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Posts

May 23, 2013

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9:29 PM | Bacteria Found Growing In Subzero Arctic Frost, Which Is Good News For Mars Life
Ellesmere Island Wikimedia Commons Bacteria discovered at -15ºC, the coldest temperature bacteria have ever grown in, could indicate bacteria survive under similar conditions on Mars. A team of researchers in the Canadian Arctic is reporting on an interesting find: bacteria that thrive at -15 degrees Celsius. That is the coldest environment bacteria have ever been found to grow in. The McGill University researchers traveled to Ellesmere Island in (far, far) north Canada. There they collected […]
Popular Science
General Science
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5:40 AM | Ctene Sensations of the Arctic Ocean
One of the goals of Andy Juhl’s and Craig Aumack’s Arctic research is to determine the role of ice algae as a source of nutrition for food webs existing in the water column and at the bottom of the Arctic ocean. During their fieldwork these Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory scientists are deploying a plankton net, a [...]
State of the Planet
Geosciences

May 22, 2013

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3:57 AM | Eyes on Columbia Glacier’s retreat
Laura Nielsen for Frontier Scientists The Landsat mission, a joint effort between the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), has been collecting data on Earth's physical features via satellite since the 1970s. "The Landsat data record -- humanity's longest continuous record of our planet from space -- has been an invaluable tool for scientists and decision-makers in many fields, from natural resources to agricultural productivity and […]
Frontier Scientists
Climate Science | Geosciences
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12:16 AM | Sensitivity and consensus; theory and practice
So Cook et al1 confirms that there really is a consensus in climate science: 97% of the peer-reviewed literature over the last 20 years supports the fact that humans are responsible for the warming. It’s a solid result, confirming the earlier work of Oreskes and others, but its importance lies in the fact that public [...]
Hot Topic
Climate Science | Geosciences

May 20, 2013

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5:53 PM | Collecting Core Data About Arctic Ecosystems
Our team spent most of Friday on the Arctic sea ice, drilling and sampling ice cores at our main field site. For each core collected, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory scientists Andy Juhl and Craig Aumack take a number of different physical, chemical and biological measurements that characterize the ice and the organisms living inside it. Some [...]
State of the Planet
Geosciences

May 17, 2013

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1:10 PM | Exploring the Ghosts of Wrangel Island
The history of Russia’s Wrangel Island is as dramatic and rugged as the island itself.  The tragic 1913 Canadian Arctic Expedition and the equally tragic 1921 Wrangel Island Expedition were just two episodes from the island’s history as a holy grail of sorts for Arctic explorers. They were also the subjects of my first two…
NatGeo News Watch
General Science

May 16, 2013

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7:40 PM | Carbon in Alaskan soils stays stored despite warming
Shrub growth keeps a vicious feedback from enhancing climate change.
Scientific Method
General Science
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4:03 PM | Climate Change is a Challenge for Narwhals
The unicorn of the sea is in trouble. Take a look at the problems narwhals face as climate change grips the Arctic.
Wild Wire
Ecology | Environment

May 15, 2013

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1:56 PM | Weddell seals found to be born with abnormally large brains
Weddell seals are born with brains which are 70% the size of their parents, but a body mass of only 6-7%.
Science Club
Environment | Marine Biology
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9:02 AM | Arctic Nations Debate Future
A meeting of Arctic nations is attracting international attention. But how will countries respond to changes in the region? Continue reading →
Earth
Geosciences

May 14, 2013

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8:49 PM | Ozone loss and recovery in the Arctic
Laura Nielsen for Frontier Scientists The ozone hole is a problem which plagues the skies above Antarctica. Yet in 2011, Arctic skies experienced the most severe ozone depletion ever measured in the north. The reasons why are now explained in a paper published in the Journal of Geophysical Research-Atmospheres headed by lead author Susan E. Strahan, an atmospheric scientists at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. Understanding ozone loss begins with a look at the ozone layer. Located high […]
Frontier Scientists
Climate Science | Geosciences

