News of the Arctic

A collection of news items taken from the world's newspapers that relate to the Arctic. This site is updated as news items appear in the popular press. All links will take you to sites outside of the PRISM site. Use your back button to return.

• September 25, 2002 -Icebreaker Watching Arctic For Signs of Global Warming- Daily News
  Scientists from Canada, the United States and Japan are using buoys set by the icebreaker Louis St. Laurent to monitor indicators of climate change in the Arctic Ocean.
  
  
• September 19, 2002 -Rare Snowy Owls Return to Arctic- BBC
  Seven snowy owls rescued from the middle of the Atlantic have been returned home to the Arctic. Most will be placed in wildlife reserves due to injuries sustained when they became disoriented.
  
  
• September 10, 2002 -Carbon Burial Experiment Works- BBC
  Scientists say that collecting and burying carbon dioxide, the byproduct of gas and oil exploration, is a safe, and technically feasible way to reduce emissions.
  
  
• September 4, 2002 -The Ice Man Came Early - Nature
  Evidence has been found indicating the presence of man in Mamontovaya Kurya in European Russia about 35,000-40,000 years ago. It was previously thought that humans had colonized this area only some 13,000 years ago.
  
  
• August 30, 2002 - Zeroing In On Arctic Oscillation- ScienceDaily
  Physicists who study climate are beginning to better understand how the "Arctic Oscillation" of atmospheric pressure works and the intricacies of sea-ice physics.
  
  
• August 29, 2002 - Will Ice Melt Open Fabled Northwest Passage? - CNN
  Rapid melting of the Arctic ice pack, if it continues over the next 10 years, may produce a short-cut for sailing between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, though many scientists are more conservative in their estimates.
  
  
• August 26, 2002 - Sea Erosion Spurs Plans to Move Eskimo Villagers - Yahoo News
  Storms are eroding the island on which an Inupiat Eskimo village of 600 is located. The villagers blame global warming for the erosion.
  
  
• August 26, 2002 - Alaska's Abundant Water Tempts Thirsty World - seattlepi.com
  Alaska holds 40% of the freshwater available in the U.S. and some people are trying to figure out ways to transport it cheaply to areas where water is scarce.
  
  
• August 14-21, 2002 - Aurora Gallery - Science @NASA
  Heavy sunspot activity on the 14th and 18th has resulted in some spectacular auroras which you can see at this site.
  
  
• August 12, 2002 - Life In Alaskan Glaciers - San Francisco Chronicle
  Melting glaciers are causing the emergence of microbes and plants that may have been dormant for years. The plants, in particular, as they grow at the edge of the glaciers may speed the global warming process as they emit greenhouse gases.
  
  
• August 12, 2002 - Arctic People Seek Common Alphabet - BBC
  Concerns about climate change are encouraging a widespread group of Inuit from the Chukotka region to develop a common alphabet in order to share information more easily.
  
  
• June 12, 2002 - Polar Ice Melting May Jeopardize Some Countries' Survival - University of Kansas
  Radar images from Greenland show that the ice on the land is moving much faster than previously thought. This may have serious implications for global sea levels.
  
  
• June 11, 2002 - Climate Change Affecting Even Remote Arctic Environment - NSF
  The newest report on the health of Arctic wildlife, compiled from diverse studies, shows that climate change is having measurable effects on many animals and plants. The report also highlights the need for additional data on some species.
  
  
• June 7, 2002 - Warming Speeds Ice Sheet Flow - New Scientist
  It appears that warm summer temperatures in Greenland speed up the flow of the glaciers. This effect can be seen in just a few weeks, according to a new study and is a finding quite surprising to many glaciologists.
  
  
• June 7, 2002 - An Early Human Discovered in Melting Glacier - International Herald Tribune
  Scientists are studying remains of man who died 500 years ago on a glacier high in Tatshenshini-Alsek Provincial Park in British Columbia. They are trying to determine to which First Nations people he is related.
  

• May 28, 2002 - Signs of Thaw In Desert of Snow - Washington Post
  Scientists are beginning to agree with Inuit elders that a significant climate change is affecting the Arctic.
  
  
• May 28, 2002 - Warm Polar Winter Was Easier On Arctic Ozone - NASA
  Winter warming in 1998 seems to have caused unusually high ozone levels over the Arctic according to NASA scientist.
  
