of carbon, used to be protected by the perpetual cold. As the climate warms — sped along by human beings burning fossil fuels that release carbon dioxide — scientists say the vegetation will dry out and break down, releasing even more carbon dioxide."
" 'Humans are putting about 6 or 7 billion metric tons of carbon in the atmosphere a year, and we're standing on 200 billion tons here," says [biologist Walter] Oechel. 'Any significant portion comes out, that's worse than current human injection into the atmosphere. And once that runaway release occurs, there would be no way to stop it.' " 03-06
- -04-05-06 "Missing Link" Between Fish and Land Animals Found (TimesOnline.co.uk)
"An evolutionary missing link that was among the first fish to leave the sea and walk on land has been unearthed in the Canadian Arctic."
"The fossil discovery illuminates a chapter in the history of life on Earth that was essential to the ultimate emergence of human beings. Tiktaalik roseae, which lived about 375 million years ago, has features that blur the distinction between fish and terrestrial limbed creatures." 04-06
- World's Largest Peat Bog Is Melting (Guardian Unlimited)
"Researchers who have recently returned from the region found that an area of permafrost spanning a million square kilometres - the size of France and Germany combined - has started to melt for the first time since it formed 11,000 years ago at the end of the last ice age."
"The area, which covers the entire sub-Arctic region of western Siberia, is the world's largest frozen peat bog and scientists fear that as it thaws, it will release billions of tonnes of methane, a greenhouse gas 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide, into the atmosphere." 05-06
- -04-24-07 Tunnel in the Ocean (CNN News)
"For more than a century, entrepreneurs and engineers have dreamed of building a tunnel connecting the eastern and western hemispheres under the Bering Strait -- only to be brought up short by war, revolution and politics."
"Now die-hard supporters are renewing their push for the audacious plan -- a $65 billion highway project that would link two of the world's most inhospitable regions by burrowing under a stretch of water connecting the Pacific with the Arctic Ocean." 04-07
- Freshwater in the Polar Ice Caps (Hypertextbook.com)
"Ice caps are found in several places in the Arctic region (Greenland, Iceland, Baffin Island, and the island of Spitsbergen) and over most of the Antarctic region. Approximately 90% of the ice on earth, is found either in Greenland or in Antarctica. The largest ice caps on the planet are found there. Greenland is a plateau surrounded by mountains. Antarctica is composed of mountains, valleys, and lowlands. From my research, I have found different values for the volume of the polar ice caps. For Antarctica, the approximate volume is 30,000,000 km3. For Greenland, it is approximately 3,000,000 km3."
"The volume of the polar ice caps is very important, because it may provide answers to future problems regarding the earth's fresh water. In the future, fresh water in the other six continents might be depleted. Since ice caps contain over 80% of the earth's fresh water, they could be used in the future to provide fresh water for earth's growing population." 07-07
- Polar Ice Caps and Rising Ocean Levels (HowStuffWorks.com)
"The main ice covered landmass is Antarctica at the South Pole, with about 90 percent of the world's ice (and 70 percent of its fresh water). Antarctica is covered with ice an average of 2,133 meters (7,000 feet) thick. If all of the Antarctic ice melted, sea levels around the world would rise about 61 meters (200 feet). But the average temperature in Antarctica is -37°C, so the ice there is in no danger of melting. In fact in most parts of the continent it never gets above freezing."
"At the other end of the world, the North Pole, the ice is not nearly as thick as at the South Pole. The ice floats on the Arctic Ocean. If it melted sea levels would not be affected."
"There is a significant amount of ice covering Greenland, which would add another 7 meters (20 feet) to the oceans if it melted. Because Greenland is closer to the equator than Antarctica, the temperatures there are higher, so the ice is more likely to melt." 07-07
- Polar Bears Going Extinct (CBS News)
"More than two-thirds of the world's polar bears will be killed off by 2050 - including the entire population in Alaska - because of thinning sea ice from global warming in the Arctic, government scientists forecast Friday." 09-07
- Walruses Losing Ice Shelves (US News)
"Thousands of walrus have appeared on Alaska's northwest coast in what conservationists are calling a dramatic consequence of global warming melting the Arctic sea ice." 10-07
- Walruses (Wikipedia.org)
"Walruses are immediately recognizable due to their prominent tusks, whiskers and great bulk; adult Pacific males can weigh up to two tons (4,400 lbs). Among pinnipeds they are exceeded in size only by the elephant seal. They play a prominent role in the arctic marine ecosystem and in the cultures and diets of many indigenous Arctic peoples. In the 19th and early 20th century, walruses were the objects of heavy commercial exploitation for blubber and ivory. Their global population has since rebounded, though the Atlantic sub-population remains fragmented and at historically depressed levels." 10-07
- -05-23-08 Mars Lander to Search for Life (Time.com)
"You're not very likely to find a penguin on Mars — or a seal or a puffin or a polar bear either. But that doesn't mean there aren't interesting things going on in the planet's polar regions. Life requires water, after all, and water — at least in the form of ice — is found in abundance at the poles. That's why the Mars Phoenix lander is en route to pay a call there, with a first ever touchdown in the Martian Arctic set for this Sunday at 7:53 p.m. (EDT)." 05-08
- -07-29-08 Giant Chunks Break Off Canadian Ice Shelf (MSNBC News)
"Giant sheets of ice totaling almost eight square miles broke off an ice shelf in the Canadian Arctic last week and more could follow later this year, scientists said on Tuesday."
