Arctic Sea Ice Shrinks to Smallest Extent Ever Recorded This story first appeared on the Guardian website and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. Sea ice in the Arctic has shrunk to its smallest extent ever recorded, smashing the previous record minimum and prompting warnings of accelerated climate change. Satellite images show that the rapid summer melt has reduced the area of frozen sea to less than 3.5 million square kilometers this week—less than half the area typically occupied four decades ago. Arctic sea ice cover has been shrinking since the 1970s when it averaged around 8 million square kilometers a year, but such a dramatic collapse in ice cover in one year is highly unusual. A record low in 2007 of 4.17 million square kilometers was broken on August 27, 2012; further melting has since amounted to more than 500,000 square kilometers. The record, which is based on a five-day average, is expected to be officially declared in the next few days by the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Colorado.
Les Inuits gardent la tête froide Les conséquences du réchauffement climatique sur les peuples du grand Nord, analysées par des climatologues et géographes. «Climat: pourquoi ça n’avance pas», titrait en décembre le journal Alternatives économiques, évoquant le dialogue de sourds et la bataille de chiffres des scientifiques sur la question. Les sciences humaines font pourtant bouger les lignes. Ainsi, la géographe Béatrice Collignon vient-elle de publier un texte titré «Les Inuits et les changements climatiques» expliquant que les populations du Grand Nord ont une relation complexe face à la fonte des glaces. D’un côté, elles se sentent victimes de l’industrialisation mondiale et de l’attitude inconséquente des scientifiques occidentaux – Sheila Watt-Cloutier, Inuit du Nunavik (nord du Québec, Canada), est allée jusqu’à déposer plainte auprès de la Commission interaméricaine des droits de l’homme. Le changement climatique sous la direction de Martine Tabeaud Eurcasia, 194 pp. 20 €.
CHAUD – Le changement climatique pourrait faire 100 millions de morts d’ici 2030 Le réchauffement climatique cause de plus en plus de sécheresses. (AFP PHOTO/REMY GABALDA) Si rien n'est fait pour l'enrayer, le changement climatique pourrait causer la mort de 100 millions de personnes et coûter l'équivalent de 3,2 % du PIB mondial d'ici 2030. En cause, relate le Huffington Post, des conditions climatiques plus extrêmes, des sécheresses, ou encore la hausse du niveau de la mer. En effet, si les Etats n'ont pas tous le même degré de responsabilité dans les émissions de gaz à effet de serre, ils subissent aussi les conséquences du changement climatique de manière très inégale, comme l'illustrent les graphiques de Think Progress ci-dessous : Infographie de Think Progress, qui montre la répartition des décès liés au changement climatique et aux émissions de gaz carbonique selon les pays. Selon le rapport, "l'échec des actions contre le changement climatique coûte déjà à l'économie mondiale 1,6 % de son PIB, soit 1 200 milliards de dollars par an de prospérité".
Arctic Ice Melt Could Mean More Extreme Winters For U.S. And Europe From Climate Central: The record loss of Arctic sea ice this summer will echo throughout the weather patterns affecting the U.S. and Europe this winter, climate scientists said on Wednesday, since added heat in the Arctic influences the jet stream and may make extreme weather and climate events more likely. The “astounding” loss of sea ice this year is adding a huge amount of heat to the Arctic Ocean and the atmosphere, said Jennifer Francis, an atmospheric scientist at Rutgers University in New Jersey. “It’s like having a new energy source for the atmosphere.” Francis was one of three scientists on a conference call Wednesday to discuss the ramifications of sea ice loss for areas outside the Arctic. The call was hosted by Climate Nexus. The extent of Arctic sea ice on Aug. 26, 2012, the day the sea ice dipped to its smallest extent ever recorded in more than three decades of satellite measurements. The loss of sea ice initiates a feedback loop known as Arctic amplification.
