A forest fire in Yakutsk in eastern Siberia on June 2, 2020. Yevgeny Sofroneyev / TASS via Getty Images
Once thought too frozen to burn, Siberia is now on fire and spewing carbon after enduring its warmest June ever, according to CNN.
<p>The most immediate impacts of the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-crisis" target="_self">climate crisis</a> are in the nether-regions world of the world where temperatures are extreme and inhospitable. One of the most alarming examples is playing out in Siberia, which just saw temperatures reach triple digits as it endured its warmest month ever. That June heatwave in Siberia has led to some staggering numbers, according to scientists, as <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/07/weather/siberia-arctic-temperature-wildfires-intl/index.html" target="_blank">CNN</a> reported.</p><p>The <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/wildfires" target="_self">wildfires</a> in Siberia started much earlier in the spring than ever before, according to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/rapid-arctic-meltdown-in-siberia-alarms-scientists/2020/07/03/4c1bd6a6-bbaa-11ea-bdaf-a129f921026f_story.html" target="_blank">The Washington Post</a>. Permafrost is thawing, infrastructure is crumbling, and <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/sea-ice" target="_self">sea ice</a> is dramatically vanishing.</p><p>"We always expected the <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/arctic">Arctic</a> to change faster than the rest of the globe," said Walt Meier, a senior research scientist at the National Snow and Ice Data Center at the University of Colorado at Boulder, to The Washington Post. "But I don't think anyone expected the changes to happen as fast as we are seeing them happen."</p>
<p>The wildfires released an estimated 59 megatonnes of carbon dioxide across Siberia in June, according to scientists at the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS). This spate of fires on landscapes that are typically too cold, wet, and icy to burn is raising alarms for ecologists and climate scientists, according to <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2020/07/heat-wave-thawed-siberia-now-on-fire/" target="_blank">National Geographic</a>. They fear the rash of blazes is another sign that the Arctic is undergoing rapid changes that could set off a series of consequences on a global scale.</p><p>The fires can be a double whammy for the Siberian ecosystem. If they become a regular occurrence, it could cause new species to colonize the area, which would set the stage for more fires. Also, the increased intensity and duration of the fires may accelerate the climate crisis by thawing the ground and releasing trapped carbon that has accumulated in frozen organic matter, as National Geographic reported.</p><p>"By how big they are and how hot they are, I would say there's no way they're not burning down," said Amber Soja, an associate research fellow with the National Institute of Aerospace and an expert on Siberian wildfires, to National Geographic.</p>
<p>Already, the area's carbon dioxide emissions for June were its highest in the 18 years of the CAMS dataset, surpassing the record of 53 megatonnes set just one year ago in June 2019.</p><p>"Higher temperatures and drier surface conditions are providing ideal conditions for these fires to burn and to persist for so long over such a large area," said CAMS senior scientist Mark Parrington, as CNN reported.</p><p>"We have seen very similar patterns in the fire activity and soil moisture anomalies across the region in our fire monitoring activities over the last few years."</p><p>Siberia also had a warmer than average winter. CAMS said that the warm winter meant that "zombie" blazes were able to smolder through the winter and may have reignited this spring, according to <a href="https://phys.org/news/2020-07-warmest-june-globally-siberia-sizzles.html" target="_blank">Phys.org</a>.</p>
<p>Globally, June 2020 was more than half a degree Celsius warmer than the 1981-2010 average for the same month, and on a par with June 2019 as the warmest ever registered. Siberia, which is larger than the U.S. and Mexico combined, was more than 5 degrees Celsius above normal for June, according to Copernicus Climate Change Services satellite data, as Phys.org reported.</p><p>Some parts of Siberia had an average temperature that was 10 degrees Celsius, or 18 degrees Fahrenheit, warmer than average. The Arctic is warming twice as fast as the rest of the planet through a process known as Arctic amplification, as CNN reported. Arctic ice melt has accelerated, which leads to seasonal snow cover that isn't as white and absorbs more sunlight, which leads to more warming, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.</p><p>"To me what's really shocking is how warm it's been relative to average for so many weeks and months," said <a href="https://twitter.com/ZLabe" target="_blank">Zack Labe</a>, a climate scientist at Colorado State University, as National Geographic reported.</p>
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The new model predicts the growth of small ponds on arctic ice sheets. Scientific Visualization Studio / NASA
By Anurag Papolu
To better predict climate change, scientists need accurate models which predict the behavior of many natural processes. One of these is the melting of Arctic sea ice, which requires expensive and difficult data collection in the Arctic.
<p>
Physicist Ivan Sudakov at the University of Dayton and his colleagues have developed a new method to understand the growth of small ponds on sea ice. They developed a model which borrows ideas from the 100-year-old Ising model that simulates the behavior of ferromagnetic materials.
</p>
<p><a href="https://youtu.be/GstRfQnFPRA" target="_blank">This video</a> shows how these small ponds form on the ice, and how the model can be used to understand the process more efficiently.</p>
<span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="6fb1a8eae8087a1ce6dc424fa7413561"><iframe lazy-loadable="true" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/GstRfQnFPRA?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span>
<p><em>Anurag worked as a graphic designer, photographer, documentary video editor, and motion graphics artist before joining The Conversation. He earned his Master's in Journalism from the CUNY J-School and Bachelor's in Photography & Design from RIT.</em></p><p>
<em>Reposted with permission from </em><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/video-how-simple-math-can-help-predict-the-melting-of-sea-ice-140682" target="_blank">The Conversation</a></em><em>.</em>
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Icebergs and sea ice in the waters off the Australian Antarctic Division on Jan.17, 2008. Fairfax Media via Getty Images
For the first time, microscopic plastic pollution has been found in Antarctic sea ice samples collected more than a decade ago, suggesting that microplastic concentrations in Southern Sea ice may be higher than previously believed.