"In a development consistent with climate change theories, the enormous icy plain broke free sometime last week and began slowly drifting into the Arctic Ocean. The piece had been a part of the shelf for 3,000 years." 07-08
- -01-04-08 Editorial: Everything You Heard in the VP Debate Is Wrong (New York Times)
"Since the vice presidential debate on Thursday night, two opposing myths have quickly taken hold about Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska. The first, advanced by her supporters, is that she made it through a gantlet of fire; the second, embraced by her detractors, is that her speaking style betrays her naïveté. Both are wrong."
"The concerns raised by the Couric interviews — that Ms. Palin memorizes talking points rather than grasping issues — should not be allayed by her performance in the forgiving format of a debate."
"The impression fits with the overall theme that Ms. Palin and Senator John McCain have been trying to advance: that expertise is overrated, homespun sincerity is better than sophistication, conviction is more important than analysis."
"Being able to see Russia from Alaska, then, means you have an understanding of foreign policy; living in an Arctic state means that you have an understanding of climate change." 10-08
- -04-14-09 Polar Melting (MSNBC News)
"At the North Pole, new satellite photos show Arctic ice is melting so fast, many scientists now predict it will be gone within 30 years. Some researchers think it could disappear in just six." 04-09
- Southern Ocean (About.com)
"In 2000, the International Hydrographic Organization created the fifth world ocean - the Southern Ocean - from the southern portions of the Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean, and Pacific Ocean. The Southern Ocean completely surrounds Antarctica."
"The Southern Ocean extends from the coast of Antarctica north to 60 degrees south latitude. The Southern Ocean is now the fourth largest of the world's five oceans (after the Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, and Indian Ocean, but larger than the Arctic Ocean)." 10-08
- Biomass Cook Stoves (TreeHugger.com)
"Though CO2 gets all the press and is the number one greenhouse gas, causing 40% of warming, black carbon comes in at number two. It's responsible for 16-18% of warming, depending on who's doing the calculations, and thankfully dissipates in the atmosphere pretty quickly, in a matter of weeks if the sources are removed. Which is why more efficient biomass cook stoves, such as used in many places in developing nations, could have a big climate change impact and be comparatively inexpensive and quick to implement...."
According to an article in the New York Times, " 'Like tiny heat-absorbing black sweaters, soot particles warm the air and melt the ice by absorbing the sun’s heat when they settle on glaciers. One recent study estimated that black carbon might account for as much as half of Arctic warming.' " 05-09
- Ocean Blob (Time.com)
"A group of hunters aboard a small boat out of the tiny Alaska village of Wainwright were the first to spot what would eventually be called "the blob." It was a dark, floating mass stretching for miles through the Chukchi Sea, a frigid and relatively shallow expanse of Arctic Ocean water between Alaska's northwest coast and the Russian Far East. The goo was fibrous, hairy. When it touched floating ice, it looked almost black."
"Test results released Thursday showed the blob wasn't oil, but a plant — a massive bloom of algae. While that may seem less dangerous, a lot of people are still uneasy." 07-09
- -Climate Change: What We Can Do (Evaluation and Development Institute)
"Earth's climate became very stable 10,000 years ago, allowing for agriculture for the first time. Our stable climate arose from a balance of three ingredients:
-Greenhouse gases
-Ocean currents and
-Polar ice
Greenhouse gases provided a stable temperature to allow ocean currents to mix heat and cold around the globe and to maintain a relatively constant amount of polar ice.
We now have 1/3 more CO2 in the air than we had only 150 years ago--and CO2 stays in the atmosphere for hundreds of years. The extra carbon keeps more heat in the air. The extra heat is absorbed by polar ice, soil, and the oceans. The ice over the Arctic Ocean is expected to be gone during summers within 5-10 years. Instead of ice over the Arctic Ocean reflecting heat, the Arctic Ocean will absorb heat. This will slow the ocean currents even more--they already are slowing because of the change in climate.
When the ocean currents stop and the Arctic ice melts, we will have a climate catastrophe that can be expected to last thousands of years. Permafrost in Russia and other regions will melt, releasing gigantic amounts of carbon and methane stored in the soil. The release will trigger even more extreme climate."
"Only one cost-effective solution has been found for quickly reducing the carbon in the air:"
"Each year we must convert enough biomass (organic waste) into biochar (charcoal) to extract at least 7 gigatons of carbon from the air and place it in our soils." 08-09
- -12-14-09 Gore: Polar Ice May Melt Within 5-7 Years (CBS News)
"Al Gore has told the U.N. climate conference that new data suggests the Arctic polar ice cap may disappear in the summertime as soon as five to seven years from now." 12-09
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[Dr. Jerry Adams at jadams@awesomelibrary.org.]
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