Research provides timely views of warming’s impact on Alaska glaciers

Research provides timely views of warming’s impact on Alaska glaciers

  Alaska’s glaciers respond to climate change by melting for three additional weeks with every 1 degree Celsius increase in the average summer temperature, data from satellite-mounted radars show. A single degree Celsius equates to 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit. Work by scientists at Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Alaska Fairbanks also shows that synthetic […]

Seals risk death by polar bear for a varied meal, UBC study finds

Seals risk death by polar bear for a varied meal, UBC study finds

  Arctic tracking shows ringed seals trade safety for food variety—evidence that conservation plans must factor in both food and fear. As climate change reshapes Arctic food webs, ringed seals will swim into risky polar bear territory if the menu is varied enough.  That’s the central finding of a new study published in Ecology Letters. UBC researchers tracked […]

Past intensive whaling threatens the future of bowhead whales

Past intensive whaling threatens the future of bowhead whales

  DNA: Commercial whaling has left the bowhead whale vulnerable for many generations to come. A unique collection of prehistoric bowhead whale bones, dating back 11,000 years, reveals a previously untold story of the relative impacts of humans on nature. The time series of ancient fossils show that commercial hunting of bowhead whales, which spanned […]