Tag Archives: sea ice

Arctic sea ice larger than U.S. melted this year

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We all depend on the health of the Arctic. Oil companies such as Shell, BP or Exxon want to drill oil, fueling climate change and ice melting. The climate in the area can be severe and unpredictable making an oil spill likely and catastrophic. Over two million people have now signed our petition. Declare your support for a global sanctuary in the Arctic by signing on now.

Originally posted to CBS News.

DOHA, QATAR- An area of Arctic sea ice bigger than the United States melted this year, according the U.N. weather agency, which said the dramatic decline illustrates that climate change is happening “before our eyes.”

In a report released at U.N. climate talks in the Qatari capital of Doha, the World Meteorological Organization said the Arctic ice melt was one of a myriad of extreme and record-breaking weather events to hit the planet in 2012. Droughts devastated nearly two-thirds of the United States as well western Russia and southern Europe. Floods swamped West Africa and heat waves left much of the Northern Hemisphere sweltering. Continue reading →

Let science do the talking

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The Arctic Sunrise navigates through the Arctic during the lowest sea ice level on record

Two of the scientists traveling with Greenpeace on the Arctic Sunrise are Dr. Julienne Stroeve, a research scientist at the US National Snow and Ice Data Centre (NSIDC), and Nick Toberg, an ice scientist at Cambridge University. I asked them what research they would be able to do on the ice, and for some insight into why Arctic sea ice is so important, and what impact the melting would have on our climate.

What will you be doing on the ice?
Julienne: I’ll be measuring ice thickness – it’s a more important measure than ice extent as it tells you about volume (total) loss. I can measure thickness in different spots by drilling with a hand augur, which can go two metres deep. I also hope to look at snow thickness, whether there are melt pools on the ice and whether they are frozen. As the ship is traveling we will also measure the ocean temperatures.

Nick: We will test impact of ocean waves as they hit the ice edge, using buoys fitted with accelerometers. This will fill in the missing physics of how the strength of the waves adds to the ice breaking up and melting. Broken ice reflects sunlight less well as the sun’s rays are absorbed into the ocean beneath. The lack of ice creates even stronger waves which break the ice up more the following year. Continue reading →

Going to the Arctic to witness history

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sea ice

I’m aboard the Greenpeace ship, the Arctic Sunrise, just out of Tromsø in northern Norway, to  journey far north, to the edge of the Arctic sea ice.

We’ll be there for the sea ice minimum, the moment each year where the sea ice level is at its lowest, and where we can see the full impact of man-made climate change on this fragile and beautiful region of the world. We will be witnessing history – this year ice levels have already reached the lowest level ever recorded, and melting continues, at a rate of 40,000 sq km a day. Continue reading →

Cold hands, determined hearts

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When I spoke to my friends and family this weekend I was unanimously scolded. After Friday’s 15-hour occupation of Gazprom’s Prirazlomnaya oil platform in the Pechora Sea, they all said “you’re getting too old for this!” With blue hands and feet from the cold, and in the midst of being treated by our ship doctor Marcelo for hypothermia, for a moment I thought they could be right.

But then I returned to the spirit on board our ship the Arctic Sunrise; the eager faces of my fellow activists Sini, Jens, Lars, Basil and Terry, the determination of our Captain Vlad, and the rest of the committed crew who were standing up for what they believed was right. Coming back to this I knew that the risks had been worth it.

For me, an action like the one we’ve just completed in the Arctic is Greenpeace at its best. Teams united in the one goal, taking a risk to confront dangerous industry at the frontlines of destruction, shining a light on an environmental crime that happens out of the sights and minds of most regular people.

I’ve been an activist since the age of 15. I’ve seen the inside of a prison cell for the cause, but nobody – even with experience – can honestly say that there is no fear when you set out to take action involving risk to personal safety, or the risk of imprisonment. We were feeling it acutely in the days preceding the action as we traced through our different scenarios and plans. But I felt encouraged, we gave each other confidence.

And then our time came. We sailed early morning towards Gazprom’s oil platform, and soon some of my worst fears came true. During my first attempt to climb, I got knocked off course by a big swell and did not make it up. I spent several minutes in the icy water fighting with the rope. Defeated and fighting the cold, I had to retreat to the boat. Continue reading →

Talk about polarizing

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Polar bear on Arctic sea ice seen from a Greenpeace ship

On the newest Greenpeace Radio show, Greenpeace writer Tom Avila talks with Dr. Steven C. Amstrup, senior scientist with Polar Bears International. Dr. Amstrup, who was selected as the 2012 recipient of the Indianapolis Prize for animal conservation, is a world-renowned polar bear biologist whose work contribute to the listing of polar bears as an endangered species.

Listen now

On the program, the two discuss the current state of the polar bear population, the surprisingly complex nature of sea ice and whether polar bears are the proverbial “canary in the coal mine” when we discuss climate change.

And don’t just listen! Subscribe, post commentsand take action for a green and peaceful future.

Seeing Arctic Sea Ice in 3D

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by Frida BengtssonArctic Sunrise

Every day of the year, the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) in Boulder, Colorado, updates it’s satellite image of the Arctic sea ice extent.

Presently, we are on track for a historic low this year and it seems the question is not if we will see ice free summers in the Arctic, but more a matter of when.

And yet, the images at the NSIDC only tell half the story. Continue reading →

Drawing a Line in the Arctic Ice

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by Ben AyliffeRIO+20 Arctic Rising

On Thursday at the Rio Earth Summit, Greenpeace joined forces with a host of famous names to demand that the uninhabited area of the High Arctic that lies around the North Pole be legally protected and kept off-limits to the companies and governments that are desperate to see it exploited.

But why should we bother?

Because what happens in the Arctic affects us all. Besides acting as a planetary air-conditioner, the region is a bellwether for the health of our climate and the global ecosystem.

The Arctic is warming faster than any other place on Earth. Ice is disappearing at unprecedented levels and with it the habitat of species like the polar bear, while the way of life of the four million people who live above the Arctic Circle is changing forever. Continue reading →