  
• May 22, 2002 - No Longer the Frozen North - CBS News
  Whalers report that the Arctic ice pack is quite thin this year, perhaps half the thickness it was 10 years ago.
  
  
• May 9, 2002 - Arctic Explorers Return Home - Australian Daily Telegraph
  Australian explorers, Jon Muir and Eric Phillips, have returned home safely after being the first Australians to trek unassisted from the tip of Siberia to the North Pole. Read more about them and see their pictures here.
  
  
• May 4, 2002 - Future Volcanic Eruptions May Cause Ozone Hole Over Arctic - NASA
  A NASA scientist warns that a period of high volcanic activity may cause an ozone hole to form over the Arctic, similar to that seen in the Antarctic.
  
  
• April 22, 2002 - Arctic Drilling Critics Get Key Award - MSNBC News
  Three indigenous Gwichin have been awarded the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize for lobbying against oil drilling in the ANWR on the grounds that it would fatally disrupt the caribou and thus, the Gwich'in people.
  
  
• April 19, 2002 - Senate Blocks Oil Drilling in Arctic Reserve - Los Angeles Times
  Forty-five Democrats and eight Republicans voted against oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and were successful in blocking this central component of President Bush's energy proposal.
  
  
• April 8, 2002 - Arctic Refuge At Risk from Iraq's Oil Threat - Financial Times
  The threatened Iraq to suspend oil exports causes some government officials to pressure for more oil exploration and drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. This is opposed by environmentalists.
  
  
• April 1, 2002 - A Climate Surprise May Be Brewing in the North Atlantic - U.S. News
  The North Atlantic has received a vast influx of fresh water that is " the biggest oceanographic change
  ever seen, anywhere, in the modern instrumental era," according to a British oceanographer who predicts this may shut down the oceanic current conveyer belt bringing colder temperatures to northern Europe.
  
  
• March 30, 2002 - Arctic Drilling Study Cites Wildlife Risk - Los Angeles Times
  Government scientists concluded that oil drilling in the Arctic may pose greater risk to caribou and other wildlife than previously thought because these animals are already stressed by Arctic warming. See the story at CBS News also.
  
  
• March 25, 2002 - In Search of Climate-Change Clues - NSF
  Scientists in snowmobiles are sampling the snow along 700 miles of Arctic tundra to gather information about the role of key weather events in the development of the snow pack, and the interaction of the snow and vegetation. Read a teacher's journal about her work with this expedition.
  
  
• March 20, 2002 - North Magnetic Pole Could Be Leaving Canada - CNN
  The drift of the North magnetic pole has accelerated and may leave Canada by 2004.
  
  
• March 4, 2002 - Future Volcanic Eruptions May Cause Ozone Hole Over Arctic - Earth Observatory
  A volcanic ozone hole is likely to form in the next 30 years according to NASA scientists.
  
  
• Feb. 25, 2002 - Bush Prods Senate on Energy Policy - CNN
  Plan includes provision for oil exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
  
  
• Feb. 17, 2002 - Pollution Blamed for Cancer In Beluga Whales - New Scientist
  Over a quarter of all deaths of Beluga whales in Canada's St. Lawrence Estuary are caused by cancer, particularly of the digestive tract.
  
  
• Feb. 15, 2002 - Sea Otter Crash - Arctic Science Journeys
  Sea otter population of the Aleutians is in decline and may soon become endangered species.
  
  
• Feb. 14, 2002 - Arctic Ice Cap Could Disappear - Science A GoGo
  The Arctic ice cap is shrinking and sea lanes previously blocked by ice may be open by 2015.
  
  
• Feb. 11, 2002 - Polar Dinosaurs Raise Scientific Questions - USA Today
  Fossils show that dinosaurs lived in the Polar regions in the Mesozoic era.
  
  
• Jan. 16, 2002 - Life-search Robot Melts Its Way Into Glacier - USA Today
  Mars robot tested on Arctic glacier on the island of Spitzbergen.
  
  
• Jan. 15, 2002 - Arctic Sea Floor Gives Up Secrets - BBC
  Studies at Gakkel Ridge in the Arctic ocean show an amazing abundance of life as well as 12 new volcanoes.