Category: Arctic

Mars was once supposedly almost another Earth, with flowing water that froze into massive mountains of ice. 

During spring and summer, as the air warms up and the sun shines down on the Greenland Ice Sheet, melt ponds form. Melt ponds are extensive pools of open water that form on both sea ice and ice sheets and are visible from space. 

Researchers at the University of Toronto have identified the mechanism responsible for the formation of salinity and temperature “staircases” in the Arctic Ocean, resolving a mystery that has complexed oceanographers and climatologists for more than half a century.

Satellites can now measure the thickness of Arctic sea ice all year round. Previously, satellites have had trouble determining the state of the floes in summer months due to the presence of surface meltwater. 

A pair of satellite images from 50 years apart reveals striking changes to the glaciers and ice caps in Northwest Greenland. 

The climate crisis is melting Greenland down at an astonishing rate, which is creating an opportunity for investors and mining companies who are searching for a trove of critical minerals capable of powering the green energy economy. 

Scientists are studying how the amounts of wildfire smoke mixing with clouds over the Arctic Ocean may play a key role in determining how fast the Arctic sea ice cover will shrink during the next few decades, and when it will disappear completely in summer. 

Several days of unusually warm weather in northern Greenland have triggered rapid melting, made apparent by the rivers of meltwater rushing into the ocean. Temperatures are around 60 degrees Fahrenheit – 10 degrees warmer than normal for this time of year. 

Greenland’s many small glaciers are melting rapidly, and the melting is increasing, especially in the Arctic regions, where the temperature rise is the worst. 

New data shows extraordinary rates of global heating in the Arctic, up to seven times faster than the global average.