<p>A total of 96 microplastic particles from 14 different types of polymer were discovered in an ice core sample collected from Casey Station located in East <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/antarctica">Antarctica</a> in 2009. As ice freezes in the region, scientists believe that small pieces of plastic may become trapped in ice, which acts as a reservoir for pollution until it is released again by ice melt.</p>
<p>"The remoteness of the Southern Ocean has not been enough to protect it from plastic pollution, which is now pervasive across the world's <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/oceans" target="_self">oceans</a>," <a href="https://www.imas.utas.edu.au/news/news-items/microplastic-pollution-recorded-for-first-time-in-antarctic-sea-ice" target="_blank">said</a> lead study author Anna Kelly who published her findings in <em><a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2020.111130" target="_blank"><em>Marine Pollution Bulletin</em></a>.</em></p><p>Plastic particles measuring less than 5 millimeters have become common in remote marine habitats, from nearly every corner of the world to the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/plastics-deep-sea-fish-2536726086.html" target="_self">bellies of the world's most remote organisms</a>. Since researchers began tracing microplastics six years ago, they have found plastic pollution in Antarctic <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/308738818_Microplastics_in_the_Southern_Ocean" target="_blank">surface waters</a> and sediments as well as in <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/arctic" target="_self">Arctic</a> sea ice. Though these regions are remote, concentrations of microplastics have been found to rival those found in more urban settings.</p>
<p>"Forming from seawater, around 80 percent of Antarctic sea ice melts and reforms each year, providing seasonal opportunities for microplastics on the sea surface to become trapped in the ice," said Kelly, who worked with a team of scientists from the <a href="file:///C:/Users/admin/Desktop/Madison%20Dap,%20LLC/Ecowatch/imas.utas.edu.au" target="_blank">Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies</a> and the <a href="http://www.antarctica.gov.au/" target="_blank">Australian Antarctic Division</a>. Researchers wore a Tyvek suit both when collecting the ice core and when processing it, and a cotton lab coat was worn 11 years later to prevent potential cross-contamination.</p><p>An average of nearly 12 particles of microplastic were found in every examined liter of coastal land-fast sea ice, which is sea ice "fastened" to the coastline, according to the <a href="http://psc.apl.washington.edu/nonwp_projects/landfast_ice/about.php" target="_blank">Polar Science Center</a>. This number is slightly lower than what previous studies in polar regions have detected, but the overall size of each was larger, which indicate that the pollution came from local sources as it had "less time to break down into smaller fibers than if transported long distances on ocean currents."</p><p>"Local sources could include clothing and equipment used by tourists and researchers, while the fact that we also identified fibers of varnish and plastics commonly used in the fishing industry suggests a maritime source," Kelly said.</p>
<p>It could be that tourists or scientific researchers visiting the continent contribute microplastic pollution from their clothing fibers and other equipment, especially considering that the ice core sample was collected near a research facility that sees a steady stream of visitors. Microplastics trapped in ice rather than sinking to the deep ocean allows the pollutants to "persist for longer near the surface," making them more likely to be consumed by small marine organisms like krill who mistake it for food. Additionally, the findings suggest that sea ice could serve as a reservoir for microplastic debris in the Southern Ocean, posing potential biogeochemistry consequences.</p><p>"It is worth noting that plastic contamination of West Antarctic sea ice may be even greater than in our ice core from the East, as the Antarctic Peninsula hosts the bulk of the continent's tourism, research stations and marine traffic," said Kelly.</p><p>The researchers conclude that the findings present a "crucial need for stringent methods" when it comes to both to recovering and measuring microplastic particles from polar regions.</p>
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An iceberg melts off of Greenland. Danita Delimont / Getty Images
The polar ice caps are melting six times faster than they were in the 1990s, the most comprehensive look at the data to date has found.
