Arctic heat waves were once rare and unusual events. But as their intensity and frequency increase with climate change, their fallout could affect the north — and the planet — for decades to come.
This is the story of ‘Misha’, as I have come to know her. Both I and my research have been deeply affected by a polar bear I have never met face to face.
Permafrost near Norilsk, Russia.
Romzes333 / shutterstock
Climate change is thawing permafrost and increasing the risk of these accidents, and the region has fewer of the bacteria that can ‘clean up’ oil spills.
As snow melts and landscapes change, there will be winners and losers.
This Arctic heat wave has been unusually long-lived. The darkest reds on this map of the Arctic are areas that were more than 14 degrees Fahrenheit warmer in the spring of 2020 compared to the recent 15-year average.
Joshua Stevens/NASA Earth Observatory
The Arctic is warming about twice as fast as the planet as a whole, with serious consequences. Scientists have been warning about this for decades.
Temperature anomalies from March 19 to June 20 2020. Red colors depict areas that were hotter than average for the same period from 2003-2018; blues were colder than average.
EPA-EFE/NASA
Arctic cod are key prey for seals, whales and seabirds. What happens when ship noise drives them away?
Ships are framed by pieces of ice in Frobisher Bay in Iqaluit, Nunavut, in July 2019. Canada plans to ban the use of heavy oil on commercial vessels, which will have economic consequences in the Arctic.
The Canadian Press / Sean Kilpatrick
The next federal budget will be decisive for Canada’s North. Will the government put in the money to achieve its many priorities in the Arctic?
Temperatures are warming faster in the Arctic than anywhere else in the world. Water and sewer pipes in Iqaluit, Nunavut, are cracking during the winter as the ground shifts.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
New research finds that chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and other ozone-depleting substances have boosted the effects of climate change in the Arctic.
Some lakes in the Arctic are expanding and others are disappearing as permafrost thaws.
This lake north of Inuvik, N.W.T., is expanding as the ice wedges (darker lines leading away from the lake) around this lake melt and the ground subsides.
(Philip Marsh)
Hundreds of thousands of lakes, rivers and streams in the Arctic exist only because of the permafrost that lies beneath them. The warming Arctic threatens to change that.
Over 100,000 narwhals swim the Earth’s Arctic waters.
Kristin Laidre
The long tusk of the male narwhal earned these whales their fanciful nickname. But there’s more to these Arctic mammals than their unique spiral tooth.
A scientist checks cracks in the Arctic sea ice after a storm (April 2015, N-ICE2015 expedition).
Amelie Meyer/NPI
More than 600 experts will spend the next year drifting in Arctic waters to gain a better understanding of how climate change is affecting the region and how it can be fought.
Rising sea levels, unstable weather, and a much smaller carbon budget.
Drift ice forming in the Baltic Sea, where microplastic concentrations are at levels similar to those in the Arctic. The incorporation of microplastics into sea ice affects how well the ice absorbs or reflects solar energy.
Shutterstock
Levels of microplastics in the ocean are rising. More study is needed to figure out how these microplastics affect the qualities and properties of sea ice, and what the potential impact may be.
A camera catches a huge Greenland shark in eastern Baffin Bay, near Disko Bay, Greenland.
Jonathan Fisher
Deputy Lead Scientist, National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC), Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES), University of Colorado Boulder
Research Scientist, National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC), Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES), University of Colorado Boulder