World’s 30 percent gas and 13 percent oil may lie undiscovered north of Arctic Circle

October 7th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Arctic sea ice extent in 2009 was the third lowest since satellite measurements were first made in 1979. The National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) in Boulder, Colorado, said its annual end-of-summer observation showed the North Pole ice sheet covered 5.36 million square kilometres.

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 10th, 2009 Effects of Arctic warming seen as widespreadWASHINGTON — Arctic warming is affecting plants, birds, animals and insects as ice melts and the growing season changes, scientists report in a new review of the many impacts climate change is having on the far north. As the global climate changes, the Arctic Circle has been warming faster than other regions and scientists have documented a series of affects on wildlife in the region.

August 7th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A climate model has predicted that global warming, combined with nuclear waste, may make the Arctic Ocean a polluted soup by the year 2070. According to a report in New Scientist, Ola Johannessen, director of the Nansen Environmental and Remote Sensing Center in Bergen, Norway, and his colleagues, developed the model.

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 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.

June 10th, 2009 Kremlin envoy: Russia will press claim to ArcticMOSCOW — Russia will rebuild its Soviet-era network of polar stations and use its icebreaker fleet to help support its claim to the vast resources of the Arctic, the man who led a mission to plant a Russian flag on the Arctic seabed said Wednesday. Artur Chilingarov, a famed polar scientist who was recently appointed the Kremlin's point man for Arctic issues, said Russia will gather data and resubmit its claim to the United Nations that an underwater mountain range crossing the polar region is part of Russia's continental shelf.

June 10th, 2009 Russia presses claim to Arctic energy richesMOSCOW — Russia will rebuild its Soviet-era network of polar stations and use its icebreaker fleet to help support its claim to the vast resources of the Arctic, the man who led a mission to plant a Russian flag on the Arctic seabed said Wednesday. Artur Chilingarov, a famed polar scientist who was recently appointed the Kremlin's point man for Arctic issues, said Russia will gather data and resubmit its claim to the United Nations that an underwater mountain range crossing the polar region is part of Russia's continental shelf.

June 2nd, 2009 WASHINGTON - A new study has suggested that ancestors of tapirs and ancient cousins of rhinos living above the Arctic Circle 53 million years ago endured six months of darkness each year in a far milder climate than today that featured lush, swampy forests. According to University of Colorado (CU) Boulder Assistant Professor Jaelyn Eberle, the study shows several varieties of prehistoric mammals as heavy as 1,000 pounds each lived on what is today Ellesmere Island near Greenland on a summer diet of flowering plants, deciduous leaves and aquatic vegetation.

May 14th, 2009 LONDON - The Catlin Arctic Survey, a gruelling 10-week expedition to measure the thickness of sea-ice that will help study the impacts of global warming in the region, has ended. According to a report by BBC News, two planes landed safely on May 13 on the floating Arctic ice to collect researchers Pen Hadow, Ann Daniels and Martin Hartley.

May 8th, 2009 LONDON - UK explorer Adrian Hayes aims to set a new Arctic endurance record. This time the Dubai-based adventurer is hoping to make the longest unassisted Arctic Polar journey in history.

April 18th, 2009 LONDON - In a new research, a team of scientists has found that global warming is not just transforming the land for the Arctic people, but it is also poisoning their food, with mercury levels in seals and beluga whales reaching levels that would be considered unsafe in fish. According to a report in New Scientist, Gary Stern of Canada's Department of Fisheries and Oceans in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and colleagues did the research.

March 30th, 2009 LONDON - A bunch of Arctic explorers have found a rather 'saucy' tool to navigate their way to the North Pole-a pair of lacy underwear for the ladies. The Catlin Arctic Survey are using a pair of lady's knickers to help them with directions after compasses failed to work.