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Coverage of Arctic Ocean issues.
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As sea ice disappears and more ships ply routes like the Northwest Passage in the late summer, better safety and conservation measures will be needed to protect marine mammals, scientists say.
Will the week’s sea ice be thin or thick or not there at all? New kinds of satellite data and better computer modeling will provide crucial information to Arctic Ocean communities and industries.
A decade of research has found that the muscles and eggs of birds in the far-flung Aleutian Islands contain endocrine-disrupting phthalates from plastics the animals have ingested, prompting Alaskan tribes to begin testing native foods for contamination.
New research documents how important the algae that thrive under sea ice are to the Arctic food chain. But as sea ice disappears and the region warms, the timing and abundance of ice algae blooms is in flux.
Veteran oceanographer Eddy Carmack has witnessed five decades of accelerating change in the Arctic. As he accepted a lifetime achievement award in January, he talks about why ‘pan-Arctic’ research that crosses borders and disciplines is now imperative.
Scientists have found that melting sea ice is increasing the flow of nutrients into the central Arctic from the continental shelf. That could disrupt the marine food chain in unpredictable ways.
Climate change has irreversibly changed the Arctic from its reliably frozen past. Recently, U.S. government researchers, dubbing it the ‘New Arctic,’ said there’s little chance of going back to the way things were.
From building barriers to buttress unstable marine ice sheets to thickening sea ice with a wind-powered pump, researchers want to start more conversations about climate interventions that don’t depend on actually cutting greenhouse gas emissions.
A landmark 16-year prohibition on commercial fishing in the once ice-covered central Arctic Ocean will allow nations to conduct research on marine life in a little-explored region that is rapidly changing as climate change accelerates.
Alone on a remote northern Alaska island, biologist George Divoky has been monitoring a population of sea ice-dependent black guillemots for four decades. Now he fears he’s watching the colony in a slow-motion collapse as temperatures rise and its prey disappears.
The University of Alaska has produced a procedure for what scientists on research vessels should do to avoid disrupting Indigenous communities’ traditional hunts. The university’s Brenda Konar hopes that other vessels will adopt codes of conduct.
Growing evidence indicates that underwater air guns used to detect oil and gas deposits affect the behavior of marine mammals. Arctic biologist Eva Garde talks about her research into the impact of air guns on elusive narwhals
Massive gatherings of the marine mammals can result in stampedes that crush calves. Conservationists are pushing to have the animal protected under the U.S. Endangered Species Act.
Canada’s forthcoming Lancaster Sound conservation area would ban resource extraction while allowing local Inuit communities to benefit from hunting, fishing and tourism.
Scientists with NASA’s Operation IceBridge are shooting green lasers into the Arctic Ocean’s melt ponds to better understand the dramatic thawing that’s well underway.
An archipelago off Norway’s northern coast is renowned for its beauty. It’s also near untapped oil-and-gas deposits. In light of recent demonstrations against oil-drilling in the Lofoten Islands, photojournalist Randall Hyman shares his experiences in the region.
A new exhibit at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History examines the narwhal’s role in indigenous culture and the possible reasons behind its unusual tusk.
It will take political courage and planning to make Russia’s Northern Sea Route the main thoroughfare of a healthy, unitary country – but there is no alternative, writes Morgane Fert-Malka, a French Moscow-based political analyst.
Mia Bennett National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow, University of California
If you thought that all Indigenous peoples were uniformly opposed to oil drilling, think again. The Arctic Slope Regional Corporation sees offshore exploration as a way to create wealth for its communities, writes Mia Bennett at Cryopolitics.
Winds and currents funnel icebergs from the Greenland Ice Sheet toward Canada, crossing trans-Atlantic shipping lanes along the way. The International Ice Patrol tracks these movements using flights and, now, satellites.
Valerie Cleland Masters Student, School of Marine and Environmental Affairs at the University of Washington
World Policy: Arctic nations should follow through on their commitments to prepare for an oil spill in icy waters, writes Valerie Cleland, a masters student in the School of Marine and Environmental Affairs at the University of Washington.
Scientists are using satellite tags, biopsy samples and a growing photo database to help get a handle on the distribution of killer whales through Canada’s northern waters.
Under the auspices of the International Maritime Organization, countries are looking at ways to limit the use of thick, viscous heavy fuel oils in Arctic waters.
Arctic sea ice is more unstable than ever, and the ice may be melting toward a record in 2017 – or is it? The place to keep up on the debate over such questions is the Arctic Sea Ice Blog and Forum.
There is currently no international certification for mariners who navigate through icy Arctic waters, so industry is moving to fill the void, says Captain David “Duke” Snider, president of the Nautical Institute.
Thick, multiyear sea ice pushed from the High Arctic to the coast of Newfoundland created havoc with fishing vessels, prompting a Canadian icebreaker to scrap some of its research plans.
Most mariners don’t deliberately freeze their vessels into Arctic sea ice. But that’s what researchers aboard the Lance did, in order to better study climate change’s impact on the region.
Due to congressional budget cuts, the 38-year continuous U.S. Arctic satellite monitoring program is about to end, leaving researchers blind to ongoing Arctic sea ice losses.
Adak Island’s population dwindled after a U.S. Navy base shut down in the 1990s. Residents who remain are holding out hope that a new economy can be built on shipping traffic as Arctic ice melts.
The proposed U.S. federal budget would cancel a program that provides support to coastal Alaskan communities with everything from monitoring shoreline erosion to maintaining healthy ecosystems.
Researchers have found that methane gas burbling from undersea ice deposits off Norway actually helps lock up carbon dioxide by feeding plankton that gobble up the greenhouse gas.
As the Arctic Ocean’s spring sea-ice cover shrinks, microscopic zooplankton are declining with serious ramifications for the region’s food chain, from fish to seals to polar bears.
Warm currents are working their way into parts of the Arctic Ocean, disturbing the layer-cake-like composition of the water column and heating up the surface.
Russian officials boast that their country’s Northern Sea Route will soon see a significant increase in traffic to export oil, gas and coal. But it’s probably best to temper expectations, says Malte Humpert, the strategic director and founder of the Arctic Institute.
HAKAI MAGAZINE: Scientists are using an underwater drone to study a mysterious new sound channel in the Beaufort Sea, where sounds now travel four times farther than they did 10 years ago.
Tom Rippeth Professor of Physical Oceanography, Bangor University
The warm currents flowing into the Arctic Ocean from the Atlantic are separated from the ice by a layer of cold water, but hot spots are appearing. Even so, these might not drive a widespread decline in sea ice cover – for now, says oceanography expert Tom Rippeth.
As the climate changes, the Arctic Ocean beckons Pacific salmon and other species from the south. What remains to be seen is whether this will benefit the Inuit or trigger an international race to exploit emerging resources in the central Arctic Ocean.
A new report finds that the “staggering” rate of warming in the world’s oceans is shifting fisheries, spreading disease and altering the behavior of many marine species around the world – including in the Arctic.
Researchers in the Bering Sea are using autonomous sailing vessels, powered by the sun and wind, to collect data on ocean conditions, fish and marine mammals in a rapidly changing, biologically rich area.
Connie and Peter Roop Author of Children’s Books, Nature, Science, and History
A cruise through the Northwest Passage changed the way authors Connie and Peter Roop thought about Arctic tourism. There are benefits, but the risks remain great. Some trips should not go ahead.
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