May 13, 2013

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11:07 AM | Week in Review, or Top Line Tug-of-War
Members of Congress returned from recess to a rainy spring week in DC and immediately resumed bickering over how to move forward on funding the government in the next fiscal year. While both chambers have passed budget resolutions providing top-line spending numbers for FY 2014, the focus has now shifted to whether or not they [...]
NEWScience Policy » Week in Review
Policy

May 10, 2013

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4:21 PM | The Earth Rangers’ Polar Bears On the Move!
The Earth Rangers' Polar bears are back and this time we've mapped out their trips! Take a look to see where your Polar bears have been. Can you guess who travelled the farthest?
Wild Wire
Ecology | Environment

May 09, 2013

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2:00 PM | Arctic mission recovers record of surprising warmth
The longest continuous Arctic land sediment core shows that the last time CO2 levels reached current levels, over 2.6 million years ago, North-East Russia was taken was 8°C warmer.

Melles, M., Brigham-Grette, J., Minyuk, P., Nowaczyk, N., Wennrich, V., DeConto, R., Anderson, P., Andreev, A., Coletti, A., Cook, T. & Haltia-Hovi, E. (2012). 2.8 Million Years of Arctic Climate Change from Lake El'gygytgyn, NE Russia, Science, 337 (6092) 315-320. DOI:

Julie Brigham-Grette, Martin Melles, Pavel Minyuk, Andrei Andreev, Pavel Tarasov, Robert DeConto, Sebastian Koenig, Norbert Nowaczyk, Volker Wennrich, Peter Rosén, Eeva Haltia, Tim Cook, Catalina Gebhardt, Carsten Meyer-Jacob, Jeff Snyder, Ulrike Herzsch (2013). Pliocene Warmth, Polar Amplification, and Stepped Pleistocene Cooling Recorded in NE Arctic Russia, Science, Other: 10.1126/science.1233137

Simple Climate
Climate Science
Citation
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8:56 AM | Tank-like Robot Rumbles Over Arctic
GROVER the Arctic rover resembles a kill-bot from after the robot apocalypse, but the robot will actually keep scientists out of danger and save money as researchers study the changing environment of the far north. Continue reading →
Earth
Geosciences

May 06, 2013

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10:37 PM | Dinosaurs in the Dark
Truly, as Weird Al Yankovic once sang, “Jurassic Park is frightening in the dark.” Stumbling around after nightfall …
Laelaps
Evolution | Paleontology
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3:00 PM | Life Could Have Evolved in Frigid Underwater Ice Gardens
New evidence indicates that chemical gardens which form beneath the Antarctic ice could be the origin of coldwater life. Brinicles, first captured forming on film by the BBC in 2011, are hollow tubes of ice that descend from Antarctic sea ice. They look a lot like icicles, but aren’t. As sea water freezes into ice, [...]
Visual Science
General Science

May 02, 2013

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12:39 AM | Sing a song of Sphagnum
For a plant, there is one good thing about being small; it’s a lot easier to get everywhere- for your seeds, that is. Nowhere is this more evident than where all plants are really small- the Arctic tundra. The northern latitudes are covered by vast expanses of tree-less terrain covered by mosses and lichens that, for the most part, are the same around the world. Biogeographers believe

Sundberg, S. (2013). Spore rain in relation to regional sources and beyond, Ecography, 36 (3) 364-373. DOI:

Biogeography Bits
Biology | Ecology
Citation

April 27, 2013

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9:34 AM | The climate scientist whose world spun on through war
Milutin Milanković calculated his way through imprisonment and bombings to show how Earth’s movement helped drive ice ages, revealing how far we’ve strayed from the path we should be following into the next global freeze.

