According to independent scientists travelling on a Greenpeace ship in the Arctic, an ice island in the region is on the verge of breaking off from the largest ice glacier located in the northern hemisphere. It is said that the island, once it breaks off, will weigh several million tones. In fact, the researchers say that there will be, altogether, 5 billion tones of ice separating and crumbling from the Petermann Glacier, located on the north-west coast of Greenland. more »

From July 29th to August 13th, a group of youth will be participation in an expedition to the Arctic. 60 students, along with approximately 30 chaperones from the United States, Canada, South America, Asia, Europe and Oceania will get to spend four weeks sailing the Arctic waters around Kuujjuaq, Nunavik. more »

In a bit of an ironic twist, it seems that the Coast Guard needs more icebreakers for the Arctic as the ice melts and more shipping lanes are opened. Coast Guard Commandant Thad Allen is urging the government to purchase more icebreakers to deal with the increased ship traffic that is being anticipated in the Arctic waters. more »

Russian manufacturer, The United Industrial Corporation, announced this week that the world’s first floating nuclear plant will be operational by the end of 2012. The floating nuclear plant will be located on the eastern coast of the country. According to the New York Times, the plant will be used to assist with providing power to the city of Viluchinsk, situated on the Kamchatka peninsula. Viluchinsk hosts an atomic submarine base. more »

Yesterday, The Center for Biological Diversity announced that it plans on suing the American federal government in order to stop the approval of pesticides that end up in the food source of polar bears.

The environmental group gave the 60-day notice that they will be suing the Environmental Protection Agency over the agency’s failure to take into consideration the effects of approved pesticides on polar bears and their Arctic habitat.

While the EPA has banned use of some pesticides, pesticides that are still allowed are starting to show up in polar bears and the Center for Biological Diversity is worried that those pesticides will be found in dangerous concentrated levels if they continue to be allowed. And while there is minimal pesticide use in Alaska, pesticides can reach the area through the ocean and atmosphere.

Rebecca Noblin, spokesperson for the Center for Biological Diversity said that the use of poisonous pesticides in the Arctic threatens not only the polar bears, but the Arctic people, as well.

“People share the top spot in the food chain with polar bears. Unfortunately,” she said, “there’s not an endangered people’s act.”

Since polar bears were listed as threatened in May of 2008, and are protected according to federal law, Noblin also said that the EPA approved pesticides that find their way into the polar bears violate that law.

Mark MacIntyre, spokesperson for the EPA’s regional office in Seattle, couldn’t comment on the allegation due to the pending litigation. But he had the following to say to the Associated Press via email:

“However, EPA takes its responsibilities related to the Endangered Species Act seriously and is evaluating potential risks to threatened and endangered species due to pesticides in a systematic manner as part of its registration review program.”

Since announcing that she would be resigning as governor of Alaska on July 26th, Sarah Palin has been keeping a pretty low profile. But yesterday she returned to work, heading to a small town 30 miles north of the Arctic circle, signing a bill that will strengthen law enforcement in Alaskan villages. About 300 of her supporters showed up, meeting her with cheers. After signing the bill, Palin briefly danced to the song of Inupiat Eskimo drummers and stayed after to allow supporters the opportunity to get their picture with Palin. more »

According to a recent international report, Canada should take another look at its decision to exclude the polar bear from the country’s list of endangered species due to the fact that the loss of the Arctic sea ice has already affected the polar bear population in the region.

At meeting of the Polar Bear Specialist Group in Copenhagen over the week end it was concluded that there is a deterioration in the world’s 19 polar bear populations. According to the group, which is a part of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, there are currently 8 polar bear populations that are experiencing a decline. This is an increase from the 5 populations that were noted to be in decline in the group’s 2005 report.  Of the polar bear populations not in decline, only three are currently considered stables with merely one population seeing an increase in numbers. Whether or not the remaining 7 populations are decreasing is unknown, due to insufficient available data.

Monday’s report suggests that what is behind the increased declaim of the polar bear populations is an “unprecedented” loss of Arctic sea ice.

Newly elected Polar Bear Specialist Group chairman, Dr. Eric Born who is with the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources, spoke of the ice around Churchill, Manitoba, which is breaking up approximately three weeks earlier than normal, affecting not only the number of polar bears in the area, but also the health of the surviving bears.

“They’ve been weighing and measuring polar bears and they’ve been able to demonstrate there is a clear downward trend in the body mass of adult females. There is also evidence (of) decreased survival of very old bears and younger bears which can be linked to the change in sea ice.”

While speaking about the report on Monday from Copenhagen, Born also said that it is only natural to imagine that the same is happening in the Arctic.

“It’s a pretty good correlation that this is what will happen in other polar bear populations that suffer from decrease in sea ice. I think it’s fair to assume that this is what will happen in other places.”

University of Nevada assistant professor Sudeep Chandra and Joanne Heslop, who is one of Chandra’s students, headed to the Siberian Arctic last week to study how the thawing Pleistocene epoch carbon deposits are affecting climate changes.  The two join researchers and students from all over the world who have come together to work on the Polaris Project. more »