Global warming ‘a myth’ – Russian academic

Russian geoscientist Professor Nikolai Dobretsov has called attention to the fact that after decades of decline, the Arctic Ice Cap is into its fifth straight year of growth. Speaking in Moscow Monday, he argued that what is known as ‘global warming’ is in fact a brief phase of climatic oscillation which may bring ‘global cooling’ towards the end of the 21st century. He also said that the matter cannot be sorted out without many more permanent observation posts in the High Arctic. Source: Voice of Russia

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Weather changes becoming the norm?

Many European countries are again hit by snowfalls, while a spring season has just begun in the USA. Experts are calm on that score, saying that such phenomena are none other than natural anomalies. This time snowfalls have emerged in the Alpine ski resorts, where they are needed most of all – in Austria and Switzerland. Snowfalls have also hit the south of Germany, The Netherlands, Sweden, Poland, the Czech Republic, and Croatia. The Baltic countries have suffered from snowfalls as well. However, there is no point in alarming signals at the moment, Assistant Professor Pavel Toropov from the Department of Climatology and Meteorology at the Faculty of Geography of the Lomonosov Moscow State University says. "Both meteorological observations and media reports say snowfalls were frequent earlier as well. A considerable part of Europe is located in a moderate climate zone – therefore, snowfalls often occur in the European countries. Of course, winters in Europe are milder than in European Russia." While tourists are “conquering” snowy tracks in the mountains and car drivers are doing that on the highways, a spring season has begun in the USA. This is the earliest spring on the EastCoast of the USA in the past 150 years. American scientists say that this is caused by the global climate change. This may be a one-time action though. Climatologists are not in a hurry to characterize this as an “anomaly. "On the results of meteorological observations that were made earlier it is possible to say what deviations should be regarded as strong anomalies. Each region has its own indices. In the Arctic and Antarctic regions, as well as in the tropics temperature changes are not very strong while in moderate latitudes the temperature changes heavily." According to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), climate changes have acquired speed over the past few years. In all the history of observations since 1850, 2010 has proved to be the hottest of all. Those in Siberia in Russia, which is traditionally snowy and frosty, are very skeptical about the above-mentioned information. Frosts are stiffening, and snowdrifts are becoming higher in Siberia. As it seems, this runs counter to the theory of global warming. However, there is nothing strange in all this. When air temperature rises, moisture content rises as well, Head of the Climate and Energy Programme of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Alexei Kokorin says. One should get accustomed to surprises, caused by weather changes, including cancelled flights. There are scientists who say that throughout this century world temperature may undergo changes of several degrees. Source: Voice of Russia

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Arctic ice at 2nd lowest level since 1979: US report

Indian Express, Washington: The frozen Arctic has shrunk to its second lowest level since satellites began measuring it in 1979, capping a decade of "rapidly decreasing summer sea ice," US scientists said The Colorado-based National Snow and Ice Data Centre (NSIDC) said the ice cap appeared to have reached its lowest level for the summer, at 4.33 million square kilometres (1.67 million square miles) on September 9. That is the second lowest level since the centre began
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tracking the ice mass by satellite more than 30 years ago, with the lowest level recorded in 2007. The NSIDC cautioned that the measurement was based on preliminary results and that changing winds could push the ice flows closer together, resulting in a smaller figure when final numbers are released in early October. "The last five years (2007 to 2011) have been the five lowest extents in the continuous satellite record, which extends back to 1979," the NSIDC said. Read Full: Arctic ice at 2nd lowest level since 1979: US report - Indian Express

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China gripped by unusual cold spell

A tourist braves strong wind in Beijing on Monday. A large part of the country will experience colder than usual weather in the coming days, meteorologists said. [Wang Jing / China Daily]