<p>That data, compiled and analyzed by the <a href="http://imbie.org/" target="_blank">Ice Sheet Mass Balance Intercomparison Exercise (IMBIE)</a>, puts the melting of <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/greenland" target="_self">Greenland</a> and <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/antarctica" target="_self">Antarctica</a>'s ice sheets on track with the worst-case-scenario prediction from the <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/" target="_blank">Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change</a> (IPCC). If this trend continues, it could put 400 million people at risk from <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/sea-level-rise" target="_self">sea level rise</a> by 2100.</p><p>"That's not a good news story," professor Andrew Shepherd from the University of Leeds <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-51846468" target="_blank">told BBC News</a>.</p><p>Shepherd helped lead an international team of 89 polar scientists who analyzed ice loss at both poles using 26 surveys and 11 satellite missions between 1992 and 2018, according to a <a href="https://www.leeds.ac.uk/news/article/4561/six-fold_increase_in_polar_ice_losses_since_the_1990s" target="_blank">University of Leeds press release</a>.</p><p>They found that Greenland and Antarctica together lost 6.4 trillion tonnes (approximately 7.1 trillion U.S. tons) of ice between 1992 and 2017, raising global sea levels by 17.8 millimeters (approximately .7 inches). Not only that, but the rate of loss accelerated. The ice sheets lost 81 billion tonnes (approximately 89 billion U.S. tons) a year in the 1990s and 475 billion tonnes (approximately 524 billion U.S. tons) a year in the 2010s. This means they are now contributing much more to sea level rise.</p>
<p>"Today, the ice sheets contribute about a third of all sea-level rise, whereas in the 1990s, their contribution was actually pretty small at about 5%. This has important implications for the future, for coastal flooding and erosion," Shepherd told BBC News.</p><p>The Antarctica figures were published in Nature in 2018, while the Greenland figures were published in Nature this week.</p><p>The two polar regions have responded slightly differently, according to the press release. Ice melt in Antarctica has contributed 40 percent of the combined total sea level rise and is driven by warm ocean water melting its glaciers. Ice melt in Greenland, which accounts for 60 percent of the sea level rise, is driven partly by ocean water but partly by warmer air temperatures melting the surface of its ice sheet.</p>
<p>In both cases, the extent of the ice loss is clear evidence of the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change/" target="_self">climate crisis</a>, research leader Erik Ivins of Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory told <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/mar/11/polar-ice-caps-melting-six-times-faster-than-in-1990s?CMP=twt_a-environment_b-gdneco&fbclid=IwAR3w692OeS1yczfedxzhxo_JzFQvO7m-yJZwgc5F9UpoxwG8xoCNVY1USRY" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>.</p><p>"The satellite measurements provide prima facie, rather irrefutable, evidence," he said.</p><p>The findings have serious consequences for the future. The IPCC most recently predicted sea levels would rise 53 centimeters (approximately 21 inches) by 2100, putting 360 million people at risk from coastal flooding every year. But, the new data puts sea levels on track to rise an additional 17 centimeters (approximately 6.7 inches). This would increase the number of people at risk from yearly coastal flooding by 2100 to 400 million.</p><p>"These are not unlikely events with small impacts; they are already underway and will be devastating for coastal communities," Shepherd said in the press release.</p><p>However, this future is not inevitable. While Shepherd told The Guardian that the ice caps would melt for another 30 years even if greenhouse gas emissions ceased today, there is still time to limit the amount of melting.</p><p>"We can offset some of that [sea level rise] if we stop heating the planet," he said.</p>
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A polar bear is seen stopping to drink near the north pole. Christopher Michel / Flickr / CC BY 2.0
The fossil fuel industry is driving polar bears to cannibalism.
<p>Scientists at the Russian Academy of Sciences said Wednesday that there were increasing reports of bears attacking other bears for food, <a href="https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2020/02/26/polar-bear-cannibalism-on-the-rise-in-russias-arctic-scientists-say-a69419" target="_blank">The Moscow Times reported</a>.</p><p>"Cases of cannibalism among polar bears are a long-established fact, but we're worried that such cases used to be found rarely while now they are recorded quite often," polar bear expert at Moscow's Severtsov Institute of Problems of Ecology and Evolution Ilya Mordvintsev told the Interfax news agency, as <a href="https://www.afp.com/en/news/15/cannibalism-rise-among-polar-bears-say-russian-scientists-doc-1pc4mk2" target="_blank">AFP reported</a>.</p><p>Mordvintsev, who presented his findings in Saint Petersburg, attributed the increase in cannibalism to lack of other food options.</p>
<p>"In some seasons there is not enough food and large males attack females with cubs," he said.</p><p>Fossil fuel extraction is attacking the polar bears' habitat and traditional food sources on two fronts. On the one hand, the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change/" target="_self">climate crisis</a> is heating Russia 2.5 times faster than the rest of the world, according to The Moscow Times. <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/sea-ice" target="_self">Sea ice</a> extent in the Russian <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/arctic" target="_self">Arctic</a> by the end of summer has decreased by 40 percent, fellow scientist Vladimir Sokolov said, according to AFP.</p><p>On the other hand, <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/oil-and-gas" target="_self">oil and gas</a> development in the Yamal Peninsula and the Gulf of Ob is directly disturbing the polar bears' habitat, Mordvintsev said, according to The Moscow Times. Their hunting grounds along the gulf have become a shipping channel for liquefied natural gas, AFP reported.</p><p>"The Gulf of Ob was always a hunting ground for the polar bear. Now it has broken ice all year round," Mordvintsev said, according to AFP.</p>
<p>However, the increased human presence in the region also means the uptick in reported bear cannibalism could be partly attributed to the fact that there are now more people around to witness it.</p><p>"Now we get information not only from scientists but also from the growing number of oil workers and [defense] ministry employees," Mordvintsev said.</p><p>But the uptick in reported cannibalism is far from the only signal that polar bears are suffering because of human activity. A <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/polar-bears-sea-ice-loss-2645182029.html" target="_self">study published this month</a> found that polar bears in Canada and Greenland were losing weight and having fewer babies because of reduced sea ice.</p><p>This loss of habitat is also pushing bears into human villages. In 2019, Russian authorities had to <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/russia-polar-bear-migration-climate-2628631078.html" target="_self">declare a state of emergency</a> when more than 50 polar bears wandered into a settlement on Russia's Novaya Zemlya islands.</p>
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A harbour seal on an ice floe in Glacier Bay, Alaska. A new study shows that the climate crisis has warmed waters, changing ecosystems and crippling sea ice growth. Janette Hill / robertharding / Getty Images Plus
The climate crisis is accelerating the rate of change in Alaska's marine ecosystem far faster than scientists had previously thought, causing possibly irreversible changes, according to new research, as Newsweek reported.