Arctique : le changement climatique redessine les relations internationales | Planète Arctique Kangerlussuaq (Groenland) - Crédits : Damien Degeorges Comment une région peut-elle passer du statut de périphérie à celui de nouvelle frontière des relations internationales en moins d’une décennie ? C’est, dans le cas de l’Arctique, une conséquence directe du changement climatique. L’Arctique est actuellement le cas d’école par excellence des conséquences du changement climatique sur les relations internationales. Le monde vu d'en haut. L’Arctique n’est pas seulement un thermomètre du changement climatique. De nouvelles opportunités dans un environnement fragile Une fois le constat établi, force est de constater que l’environnement de la région est fragile et que les conditions peuvent être extrêmes. Sur le plan de la configuration, l’Arctique n’est pas l’Antarctique : peuplée d’environ 4 millions d’habitants, la région entourant le pôle Nord est un océan bordé d’Etats souverains, libres de décider du développement de leur zone arctique. Damien Degeorges
Video - Les projets les plus fous pour combattre le réchauffement climatique - Maxisciences Le réchauffement climatique est bien présent et ses conséquences de plus en plus visibles. Des scientifiques proposent des solutions folles. Mais le remède ne pourrait-il pas se révéler pire que le mal? Avez-vous déjà partagé cet article? Partager sur Facebook Partager sur Twitter La fonte de la calotte glaciaire Arctique, de plus en plus rapide, atteint, cette année encore, un nouveau record. Des scientifiques Américains se sont penchés sur ce grave problème et ont imaginé des moyens de lutte contre ce réchauffement. 1 – Le parasol spatial Une des façons imaginée par les scientifiques, pour réduire le rayonnement solaire arrivant sur terre est assez simple….sur le papier :mettre en place, entre la Terre et le Soleil, un "Parasol Spatial" sous forme de milliards de petits miroirs qui seraient envoyés par conteneurs dans l’espace. Problème : Le coût de ce projet est estimé à 5.000 milliards de dollars. 2 – Du soufre dans l’atmosphère 3 – Du fer dans les océans
Humans Cause 70 Percent of Loss of Arctic Sea Ice (Video) A just-published study in the journal Environmental Research Letters has found that, based on computer modeling, at least 70 percent of “radical decline” in sea ice around the Arctic is caused by “human-induced climate change.” In fact, as much as 95 percent of the loss of arctic sea ice could be due to human factors. The decline in the sea ice could be cataclysmic for wildlife. It could further endanger arctic ecosystems as, with far less sea ice, new northern sea routes could be open and greater areas of the sea bed made accessible for drilling for oil and gas. The sea ice has been shrinking at a faster rate since the 1990s. Day explains how the warming of the earth and the subsequent loss of ice can have other effects on the environment: “[There is] something called the ice-albedo feedback, which means that when you have less ice, it means there’s more open water and therefore the ocean absorbs more radiation and will continue to warm.” Related Care2 Coverage
THE COUNT-UP TO 2052: AN OVERARCHING FRAMEWORK FOR ACTION. | THE CLUB OF ROME After the publication of the Korean, Chinese and Japanese language editions of “2052 – A Global Forecast for the Next Forty Years”, the author, Club of Rome Member Jorgen Randers, gave talks in China, Korea and Japan in June 2013. There was an overwhelming media response in Asia. Inter alia, Jorgen Randers appeared on the Japanese Television program “Prime News 21″ (Fuji Television) on June 12th, 2013. To view the videos of the launch of the Report to the Club of Rome “2052-A Global Forecast for the Next Forty Years” in Rotterdam of May 7th 2012, please click here. The Italian edition of the “2052″ Report to the Club of Rome, written by Jorgen Randers, “2052. You can find more information on the Italian edition, which was published with Edizioni Ambiente, and a possibility to order here. Click here for a summary of the extensive media coverage of the launch event in Rome (in Italian). You can find more information on the Japanese version and a possibility to order here. Bankrupting Nature
Ice going, humanity: Arctic melting at alarming rates It’s no surprise to regular readers I am quite concerned about climate change. My concern on this issue is twofold: One consists of the actual global consequences of the reality of global warming, and the other is the blatant manipulation of that reality by those who would deny it. These two issues overlap mightily when it comes to Arctic sea ice. The ice around the North Pole is going away, and it’s doing so with alarming rapidity. I don’t mean the yearly cycle of melt in the summer and freeze in the winter, though that plays into this; I mean the long-term trend of declining amounts of ice. There are two ways to categorize the amount of ice: by measuring the extent (essentially the area of the ocean covered by ice, though in detail it’s a little more complicated ) or using volume, which includes the thickness of the ice. Of course, facts are malleable things when it comes to the deniosphere. When you look at the average, the trend in the ice, it goes down, down, down. How much less?
Is Humanity Pushing Earth Past a Tipping Point? | Wired Science Could human activity push Earth’s biological systems to a planet-wide tipping point, causing changes as radical as the Ice Age’s end — but with less pleasant results, and with billions of people along for a bumpy ride? It’s by no means a settled scientific proposition, but many researchers say it’s worth considering — and not just as an apocalyptic warning or far-fetched speculation, but as a legitimate question raised by emerging science. “There are some biological realities we can’t ignore,” said paleoecologist Anthony Barnosky of the University of California, Berkeley. “What I’d like to avoid is getting caught by surprise.” In “Approaching a state shift in Earth’s biosphere,” published June 6 in Nature, Barnosky and 21 co-authors cite 100 papers in summarizing what’s known about environmental tipping points. Deforestation in the Amazon jungle, which some scientists say could become a savannah. “We have quite good evidence for the Earth having tipping elements.