On the North Slope of Alaska, snow is melting earlier in the spring and the snow-in date is happening later in the fall, according to a new study by Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) researchers. Atmospheric dynamics and sea ice conditions are behind this lengthening […]
Earlier this year Arctic sea ice sank to a record low wintertime extent for the third straight year. Now NASA is flying a set of instruments north of Greenland to observe the impact of the melt season on the Arctic’s oldest and thickest sea ice. Operation IceBridge, NASA’s airborne survey of polar ice, launched a […]
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Maple, a 225-foot seagoing buoy tender homeported in Sitka, Alaska, departed Wednesday on a historic voyage through the Northwest Passage. This summer marks the 60th anniversary of the three Coast Guard cutters and one Canadian ship that convoyed through the Northwest Passage. The crews of the U.S. Coast […]
Plants and soil in the Arctic tundra absorb and store mercury released into the atmosphere by industry and mining in the Earth’s temperate regions, leading to soil mercury levels five times higher than in lower latitudes, according to a new study by researchers supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF). The research was published this […]