<p>The new <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-020-0695-2.epdf?referrer_access_token=CO2LiJIJlZL_98zWr-VWLNRgN0jAjWel9jnR3ZoTv0O7LDNa0WF3Wh7MTmHaeaZVv2T9vIb8LrGUH8lMDd4MucAiKlopvTPVSZQJLbwuKLvlF6PVBG232cHDJJ63lWSEDUVS9kwNNfLAjMIN0QuTNz0R8kc1mn-lHI8ur799j_zhNc9mfrvx6GWd-hGvHFHmVMtycew6loVKQzTg2RpViRu6PoY2G232NIEvKSzyZk4K9OwQk9Z3hHcmjLiDNgIvIplP-v82bpHIt52Qp8rj5A%3D%3D&tracking_referrer=www.newsweek.com" target="_blank">study</a> from the University of Alaska Fairbanks shows that the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-crisis" target="_self">climate crisis</a> has warmed waters, changing ecosystems and crippling sea ice growth. The researchers told <a href="https://www.alaskapublic.org/2020/02/24/dramatic-ocean-changes-are-coming-a-couple-decades-too-early-scientists-say/" target="_blank">Alaska Public Media</a> that now is the perfect time to study Alaskan waters before warmer temperatures become the new normal.</p><p>Seth Danielson, one of the researchers on the paper told <a href="https://www.alaskapublic.org/2020/02/24/dramatic-ocean-changes-are-coming-a-couple-decades-too-early-scientists-say/" target="_blank">Alaska Public Media</a> that their team was shocked by the record low <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/sea-ice" target="_self">sea ice</a> and record high <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/oceans" target="_self">ocean</a> temperatures of the last couple of years.</p><p>"It was a bit surprising because we felt like it came a couple decades too early," said Danielson to <a href="https://www.alaskapublic.org/2020/02/24/dramatic-ocean-changes-are-coming-a-couple-decades-too-early-scientists-say/" target="_blank">Alaska Public Media</a>.</p><p>The study published in the journal Nature Climate Change said that 2017 showed signs of "a sudden and dramatic shift," according to the <a href="https://www.ibtimes.sg/alaskas-marine-ecosystem-undergoes-sudden-shift-due-climate-change-39972" target="_blank">International Business Times</a>.</p><p>This dramatic changes in ocean temperatures will have large impacts on the region, not only to the marine populations, but to the commercial fishing industry and to local populations that rely on subsistence fishing, as the <a href="https://www.ibtimes.sg/alaskas-marine-ecosystem-undergoes-sudden-shift-due-climate-change-39972" target="_blank">International Business Times</a> reported.</p>
<p>While the <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-020-0695-2.epdf?referrer_access_token=CO2LiJIJlZL_98zWr-VWLNRgN0jAjWel9jnR3ZoTv0O7LDNa0WF3Wh7MTmHaeaZVv2T9vIb8LrGUH8lMDd4MucAiKlopvTPVSZQJLbwuKLvlF6PVBG232cHDJJ63lWSEDUVS9kwNNfLAjMIN0QuTNz0R8kc1mn-lHI8ur799j_zhNc9mfrvx6GWd-hGvHFHmVMtycew6loVKQzTg2RpViRu6PoY2G232NIEvKSzyZk4K9OwQk9Z3hHcmjLiDNgIvIplP-v82bpHIt52Qp8rj5A%3D%3D&tracking_referrer=www.newsweek.com" target="_blank">study</a> focused on 2017, temperatures over the last two years suggest a lasting change is in the works.</p><p>"Many changes persisted in 2018 and even into 2019, suggesting that 2017 was not a passing oddity of brief consequence to social-ecological systems, but a sign of what is to come," according to the <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-020-0695-2.epdf?referrer_access_token=CO2LiJIJlZL_98zWr-VWLNRgN0jAjWel9jnR3ZoTv0O7LDNa0WF3Wh7MTmHaeaZVv2T9vIb8LrGUH8lMDd4MucAiKlopvTPVSZQJLbwuKLvlF6PVBG232cHDJJ63lWSEDUVS9kwNNfLAjMIN0QuTNz0R8kc1mn-lHI8ur799j_zhNc9mfrvx6GWd-hGvHFHmVMtycew6loVKQzTg2RpViRu6PoY2G232NIEvKSzyZk4K9OwQk9Z3hHcmjLiDNgIvIplP-v82bpHIt52Qp8rj5A%3D%3D&tracking_referrer=www.newsweek.com" target="_blank">study</a>, as <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/alaska-marine-ecosystem-shift-climate-change-scientists-1488753" target="_blank">Newsweek</a> reported.</p><p>The reduction in sea ice will open up commercial vessel lanes, which could reduce the viability of subsistence fishing, according to Danielson, as <a href="https://www.alaskapublic.org/2020/02/24/dramatic-ocean-changes-are-coming-a-couple-decades-too-early-scientists-say/" target="_blank">Alaska Public Media</a> reported. It also could change the migratory patterns of the <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/whales" target="_self">whales</a>, walruses, and other species that migrate between the Chukchi and Bering Seas.</p><p>"The time of the year that some hunting activities can take place may need to change," Danielson said to <a href="https://www.alaskapublic.org/2020/02/24/dramatic-ocean-changes-are-coming-a-couple-decades-too-early-scientists-say/" target="_blank">Alaska Public Media</a>. "I think we've seen some indications of that already. And the species that people are hunting and fishing for may change as well."</p>
<p>The Chukchi and Bering Seas lifecycles are driven by seasonal changes in sea ice and in water temperatures.</p><p>Whales, walruses and other species move southwards into the Bering Sea in the winter months when the water freezes over. Whales and walruses tend to move south into the Bering Sea during the winter. Then snow melt and algae growth in the spring allows <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/marine-life" target="_self">marine species</a> to flourish in summer, providing ample food for those large mammals, as <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/alaska-marine-ecosystem-shift-climate-change-scientists-1488753" target="_blank">Newsweek</a> reported.</p><p>However, the warmer temperatures mean some animals are staying in the north and foregoing their migration down to the Bering Sea. The changes in temperatures mean many of the foods that large sea mammals rely on are dwindling.</p><p>Spotted seal pups seemed to suffer terribly, according to <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/alaska-marine-ecosystem-shift-climate-change-scientists-1488753" target="_blank">Newsweek</a>. They appeared thinner and smaller than normal. Ribbon seals, similarly, appeared to have rapidly declining birth rates and many more carcasses washing ashore in 2018 — about five times the annual average from 2014 to 2017.</p>
