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Welcome to the archives of Arctic Deeply. While we paused regular publication of the site on September 15, 2017, and transitioned some of our coverage to Oceans Deeply, we are happy to serve as an ongoing public resource on the Arctic. We hope you’ll enjoy the reporting and analysis that was produced by our dedicated community of editors contributors.
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Exploring research activities in the Arctic, including collaboration, innovation and traditional and local knowledge.
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Katherine Weingartner is an ICF contractor for the United States Global Change Research Program where she supports the development of the National Climate Assessment.
A new Canadian Coast Guard research ship will be named after 19th-century British naval officer and Arctic explorer John Franklin – but is that really a good idea?
Dennis Schroeder Practiced Science Diplomacy in Iran and South Asia
Scientists must pull together to engage more consciously in Arctic science diplomacy and act as allies for international policy efforts, writes Dennis Schroeder.
New research published this week shows a direct correlation between each metric ton of carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere and the amount of sea ice lost in the Arctic.
Yngve Kristoffersen, Audun Tholfsen, John K. Hall, and Ruediger Stein Professor, University of Bergen Department of Earth Science
A hovercraft-based ice drift station gives researchers access to previously inaccessible regions of the changing Arctic sea ice cover off the coast of Greenland.
Brendan Kelly Executive Director, Study of Environmental Arctic Change
The area between Oliktok Point and Demarcation Bay provides a key habitat and feeding area for bearded and ringed seals. Arctic researcher Brendan Kelly reflects on decades of research studying pinnipeds in the area.
The Saami University of Applied Sciences takes a holistic approach to education that reflects traditional Saami livelihoods and culture. This Indigenous-led research is vital in a changing Arctic, says Saami Council leader Gunn-Britt Retter.
Following the first-ever White House Arctic Science Ministerial, representatives have agreed to strengthen Arctic observations and data sharing, thus expanding scientific understanding of the Arctic and building regional resilience.
The White House will host high-level science officials and representatives from Indigenous peoples’ groups from more than two dozen countries to discuss ways to advance cooperative international research in the Arctic, a region undergoing rapid environmental change.
Access to safe and reliable drinking water and sanitation services is a concern for many Arctic communities. We talk to water experts about some of the challenges.
Some people claim to know when the Arctic Ocean will become ice-free. They don’t. Scientists’ best estimates of how the climate will evolve come from complex computer models. But even these can’t account for all possible scenarios, especially far into the future.
Ross A. Virginia and Michael Sfraga Director, Institute of Arctic Studies at Dartmouth College in Hanover
On September 28, the White House will host science ministers and representatives from indigenous groups to reflect on Arctic science, monitoring and data sharing. Ross A. Virginia and Michael Sfraga offer their view on the advancement of scientific study in the region.
Satellite data shows that Arctic sea ice has stuck with its downward trend in spite of summer weather conditions favorable to preserving the ice – confirming that sea ice conditions once seen as extreme are now part of the new normal.
A new report finds that the “staggering” rate of warming in the world’s oceans is shifting fisheries, spreading disease and altering the behavior of many marine species around the world – including in the Arctic.
Adrian Gall Marine Ecologist, Alaska
In the Hanna Shoal region, warm water diverts around a 10m (30ft) hill on the seafloor, allowing the sea ice here to persist into September and attract the walruses, polar bears, seals and birds that rely on the ice environment, says marine ecologist Adrian Gall.
UPI – Researchers say the last two years of melting show how much sea ice loss is dictated by weather patterns during June and July.
Just over 1 percent of U.S. Arctic waters have been surveyed to modern standards. In fact, some depth measurements on nautical charts date back to Captain Cook’s time. Here’s what it takes to bring those maps into the modern age.
Ed Hawkins Climate Scientist, NCAS at the University of Reading
Dramatic sea ice predictions make headlines. There are very serious risks from continued climatic changes and a melting Arctic, but we do not serve the public and policymakers well by exaggerating those risks.
With rising temperatures and melting sea ice, hunting and traveling in the Arctic is becoming a riskier venture. Here’s what a changing environment could mean for search and rescue efforts.
Rising temperatures can’t fully explain the ongoing melting of the Greenland ice sheet. A new project looks at how microorganisms are changing the reflectivity of the ice sheet, helping it warm and melt.
Some scientists fear that the U.K.’s decision to leave the European Union may lead to the erosion of British expertise and international collaboration in the Arctic. Others smell an opportunity to take the lead.