China: China is experiencing a colder winter than usual and temperatures will continue to fall until mid-February, meteorologists said. "Over the weekend, a new cold front will bring precipitation and a sudden temperature drop to most parts of China, and after mid-February, temperatures will climb in fluctuations," Huang Xiaoyu, chief forecaster of the China Meteorological Administration, told China Daily on Monday. She added that the average temperature in China in January was about 1 C lower than the usual level. The National Meteorological Center issued an alert for a cold snap on Monday, predicting the temperature drop up to 14 C before Wednesday. China is not alone in having unusually cold weather. Europe is experiencing a bitter cold spell that has claimed lives and paralyzed traffic. Wang Qiwei, of the National Climate Center of the China Meteorological Administration, said the widespread cold is caused by high atmospheric pressure in the Arctic. When the atmospheric pressure in the Artic is higher than the area outside the pole, the cold air spreads. The air pressure increased rapidly in the Arctic in mid-January, causing the fast spread of cold to Europe and Asia, Wang said. Global warming has become a household term, but the widespread chill has raised doubts among the public about whether Earth is in the grip of global cooling. Ding Yihui, deputy director-general of Climate Change Experts Committee and executive director of the scientific committee of World Climate Research Program, said the temporary period of low temperatures does not indicate that global warming has slowed. The term global warming means the temperature of Earth is generally rising, but it still has relatively cold and warm periods, Ding told People's Daily. According to the second National Assessment Report on Climate Change, released last year, land surface temperatures in China increased by 1.38 C from 1951 to 2009. Ding said global warming is not only driving up the temperature, but also causing frequent extreme weather events such as drought and extreme cold. Aside from global warming, surface cooling of oceans and weaker sun can cause temperatures to drop, he added.  Source: China.org.cn

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Russia marks International Sami People’s Day

Russia’s Murmansk region marks International Sami People’ Day on Monday, with a host of festivities expected there later in the day. Sami are the Arctic indigenous people inhabiting the Kola Peninsula of Russia and the northern regions of neighboring countries. The Kola Peninsula-based Sami people continue to make more efforts to preserve their mother tongue, develop national culture and expand ties with their compatriots from Norway, Sweden and Finland. On Monday, a variety of music and sports events will be held on the Kola Peninsula which organizers said will help to better understand Sami people’s way of life. Source: Voice of Russia.

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Watch How Porsche Engineers Developed the New 911 - Carscoop

Carscoop: Its shape may look very similar to the previous model, but Porsche’s 911 that made its public debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September is pretty much a brand-new car. Porsche’s motto of “evolution, not revolution” clearly applies primarily to the shape of its iconic sportscar, which has been its mainstay product for more than four decades. It doesn’t necessarily extend under the skin,though

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the only stipulation so far is that every 911s must have a flat-six engine placed at the rear. Before releasing the new generation code-named 991  to the public Porsche engineers had to make sure that it would be operating perfectly under even the most extreme conditions. It’s not something novel, as most car manufacturers usually test their models rigorously to avoid costly mistakes. Seeing Porsche engineers burning the midnight oil and rigorously testing the 911 in such diverse conditions as South Africa and the Arctic Circle, and even witnessing some components fail is, in our opinion, anything but boring. Source: Carscoop

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'Hungry' polar bears turn to 'cannibalism'

Indian Express: Increasing number of polar bears, which otherwise hunt seals, are now resorting to attacking and eating their own kind in a bid to satiate their hunger, a recent photo evidence has revealed. The photograph clicked by environmental photojournalist Jenny Ross shows an adult polar bear dragging the body of a cub that it has just killed across the Arctic sea ice. “This type of intraspecific predation has always

occurred to some extent,” the BBC quoted Ross as saying. “However, there are increasing numbers of observations of it occurring, particularly on land where polar bears are trapped ashore, completely food-deprived for extended periods of time due to the loss of sea ice as a result of climate change,” she said. The killing technique used by the adult was precisely similar to what the polar bears use on seals -- sharp bites to the head. 'Source: : Hungry' polar bears turn to 'cannibalism' - Indian Express

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2011 Arctic Report Card: NOAA report shows Arctic in search of new norm

Screen Shot On Linked Video (Arctic Report Card 2011By NOAAPMEL)

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By: RTSea, Read: NOAA's 2011 Arctic Report Card., Source: Nature.com , Image: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, In September of 2007, I had the pleasure of being a member of a team that traveled above the Arctic Circle to document evidence of climate change. Organized by InMER.org, the survey was meant to be a precursor to a larger, winter expedition and so much of the data collected was anecdotal, gleaned from interviews with Inuit Indian tribal elders and government officials, and from our own observations. The summer was also the season when the National Snow and Ice Data Center reported the lowest summer sea ice in recorded history, and we had the opportunity to fly over some and see it's cracked and patchy appearance - quite a difference from the solid sheet it was supposed to be. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and other environmental research organizations continued to study the sea ice conditions, and in subsequent years it would fluctuate, showing some signs of improvement one year only to shrink drastically the next. 2011 has turned out  to  be  not  a 