<p>The researchers also noted a change in the type of fish found in Alaska's waters, noting that pacific cod are appearing further north and have the potential to disturb native Arctic cod population, according to <a href="https://www.alaskapublic.org/2020/02/24/dramatic-ocean-changes-are-coming-a-couple-decades-too-early-scientists-say/" target="_blank">Alaska Public Media</a>.<br></p><p>"They're a focal point through which energy flows to a lot of different components," said Danielson to <a href="https://www.alaskapublic.org/2020/02/24/dramatic-ocean-changes-are-coming-a-couple-decades-too-early-scientists-say/" target="_blank">Alaska Public Media</a>. "For instance, they're eaten by the seals. They're eaten directly by people. The seals are eaten by people and polar bears."</p><p>"You can be fairly confident in attributing these types of unusual events to human-induced causes," Danielson added.</p>
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Polar bears on Barter Island on the north slope of Alaska wait for the winter sea ice to arrive so they can leave to hunt seals, on Sept. 28, 2015. cheryl strahl / Flickr
The climate crisis wreaks havoc on animals and plants that have trouble adapting to global heating and extreme weather. Some of the most obvious examples are at the far reaches of the planet, as bees disappear from Canada, penguin populations plummet in the Antarctic, and now polar bears in the Arctic are struggling from sea ice loss, according to a new study, as CNN reported.
<p>In the study, published in <a href="https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/eap.2071" target="_blank">Ecological Applications</a>, researchers found that polar bears are losing weight and having fewer babies because their habitat is under threat. The scientists from the University of Washington found that polar bears are spending more time on land than in previous decades, as <a href="https://www.oceanographicmagazine.com/polar-bears-baffin-bay/" target="_blank">Oceanographic Magazine</a> reported.</p><p>Polar bears rely on sea ice for every aspect of their survival. They use sea ice to hunt seals, travel, build dens and mate. As ice begins to melt earlier in the year, the polar bears have less time for eating and having babies, as <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/14/world/polar-bears-thinner-fewer-cubs-scn-trnd/index.html" target="_blank">CNN</a> reported.</p>
<p>"Climate-induced changes in the Arctic are clearly affecting polar bears," said lead author Kristin Laidre, an associate professor of aquatic and fishery sciences at the University of Washington, in a <a href="https://www.futurity.org/sea-ice-polar-bears-climate-change-2281032-2/" target="_blank">statement</a>. "They are an icon of climate change, but they're also an early indicator of climate change because they are so dependent on sea ice."</p><p>The intentional research team looked at satellite tracking and visual monitoring of polar bears in the 1990s and compared them with more recent years. The team focused on the area around Baffin Bay, a large expanse of water between northeastern Canada and Greenland.</p><p>Laidre and her team tracked female polar bears and gauged their litter size and general health in two different periods — the 1990s and from 2009 to 2015, according to a <a href="https://www.futurity.org/sea-ice-polar-bears-climate-change-2281032-2/" target="_blank">press release</a> from the University of Washington.</p><p>The satellite tracking tags showed the researchers that the polar bears averaged 30 more days on land in the period from 2009 to 2015 than they did in the 1990s. In the 90s, the bears averaged 60 days on land. More recently, it has been 90 days, as <a href="https://www.oceanographicmagazine.com/polar-bears-baffin-bay/" target="_blank">Oceanographic Magazine</a> reported.</p>
<p>"When the bears are on land, they don't hunt seals and instead rely on fat stores," said Laidre, as the <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/6552854/polar-bears-climate-change/" target="_blank">Global News</a> in Canada reported. "They have the ability to fast for extended periods, but over time they get thinner."<br></p><p>The more time the bears spend on land, the thinner they get, the researchers found. Out of the 352 bears studied in the more recent period, not even 50 were considered fat, as the <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/6552854/polar-bears-climate-change/" target="_blank">Global News</a> reported. That's less than 15 percent. The bears need to be fat by the end of summer to make it through the winter.</p><p>The nutritionally stressed polar bears are venturing further into residential areas than ever before and more frequently, which can lead to conflict between people and the vulnerable bears, as <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/14/world/polar-bears-thinner-fewer-cubs-scn-trnd/index.html" target="_blank">CNN</a> reported.</p><p>In December, a polar bear warning was issued in Newfoundland after a bear was spotted there. These types of sightings have become more frequent since 2013, according to the <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/6552854/polar-bears-climate-change/" target="_blank">Global News</a>.</p><p>"This work just adds to the growing body of evidence that loss of sea ice has serious, long-term conservation concerns for this species," Laidre said in a <a href="https://www.futurity.org/sea-ice-polar-bears-climate-change-2281032-2/" target="_blank">statement</a>. "Only human action on climate change can do anything to turn this around."</p>
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Boston, which is usually unbearable in January, saw back-to-back 70-degree days on the second weekend of the month as seen above as Northeastern University students on Jan. 11 enjoy the sun at the Boston Public Garden lagoon. The record-setting warm temperatures reached 74 degrees. John Tlumacki / The Boston Globe / Getty Images
In the Northern Hemisphere, temperatures were, on average, 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than normal last month, making it the warmest January on Earth since comprehensive records have been kept starting 141 years ago, according to new data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), as The Guardian reported.