Henry Huntington Senior Officer and Science Director, the Pew Charitable Trusts’ Arctic Programs
Each spring, black guillemots arrive in Smith Bay to nest and lay their eggs, but the food web is shifting, and in 2009, only one chick survived to fledge and leave the island. Marine ecologist Henry Huntington looks at why this unique region needs protection.
Noah Charney Postdoctoral Research Associate in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, the University of Arizona
The buildup of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere is driving up temperatures and altering precipitation patterns. But will the changes boost tree growth in northern North America and slow the pace of climate change, or will the shift be too great for trees to adjust?
Hannah Wauchope and Richard Fuller Research Assistant, the University of Queensland
THE CONVERSATION – Some migratory shorebirds cover tens of thousands of kilometers annually as they move from their Arctic breeding areas to the Southern Hemisphere, but these habitats may vanish with climate change, write biologists Hannah Wauchope and Richard Fuller.
In an exclusive interview with Arctic Deeply, Evan Bloom, director of Oceans and Polar Affairs at the U.S. State Department, discusses the Arctic Council’s new Arctic science agreement and how it will change the way science is carried out at the top of the world.
Bodil Bluhm Marine Biologist and Oceanographer
The abundance of life on the seafloor and persistent late-season sea ice make the shallow Herald Shoal a hotspot for biodiversity, from bivalves to sea stars – and the walrus, bearded seals and gray whales that feed on them.
HAKAI MAGAZINE: Once overlooked by white Americans, African American Arctic explorer Matthew Henson made an unforgettable impression on the Greenlandic Inuit.
In the first installment of our “Experts to Watch” series, here are six people who are contributing to our understanding of Arctic sea ice, which is at the root of many ongoing changes in the Arctic.
Lars-Eric Heimbürger CNRS Research Scientist, the Mediterranean Institute of Oceanography
How does mercury find its way into Arctic animals? Data from a recent expedition to the central Arctic Ocean suggest that bacteria close to the ocean surface convert mercury to its toxic form and feed it into the food web.
Barneo, a Russian-operated research camp on Arctic ice, hosts hundreds of North Pole-bound visitors every spring. But its future, thanks to challenging ice conditions and rising Norway-Russia tensions, may be in jeopardy.
Cynthia Christman Marine Mammal Studies, the Alaska Arctic
Seen from above, beluga whales, polar bears and musk oxen offer a glimpse of the beauty – and value – offered by the Beaufort Sea and its shelf break, the line where the continental shelf ends and the deep ocean begins, writes biologist Cynthia Christman.
As another Arctic sea ice record falls, the area of the Arctic Ocean covered in ice appears to be well on its way to reaching a new minimum in September. But scientists aren’t yet convinced.
HIGH NORTH NEWS: The cold political climate between the East and the West is hurting cooperation in academia. It has become almost impossible for U.S. researchers to get visas to travel to Russia for conferences and meetings.
HAKAI MAGAZINE: As the ice melts, polar bears are being forced to move on land. And they’re adapting any way they can – even if that means scavenging their next meal from people.
Melanie Smith Director, Conservation Science for Audubon Alaska
The Colville River is one of the Arctic’s largest and longest rivers. It empties into Harrison Bay in the Beaufort Sea in a massive alluvial fan and delta plain crowded with fish, birds and marine mammals, says Audubon Alaska’s Melanie Smith.
A posting to Jan Mayen island in the North Atlantic is a dream come true for some. “Meet the North,” a series that ventures into the lives of some of the 4 million people who call the Arctic home, learns about love and isolation in a community of 18 souls.
Kathy Kuletz Expert, Arctic Seabirds
Almost every form of Arctic resident can be spotted along this heavily travelled strip of water off the northwestern Alaskan coast that flows northward to the Barrow Canyon, writes seabird ecologist Kathy Kuletz.
Permafrost in the Arctic, where air temperatures are rising twice as fast as the rest of the planet, is starting to thaw. Predicting where and when those changes will happen is a challenge, says Antoni Lewkowicz, president of the International Permafrost Association.
Researchers in the Bering Sea are using autonomous sailing vessels, powered by the sun and wind, to collect data on ocean conditions, fish and marine mammals in a rapidly changing, biologically rich area.
Kate Stafford Oceanographer, the University of Washington Applied Physics Laboratory
Each spring, more than 15,000 bowhead whales – and many more belugas –move from the Chukchi Sea to the Beaufort Sea through the canal-like deep water of the Barrow Canyon. University of Washington oceanographer Kate Stafford listens to the underwater cacophony.
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