RSS“Futute History of the Arctic” to hit bookstores
Mar
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Often overlooked and mostly unknown for much of human history, the Arctic has recently started to emerge from its cloak of anonymity. It has become an important source of oil and natural gas not only for the United States but also for Norway, Russia and Canada. It is front and center in the debate and the scientific studies over global warming. And, if the climate continues its warming trend, the Arctic may become an important trade route as ships ply the more »
Two robot submarines will plunge into the Arctic next month in an effort to help Canada stake a claim to a large swath of potentially mineral-rich seafloor in the polar region, nytimes.com says. 
On The International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) list of ten new species that are the likeliest to be hit hard by global warming, Canada has the dubious honor of being home to half of the list. Of the ten species “destined to be hardest hit by climate change,” the leatherback turtle, salmon, beluga whale, ringed seal and Arctic fox were listed and all live in Canada. 
According to researchers in California, one of the consequences of the melting Arctic ice is that the Atlantic Ocean could see mollusks from the Pacifica take up residency within decades. In order for this to happen, the Arctic would need to see 125 consecutive days of less than 75% cover of sea ice. Two years ago the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change estimated that this could happen around 2050, but a California researcher disagrees – he believes it could happen much sooner. 
The Minerals Management Service (MMS), part of the federal government in the States, has given the okay for Shell Oil to start drilling in the Chukchi Sea. The drilling could start as early as next summer. The project was approved without the MMS fully analyzing the possible effects on not only the wildlife in the area, but the Native communities in the area, something that doesn’t sit well with some community members.