Arctic Ocean may turn into ‘polluted soup’ by 2070

October 7th, 2009 WASHINGTON - The extent of the Arctic Sea ice this year or the area covered by floating ice was the third lowest since satellite measurements were first made in 1979. The ice area at minimum was an increase from the past two years, but still well below the average for the past 30 years.

September 22nd, 2009 WASHINGTON - New findings by scientists indicate that that Arctic ice would last decades longer than thought, and the region won't experience ice-free summers until 2030 or 2040. Some models had previously predicted that the Arctic could be ice free in summer by as soon as 2013, due to rising temperatures from global warming.

September 17th, 2009 Arctic sea ice melt still heavy, but no recordWASHINGTON — The summer melt of Arctic sea ice wasn't quite as bad this year as the last two years. But it still ranked as the third biggest melt on record.

September 10th, 2009 Arctic exploration finds large underwater mountainWASHINGTON — Joint U.S.-Canada exploration of the Arctic sea floor discovered an unusual underwater mountain and evidence that could boost the two countries' claims that their boundaries extend farther north. For the past two months ships from the countries have ventured north in icy areas of the Arctic where almost no surface ships have been, in an effort to find out how far the continental shelf extends.

August 16th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Scientists have found that the warming of the northward-flowing West Spitsbergen current in the Arctic over the last thirty years has contributed to global warming by triggering the release of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, from methane hydrate stored in the sediment beneath the seabed. Methane hydrate is an ice-like substance composed of water and methane, which is stable in conditions of high pressure and low temperature.

July 18th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A small NASA aircraft has completed its first successful science flight in partnership with the University of Colorado at Boulder as part of an expedition to study the receding Arctic sea ice and improve understanding of its life cycle and the long-term stability of the Arctic ice cover. NASA's Characterization of Arctic Sea Ice Experiment, known as CASIE, began a series of unmanned aircraft system flights in coordination with satellites.

July 16th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A new study has concluded that significant sea ice formation occurred in the Arctic earlier than previously thought, which suggests that sea ice formed in the Arctic before it did in Antarctica. "The results are also especially exciting because they suggest that sea ice formed in the Arctic before it did in Antarctica, which goes against scientific expectation," said scientific team member Dr Richard Pearce of the University of Southampton's School of Ocean and Earth Science based at the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton (NOCS).

July 10th, 2009 WASHINGTON - In a new research, scientists have obtained evidence for ice-free summers with intermittent winter sea ice in the Arctic Ocean during the Late Cretaceous period, which should help predict how the Arctic is likely to respond to future global warming. The Late Cretaceous, the period between 100 and 65 million years ago leading up to the extinction of the dinosaurs, is crucial in this regard because levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) were high, driving greenhouse conditions.

July 9th, 2009 LONDON - In a new study, scientists have said that as global warming removes the Arctic's icy lid, the region is expected to teem with life by the year 2030. According to a report in New Scientist, the study of what the Arctic looked like just before dinosaurs were wiped off the planet has provided a glimpse of what could be to come within decades.

July 8th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Data from a NASA Earth-orbiting spacecraft has revealed a dramatic thinning of Arctic sea ice between the winters of 2004 and 2008, with thin seasonal ice replacing thick older ice as the dominant type for the first time on record. The new results provide further evidence for the rapid, ongoing transformation of the Arctic's ice cover.

July 5th, 2009 WASHINGTON - An analysis by scientists has suggested that the Arctic was an enclosed freshwater lake until about 38 million years ago, when tectonic activity caused it to undergo a transition to an ocean. Recent studies have suggested that beginning about 44 million years ago the Arctic underwent a transition from lake to ocean conditions.

July 5th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A new study by scientists has shown a dramatic increase in the amount of fresh water in the Arctic Ocean. Fresh water flowing into or out of the Arctic Ocean plays an important role in ocean circulation and may be a factor in the response of the world ocean to climate change.

May 19th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A new study has suggested that sediments deposited in the ocean by major Arctic rivers may hold clues to understand how Earth's climate will change in the next few decades. The study was carried out by geoscientists at The University of Texas at Austin and Texas A and M University, US.

April 7th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Latest satellite imagery shows that the Arctic is virtually teetering on a layer of thin ice, not to speak of its shrinking ice area over the decade. Researchers from NASA and University of Colorado-Boulder (CUB), who have been tracking Arctic sea ice cover with satellites since 1979, found that the winter of 2008-09 was the fifth lowest maximum ice extent on record.

April 3rd, 2009 WASHINGTON - A new analysis of computer models has forecasted that summers in the Arctic may be ice-free in as few as 30 years. "The Arctic is changing faster than anticipated," said James Overland, an oceanographer at NOAA's Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory and co-author of the study.