<p>In some places, the abnormal temperatures were extreme. Norway's capital, Oslo, which usually sees people skiing down snow-laden streets, was without snow in January, as <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-climate-change-norway/no-snow-in-winter-norwegians-make-it-instead-idUSKBN1ZN114" target="_blank">Reuters reported</a>. Boston, which is usually unbearable in January, saw back-to-back 70-degree days on the second weekend of the month, as <a href="https://weather.com/news/weather/news/2020-01-12-boston-70-degrees-saturday-sunday-all-time-january-record-high" target="_blank">Weather.com reported</a>. The Swedish town of Örebro reached 50.5 degrees Fahrenheit, its hottest January temperature since 1858, according to The Guardian.</p>
<p>The unusual warmth disproportionately affected Russia, Scandinavia and Eastern Canada, where temperatures were an incredible 9 degrees Fahrenheit above average, or higher, as The Guardian reported.</p>
<p>This January's warming trend is especially surprising since it happened without an El Niño system in the tropical Pacific Ocean, <a href="https://www.noaa.gov/news/january-2020-was-earth-s-hottest-january-on-record" target="_blank">according to NOAA</a>. The government agency noted that a lot of regions were experiencing new records. "Record-warm temperatures were seen across parts of: Scandinavia, Asia, the Indian Ocean, the central and western Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean, and Central and South America. No land or ocean areas had record-cold January temperatures," NOAA said in its summary. </p>
<p>NOAA also noted that the four warmest Januaries in the climate record have happened since 2016, while the 10 warmest have all occurred since 2002.</p>
<p>This above-average trend is likely to continue in 2020, likely making this year one of the five hottest on record, according to statistical analysis done by NOAA, as <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/13/weather/warmest-january-noaa-climate-trnd/index.html" target="_blank">CNN reported</a>. </p>
<p>The report also found extensive sea-ice melt. The warmer temperatures meant Arctic ice coverage was 5.3 percent below average. On the other end of the world, Antarctic sea ice coverage was reported to be 9.8 percent below average, according to <a href="https://thehill.com/changing-america/sustainability/environment/483040-earth-had-the-hottest-january-ever-recorded" target="_blank">The Hill</a>. That trend is likely to continue since Antarctica just recorded its two hottest days ever this week, <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/antarctic-record-temp-2645149717.html" target="_self">reaching nearly 70 degrees on Sunday</a>. </p>
<p>If you are looking for winter in January, it was in Alaska and Western Canada. NOAA said "notable cool temperatures" were recorded in January across much of Alaska and parts of Western Canada, with temperatures 7.2 degrees Fahrenheit below average or less, as <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/last-month-was-the-hottest-january-on-record-according-to-scientists/" target="_blank">CBS News</a> reported.</p>
<p>The cold temperatures were notable in Alaska since it was the first time in 22 months that Alaska had a month with below average temperatures.</p>
<div id="43913" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="ZDXHNX1581703511"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1223755946637135872" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">We did it!!! January 2020 was the first below normal temperature month in 22 consecutive months! The last time was… https://t.co/VW5bW8leY4</div> — NWS Anchorage (@NWS Anchorage)<a href="https://twitter.com/NWSAnchorage/statuses/1223755946637135872">1580601128.0</a></blockquote></div><p>"We did it!" The National Weather Service in Anchorage <a href="https://twitter.com/NWSAnchorage/status/1223755946637135872?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1223755946637135872&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com%2F2020%2F02%2F13%2Fweather%2Fwarmest-january-noaa-climate-trnd%2Findex.html" target="_blank">tweeted</a>. "January 2020 was the first below normal temperature month in 22 consecutive months! The last time was February of 2018. It was the 8th coldest January and also the 14th coldest month on record. If you felt like January was cold…you were right!!!"</p><p>The NOAA results piggyback on the Copernicus Climate Change Service's results. Copernicus, the European equivalent of NOAA, said last week that last month was Europe's warmest January ever with temperatures 3.1 degrees Celsius warmer than the usual temperatures recorded from 1981-2010, <a href="https://climate.copernicus.eu/january-2020-was-warmest-january-record-europe-according-copernicus" target="_blank">according to a statement</a> it released last week.</p>
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Greenpeace has partnered with penguin researchers from Stony Brook University and Northeastern University to study the impact of climate change on fragile chinstrap penguin colonies in Antarctica, like this lone penguin pictured on Elephant Island. © Christian Åslund / Greenpeace
The climate crisis is taking a toll on Antarctica's chinstrap penguins.
