As climate warms, toxic algae blooms expand into Arctic
In NOAA’s annual Arctic Report Card, scientists highlighted the recent rise of toxic algae blooms in the region. The blooms, common in more temperate climates, are expected to increase in the Arctic, affecting people who depend on wild foods.
Can the Arctic’s icy waters solve aquaculture’s sustainability problems?
In April, at a smelting factory in Arctic Norway, the world’s largest photobioreactor will begin churning out fish feed grown on pollution. The feed, or microalgae, will provide a critical source of omega oils for prized Norwegian farmed salmon, while digesting carbon dioxide from industrial smoke piped through the bioreactor, says Hans-Christian Eilertsen, a marine biologist with the Arctic University of Norway.
Arctic thaw sends water into entryway of ‘doomsday’ seed vault
An unexpected thaw of Arctic permafrost let water into the famed "doomsday" seed vault 1,000 kilometers from the North Pole, reported Reuters. The water, halted in the entrance hall of the seed repository, "had no impact on millions of seeds of crops including rice, maize, potatoes and wheat that are stored more than 110 metres inside the mountainside," said the news agency.
U.S. signs Arctic treaty with nod to climate change
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson signed an agreement to fight climate change this week during his trip to Alaska for the Arctic Council, a multinational group that includes Russia and Canada. “The Arctic agreement Tillerson signed with foreign ministers from the other seven nations of the council, including Russia, Canada and Norway, made only a passing reference to the Paris pact,” reports Reuters. “It noted ‘entry into force’ of the pact and its implementation and called for global action to reduce greenhouse gas pollution.”
Tillerson travels to warming Arctic for multi-nation meeting
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson flies to Alaska today for a meeting of the Arctic Council — a multi-government group that includes Canada, Russia and five other Arctic nations. Under the Obama administration, the U.S. chaired the council for two years and made climate change in the region a central issue.
Mother Nature is partially to blame for Arctic ice melt
Natural swings in earth's climate patterns "may be responsible for about 30–50 percent of the overall decline” in summer sea ice in the Arctic, says a study out in the journal Nature Climate Change. The study suggests that if these natural patterns reversed themselves, it could slow the pace of Arctic ice melt and maybe even produce a recovery of some of the ice that’s already been lost.
Study: Arctic Ocean is acidifying
Climate change is making the Arctic Ocean more acidic as it absorbs C02 from the atmosphere, lowering the water's pH level, says a study published in the journal Nature Climate Change.
Relatively balmy weather in Arctic makes scientists uneasy
Temperatures in the Arctic are expected to be 27 degrees Fahrenheit above normal this week, which has scientists unnerved, says The New York Times. In mid-November, temperatures were 35 degrees above the average, before cooling again. But the “heat” has returned.
Donald Trump has several ways he can outmaneuver greens
If Donald Trump pushes ahead with his promises to dismantle President Obama’s climate-change policies, he’ll face tough fights from environmental groups. But Trump has a few tactics he can use to outmaneuver the opposition, reports The New York Times.
Climate change could hit fishery revenues with $10 billion annual losses
Global fisheries could see $10 billion losses in annual revenue if climate change goes unchecked, says a University of British Columbia study published in Scientific Reports. That is a 35 percent greater drop than current projections for catches by the 2050s under high CO2-emmissions scenarios, say the authors.