very good year. "This year’s end of summer ice extent was the second smallest in the 32-year satellite record,"says Don Perovich, a geophysicist with the US Army Corps of Engineers Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL).  NOAA issues a report each year, its Arctic Report Card, and as they have had enough years to study the ice to establish a baseline for comparison, NOAA is now saying that the Arctic is definitely showing signs of change. With an overall trend of increasing temperatures and thinning ice, there are some definite shifts taking place. Nature is adjusting. However, that does not mean that a new norm will be a good thing for all species of flora and fauna. In essence, nature's drive is to survive in one form or another, and if that means that some plants or animals are lost in the process then so be it. And that can still portend some serious socio-economic impacts on all of us. The latest Arctic Report Card notes that the trend is toward longer periods of thin summer sea ice and more   open   Arctic  waters.  The   melted   ice    and   the  exposed  water  is 

Screen Shot On Linked Video ( InMER's Expedition to the Northwest Passage By RTSeaTV).

producing changes in the temperature, the salinity, and the acidic levels of the water. This impacts the growth of organisms, like plankton, at the base of the food chain. So, while polar bears and walruses struggle with thin ice that hampers their hunting (7 of 19 identified polar bear populations are in decline), migrating gray whales are finding a more robust food source and are staying longer to feed. Away from the water, vegetation is beginning to show adaptation to new conditions. Shrubs are now growing further and further north, in areas that once only had mossy tundra. This was something that the InMER team on our expedition. People whose families had been living in Arctic for several generations were reporting the appearance of shrubs for the first time in there lives. Sightings  of  grizzly  bears  moving  up

Screen Shot On Linked Video (Arctic Report Card 2011By NOAAPMEL)

from the south, and even the first appearance of a bee in the town of Kugluktuk all represent shifts towards a new norm. While shrubs may be expanding their range as a result of climate change, mosses and lichens are withering and so the Arctic's fundamental botanical ecology is in flux. "The Arctic is clearly experiencing the impacts of a prolonged and intensified warming trend,"says Ms. Jackie Richter-Menge of CRREL . "Given the projection of continued warming, it is very likely, indeed expected, that these changes will continue in years to come, with increasing climatic, physical, biological and socioeconomic impact." As long as we stay committed to dependence on fossil fuels and through that dependence expel vast quantities of carbon emissions into the atmosphere then we will continue to see nature adapt itself in the Arctic and elsewhere with untold consequences for a variety of species, including mankind. Source: RTSea Blog

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Japan's Whaling Defiance: whalers prepare to head to Antarctic waters again

By: RTSea,While Japan's last season of whaling was cut short, in part due to the at-sea harassment efforts of Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, it appears that the island nation is planning a return this winter. Here is a report from CNN: "(CNN) -- Japan says it will hunt whales in the Southern Ocean this winter and will send a Fisheries Agency ship to guard its whalers against promised intervention by a conservation group. "The Fisheries Agency will send a patrol boat and take increased measures to strengthen the protection given to the research whaling ships," Fisheries Minister Michihiko Kano said at a news conference Tuesday. At its annual meeting in July, theInternational Whaling Commissionpassed a resolution calling on its member countries "to cooperate to prevent and suppress actions that risk human life and property at sea." Last winter, Japan cut short its planned December-to-April hunt by two months after anti-whaling activists from the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society repeatedly interfered with the whaling vessels. Sea Shepherd claims it saved 800 whales by its actions during last season's hunt. Japanese whalers killed 171 minke whales and two fin whales during the Antarctic hunt, according to IWC figures.Read Full: Japan's Whaling Defiance: whalers prepare to head to Antarctic waters again

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Arctic ice loss may stop over next decades before resuming again - Indian Express

Study says the melting of Arctic sea ice may temporarily stabilize. (Reuters photo)

Washington: A new study has suggested the melting of Arctic sea ice may temporarily stabilize, or the ice may somewhat expand at times over the next few decades. Scientists at the National Centre for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) found that Arctic ice under current climate conditions was as likely to expand as it was to contract for periods of up to about a decade.“One of the results that surprised us all was the number of computer simulations that indicated a temporary halt to the loss of the ice,” said NCAR scientist Jennifer Kay. Read Full : Arctic ice loss may stop over next decades before resuming again - Indian Express

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