<p>Scientists on a <a href="https://www.greenpeace.org/international/" target="_blank">Greenpeace</a> expedition to Antarctica found that the penguins' numbers were falling, with one colony decreasing by 77 percent in nearly 50 years. This is especially surprising because, up until now, the chinstrap penguin has been considered a species of "least concern" by the<a href="https://www.iucn.org/" target="_blank"> International Union for Conservation of Nature</a> (IUCN), <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2020/02/10/world/chinstrap-penguin-decline-scli-intl-scn/index.html" target="_blank">according to CNN</a>.</p>
<p>"Such significant declines suggest that the Southern Ocean's ecosystem is fundamentally changed from 50 years ago, and that the impacts of this are rippling up the food web to species like chinstrap penguins," Expedition co-leader Dr. Heather J. Lynch, an associate professor of ecology and evolution at Stony Brook University, said in a statement emailed to EcoWatch. "While several factors may have a role to play, all the evidence we have points to climate change as being responsible for the changes we are seeing."</p><p>Researchers from Stony Brook and Northeastern University have been surveying the penguins on Antarctic islands using drones and handheld clickers, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/feb/11/antarctic-alarm-collapse-chinstrap-penguin-numbers-global-heating?CMP=twt_a-environment_b-gdneco&fbclid=IwAR09TfU2GpUX7VtmXZp6b8bh9XIYtHJ3lfhy9bDiWfYb1IbLWVl6ebM8F5E" target="_blank">according to The Guardian</a>. On Elephant Island, they found that there were only 52,786 breeding pairs, a 58 percent decrease compared to the last survey in 1971. The researchers also noted similar declines on Low and Livingston islands.</p><p>"This shows something in the marine ecology is broken, or has drastically changed since the 1970s," scientist and author Noah Strycker told The Guardian.</p>
<p>The researchers found that every colony on Elephant Island had declined, CNN reported. The largest decline was the fall of 77 percent recorded at a colony known as Chinstrap Camp. The reason the scientists think climate change is driving the decline is because the penguins rely on <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/sea-ice" target="_self">sea ice</a> for their food.</p><p>"Penguins, seals and whales all depend on krill, which depends on ice," Stryker, who studies penguins at Stony Brook, told CNN. "So if climate change affects the ice, that impacts on everything else."</p><p>The researchers found that the chinstraps' breeding rates had not declined, meaning the threats they faced were harming them after birth, according to The Guardian. They also found that another type of penguin, the gentoo, seemed to be replacing the chinstrap. Gentoos rely less on krill and ice and have been called the "pigeon of the penguin world" for their adaptability and wide diet.</p>
<p>The expedition marks the first time that chinstrap colonies on Low Island have been fully surveyed, according to CNN. The full results of those surveys are not yet available.</p><p>But Greenpeace argued that the penguins' evident decline was another reason to protect 30 percent of the world's <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/oceans" target="_self">oceans</a> to help vulnerable species recover. Alongside the research expedition, the advocacy group has been installing disappearing penguin ice sculptures in international cities from London to Washington, DC this week in order to raise awareness of the need for a Global Ocean Treaty.</p><p>"We installed a melting penguin sculpture in front of the U.S. Capitol to highlight the threats ocean wildlife is currently facing," Arlo Hemphill of Greenpeace's Protect the Oceans campaign said in a statement emailed to EcoWatch. "Without protection, not only penguins are at stake but entire ecosystems are in danger from the impacts of industrial fishing, pollution, deep sea mining and climate change. We're calling on the U.S. government to support the creation of a strong Global Ocean Treaty at the United Nations to protect 30 percent of our oceans by 2030. This new treaty would create a network of sanctuaries in international waters for wildlife to recover and thrive."</p>
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Argentina's Esperanza research base in Antarctica, which just reported the continent's highest temperature on record, on Jan. 21, 2020. Steven dosRemedios / Flickr
T-shirt weather in Antarctica? The continent just measured its hottest temperature on record at a balmy nearly 65 degrees Fahrenheit.
<p>The reading was taken by Argentina's National Meteorological Service at the country's Esperanza research station, <a href="https://www.afp.com/en/news/826/argentine-antarctica-has-hottest-day-record-doc-1or7981" target="_blank">AFP reported</a>. The thermometer climbed to 18.3 degrees Celsius (approximately 64.9 degrees Fahrenheit) around noon on Thursday, beating Antarctica's previous record, set in 2015, by 0.8 degrees Celsius.</p><p>"The reading is impressive as it's only five years since the previous record was set and this is almost one degree centigrade higher," Victoria University of Wellington climate scientist James Renwick, who has verified previous Antarctic records for the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), told <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/feb/07/antarctica-logs-hottest-temperature-on-record-with-a-reading-of-183c?CMP=twt_a-environment_b-gdneco&fbclid=IwAR1u9S1OzMqH0JaU1IX099aA3Ken7d4FUx4-Y2R5-F68Caxew66i-jRjmts" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>. "It's a sign of the warming that has been happening there that's much faster than the global average."</p>
<div id="24335" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="GBS0QZ1581084312"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1225455484259442691" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">#Antártida | Nuevo récord de temperaturas 🌡️
Este mediodía la Base #Esperanza registró un nuevo récord histórico (… https://t.co/YEtw4VDNmq</div> — SMN Argentina (@SMN Argentina)<a href="https://twitter.com/SMN_Argentina/statuses/1225455484259442691">1581006329.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>The Esperanza station is located on the Antarctic peninsula that juts out towards South America. Heating at a rate of around three degrees Celsius over the past 50 years, the peninsula is one of the fastest warming places on Earth.</p><p>Australian National University climate scientist Nerilie Abram, who has worked on the peninsula's James Ross Island, told The Guardian that it sometimes gets warm enough to wear a t-shirt.</p><p>"It's an area that's warming very quickly," she said.</p><p>The Esperanza station boasts one of the longest-running temperature records on all of Antarctica, dating back to 1961. Renwick said the reading would have to be verified, but that the station was generally trustworthy. He also said the particular high reading was probably a combination of the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change/" target="_self">climate crisis</a> and local weather patterns, as strong northwestern winds blow down the mountains, bringing warmer temperatures.</p><p>Argentina also reported another record breaking temperature Thursday at its Marambio base, also on the peninsula, which saw its hottest February day since 1971. That base reached a temperature of 14.1 degrees Celsius (approximately 57.4 degrees Fahrenheit), breaking its Feb. 24, 2013 record of 13.8 degrees Celsius (approximately 56.8 degrees Fahrenheit).</p>
