BEIJING—China has deployed an advanced surface-to-air missile system to one of the disputed islands it has claimed in the South China Sea, a move that is likely to increase tensions among China and its neighbors. Officials in Taiwan and the United States say China has deployed surface to air missiles on a disputed island Beijing […]
Children’s singer and songwriter Raffi may have brought beluga whales into popular culture with his 1980 song “Baby Beluga,” but surprisingly little is actually known about the life and ecology of these elusive marine mammals that live in some of the world’s most remote, frigid waters. Two distinct populations spend winters in the Bering Sea, […]
A new NOAA-sponsored report shows that air temperature in 2015 across the Arctic was well above average with temperature anomalies over land more than 2 degrees Fahrenheit above average, the highest since records began in 1900. Increasing air and sea surface temperatures, decreasing sea ice extent and Greenland ice sheet mass, and changing behavior of […]
In announcement on Friday, the Department of the Interior cited current market conditions and low industry interest as reasons for the cancellation of two potential Arctic offshore lease sales that were scheduled under the current five-year offshore oil and gas leasing program for 2012-2017. This news comes after Shell’s announcement that it would cease further exploration […]
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game is offering an explanation for the unusual sightings of Arctic Lampreys found in unusual locations in the city of Fairbanks. According to the department, after examining the Lampreys found around town, they have observed puncture holes and other marks on the eel-like fish that leads them to believe […]
It’s no surprise that Arctic sea ice is thinning. What is new is just how long, how steadily, and how much it has declined. University of Washington researchers compiled modern and historic measurements to get a full picture of how Arctic sea ice thickness has changed. The results, published in The Cryosphere, show a thinning […]
On a February day long ago, a family living in a sod hut near the Arctic Ocean saw blocks of sea ice bulldozing their way onto shore. Winds shoved more ice until the mass towered above them and started dripping water through a ventilation hole. The father urged his family outside just before a slab […]
The U.S. Navy has committed to get half of its energy from renewable sources by the year 2020. One element of that strategy will be looking to extract energy from tides, currents and waves. The University of Washington is helping to reach that goal with an $8 million, four-year contract from the Naval Facilities Engineering […]
In 2013, the vast majority of worldwide climate indicators—greenhouse gases, sea levels, global temperatures, etc.—continued to reflect trends of a warmer planet, according to the indicators assessed in the State of the Climate in 2013 report, released online today by the American Meteorological Society. Scientists from NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C., served as the […]