2011 lowest ice maximum remains uncertain – Arctic April makes cold start

Posted on April 3, 2011 by Rolf Schuttenhelm

A bit of green on Antarctica to aid against global warming

Posted on March 2, 2011 by Jorn van Dooren

Brilliant green pools teeming with life have been found among remote Antarctic sea ice. The pools owe their colour to the high amounts of algae in the water. The pools were observed in the Amundsen Sea’s polynya, a region of seasonally … Continue reading →

Arctic sea ice attacked from two sides

Posted on February 2, 2011 by Rolf Schuttenhelm

Climate change is not only causing the Arctic sea ice to melt because it heats the atmosphere above it, but also through heat advection, by warming ocean currents that make contact with the ice.

WMO confirms 2010 hottest year

Posted on January 20, 2011 by Rolf Schuttenhelm

2010 was 0.01 degrees Celsius hotter than the number two hottest year 2005 and 0.02 degrees Celsius hotter than the third hottest year, 1998. Having combined the datasets of Met Office’s Hadley Centre/Climatic Research Unit (HadCRU), NOAA’s National Climatic Data … Continue reading →

GCM study finds no Arctic albedo tipping point

Posted on December 20, 2010 by Rolf Schuttenhelm

The albedo effect still acts as a positive feedback to warming and melting. In fact the general circulation model study shows Arctic sea ice melting will speed up over recent years. From 2020 to 2030 more than 2.5 million square … Continue reading →

Autumn 2010 Arctic sea ice lowest ever

Posted on December 2, 2010 by Rolf Schuttenhelm

Short news, but relevant to a possible temperature record for 2010 and to spicing up the current UN climate negotiations in Cancún:

WMO: 2010 ‘at least top 3’ hottest years ever

Posted on December 2, 2010 by Rolf Schuttenhelm

We were expecting news along similar lines from NASA later this month, but today, during the UN climate conference in Cancún, the World Meteorological Organisation [see special COP16 WMO page] decided to recognize the social relevance of timely sharing climatic … Continue reading →

Cancún starts, Greenland thaws

Posted on November 29, 2010 by Rolf Schuttenhelm

Today COP16, the follow-up to last years UN climate conference in Copenhagen, starts in the Mexican city of Cancún. Also today Greenland sees record high temperatures.

Arctic ocean acidification faster than predictions

Posted on November 5, 2010 by Rolf Schuttenhelm

Cold water absorbs more CO2, so it is around the Poles that the consequences of ocean acidification are first felt. Pteropods – tiny swimming Arctic sea snails – have difficulty building their shells at CO2 levels very close to the … Continue reading →

Arctic melting record 2010: one third gone

Posted on September 29, 2010 by Rolf Schuttenhelm

With October in sight, and NOAA predicting a positive phase for the Arctic Oscillation, winter returns to the North Pole. That means, after some prolonged melting in the second half of September, the yearly minimum in the Arctic sea ice … Continue reading →

Bits of Science

Tag Archives: Arctic