Petrović, A. & Marković, S. (2010). Annus mirabilis and the end of the geocentric causality: Why celebrate the 130th anniversary of Milutin Milanković?, Quaternary International, 214 (1-2) 114-118. DOI:

Simple Climate
Climate Science
Citation

April 26, 2013

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1:34 PM | Hairy Plants, Hairy Animals: How Species Survive in the Arctic
Take a look at the hairy world of Arctic species with this video.
Wild Wire
Ecology | Environment

April 25, 2013

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2:52 PM | Hot Shot, Cold Critters
By Gail Henry I want you to try something: close your eyes, think back over your media diet for the day, and identify six photographs that you clearly remember seeing.It's harder than you would have thought, isn't it? Photographs are everywhere: in our newspapers, on our computer and tablet screens, at our bus stops, on our food packaging. Advertisers and editors spend a lot of time and money trying to ensure that you won't forget all those sexy images at […]
OnEarth
Energy | Environment

April 19, 2013

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3:09 PM | 10 Things We’ve Learned About the Earth Since Last Earth Day
Pigeon-eating catfish, Antarctic trash, and more: A list of surprising, alarming and exciting discoveries about our planet from the past year
Surprising Science
General Science

April 18, 2013

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2:27 PM | Get your bags packed! You could be off to Churchill!
Winners of the Whale, Trails, and Polar Bear Tales Contest will be off to Churchill, Manitoba for some fossil hunting, polar bear spotting and so much more. Check out this awesome prize!
Wild Wire
Ecology | Environment
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1:12 PM | A Toxic Explosion Rocks Texas, Don't Mess with Nebraska, Eat the Fish Eating the Atlantic
By The Editors Tragedy in Texas: A massive explosion tore into the West Chemical Co. fertilizer plant and dozens of nearby homes last night, killing at least five and injuring hundreds in Texas. Half the town has been evacuated for fear of toxic fumes caused by the plant's 25 tons of ammonia and other chemicals. (Mind you, that's the stuff we've been putting on our soil and crops.) The Environmental Protection Agency fined the plant’s owner in 2006 for […]
OnEarth
Energy | Environment
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12:05 AM | Using stalagmites to measure permafrost melt
By Claire A really interesting article was published in Science this week titled “Speleothems Reveal 500,000-Year History of Siberian Permafrost” by Vaks et al. Since I am studying speleothems (particularly stalagmites) for my PhD I felt obliged to read this article. … Continue reading →
OnCirculation
Climate Science | Geosciences

April 17, 2013

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2:00 AM | TDB today: Watching the ice melt
My column at The Daily Blog this week is all about ice — specifically the start of the melt season in the Arctic, and what that means for the climate of the northern hemisphere. What’s going on in the Arctic is rapid climate change, and it’s happening now. It’s changing the weather that most of [...] [Get the full story at Hot Topic...]
Hot Topic
Climate Science | Geosciences

April 13, 2013

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11:22 AM | Alternate histories back unique modern warmth claims
Creating and averaging thousands of slightly different historic temperature records shows that Northern hemisphere 21st century temperatures are almost certainly unique in the last 600 years, according to Harvard University’s Martin Tingley.

Tingley, M. & Huybers, P. (2013). Recent temperature extremes at high northern latitudes unprecedented in the past 600 years, Nature, 496 (7444) 201-205. DOI:

Simple Climate
Climate Science
Citation

April 12, 2013

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5:51 PM | Tilting Isopycnals (the simplified version)
Sunset over Cumberland SoundOne of the things I’m attempting to determine is if the Baffin Island Current*, which passes outside of the mouth of Cumberland Sound, bends into the sound. Last summer, we were able to conduct two rounds of CTD** casts at regular intervals across the sound's mouth. Unfortunately, I wasn’t actually there as I was too pregnant to be at sea. I doubt I would have fit in the bunk as the ship we used is a particularly cramped research vessel (picture here).Even though […]
tangent ramblings
General Science

April 10, 2013

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2:14 PM | How whales survived the Ice Age
Recent research into ancient mammalian species has identified DNA that shows how bowhead whales survived the last Ice Age when compared to larger cold-adapted mammals such as mammoths.
Science Club
Environment | Marine Biology

April 09, 2013

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1:42 PM | Spiders as catalysts for ecosystem development
It is well known that spiders are effective at dispersal and colonization, in part because of their ability to ‘balloon‘ – small spiders (i.e., immature specimens, or adults of species that are small) will release a strand of silk and let the wind pick them up and carry them far distances.  This passive ability to [...]
Arthropod Ecology
Academic Life | Ecology
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