<div id="a0f4d" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="V3COKE1581084312"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1225455490429341698" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">La Base #Marambio también registró la temperatura más alta para un de mes de febrero desde 1971. Alcanzó 14,1°C y s… https://t.co/Rjgt7TZ4p9</div> — SMN Argentina (@SMN Argentina)<a href="https://twitter.com/SMN_Argentina/statuses/1225455490429341698">1581006331.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>The previous record-high temperature for the Antarctic continent was also recorded at the Esperanza base, according to <a href="https://public.wmo.int/en/media/press-release/wmo-verifies-highest-temperatures-antarctic-region" target="_blank">WMO</a>. On March 24, 2015, the base reported a reading of 17.5 degrees Celsius (approximately 63.5 degrees Fahrenheit).</p><p>"To have a new record set that quickly is surprising but who knows how long that will last?" Renwick told The Guardian. "Possibly not that long at all."</p><p>The news comes as the European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service <a href="https://climate.copernicus.eu/surface-air-temperature-january-2020" target="_blank">declared</a> this past January the warmest January on record.</p>
<div id="1de63" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="J7RLU81581084312"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1224726666817277952" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">📢 January #temperature highlights from #Copernicus #C3S:
🌡️In Europe, last month was the warmest January in our re… https://t.co/WKA63iHUr4</div> — Copernicus ECMWF (@Copernicus ECMWF)<a href="https://twitter.com/CopernicusECMWF/statuses/1224726666817277952">1580832566.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>Parts of Antarctica were among the regions that saw temperatures "much above average" for the month, the service said.</p><p>This was also the fourth January in a row in which the <a href="https://climate.copernicus.eu/sea-ice-cover-january-2020" target="_blank">service recorded</a> a below average <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/sea-ice" target="_self">sea ice</a> extent in Antarctica. At 4.6 million kilometers squared (approximately 1.8 million square miles), it was around 17 percent below the 1981 to 2010 average.</p>
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The western edge of iceberg A68 as seen during an Operation IceBridge flight on Nov. 12, 2017. NASA / Nathan Kurtz
The world's largest iceberg, which broke free from Antarctica in 2017, is about to escape the boundaries of the continent's perennial sea ice and make its way into the open ocean, according to the BBC.
<p>The massive iceberg, named A68, weighed up to a trillion tons, and measured 2,300 square miles, when it broke off from the Larsen C ice shelf in 2017. To put that in perspective, the iceberg is more than seven times the size of New York City, and it's larger than both Rhode Island and Delaware.</p><p>Experts say that it has lost very little of its size since breaking off the ice shelf, according to <a href="https://news.yahoo.com/worlds-biggest-iceberg-breaks-free-202056760.html" target="_blank">Yahoo News</a>.</p><p>However, when it meets the harsh, choppy waters of the Southern Ocean it is expected to weaken and lose its integrity.</p>
<p>"With a thickness to length ratio akin to five sheets of A4, I am astonished that the ocean waves haven't already made ice cubes out of A68," said <a href="https://adrianluckman.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">professor Adrian Luckman from Swansea University, UK</a>, to the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-51389690" target="_blank">BBC</a>. "If it survives for long as one piece when it moves beyond the edge of the sea-ice, I will be very surprised."</p><p>Two weeks ago, Luckman <a href="https://twitter.com/adrian_luckman/status/1220683189192155136" target="_blank">tweeted</a>, "Not long before it breaks free of the pack ice."</p><p>After the iceberg broke off, it remained fairly close to land. However, this summer in Antarctica the iceberg has drifted much more rapidly than was expected. The iceberg has been drifting northward along the southernmost continent's eastern shore, meaning it is headed towards an area of the Atlantic Ocean dubbed "iceberg alley" by researchers, according to the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-51389690" target="_blank">BBC</a>.</p>
<p>When the iceberg broke free, it reduced the size of the Larsen C ice shelf by 12 percent, according to <a href="https://news.yahoo.com/worlds-biggest-iceberg-breaks-free-202056760.html" target="_blank">Yahoo News</a>.</p><p>At first, sea ice kept the iceberg hemmed in, said the European Space Agency. However, it reported that prevailing strong winds coming off the ice shelf gave the iceberg a push that allowed it to reach ocean waters that turned it clockwise so it could float away toward warmer waters, as <a href="https://news.yahoo.com/worlds-biggest-iceberg-breaks-free-202056760.html" target="_blank">Yahoo News</a> reported.</p><p>Twenty years ago, an iceberg nearly twice the size of A68 broke off from the Rose ice shelf and drifted north towards Great Britain's South Georgia Islands, which are at 54 degrees south. That iceberg, called B15, is now less than one-fifth of its original size and it's halfway between the South Sandwich Islands and South Georgia, according to the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-51389690" target="_blank">BBC</a>.</p>
<p>Icebergs like A68 and B15 need constant monitoring since they pose risks to ships.</p><p>While researchers watch A68's movement, they are also keeping a close eye on two other icebergs poised to break free from the ice shelf. One, which is half the size of New York City, is riven with cracks and will likely crumble once it breaks free.</p><p>"I expect that the new iceberg will break into many pieces soon after it calves," said Luckman to the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-51389690" target="_blank">BBC</a>.</p><p>The other, at roughly 600 square miles, is about twice the size of New York City. Its imminent breaking from the ice shelf forced Britain's Halley research station to move so it would not be in harm's way, as the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-51389690" target="_blank">BBC</a> reported. </p>
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