Browsing: global warming

Cruising Life
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Ice Melting in Antarctica and Greenland Faster than Expected

The ice is melting even faster than scientists had thought in Greenland and Antarctica. Indeed, a new study found that the ice sheets there are melting six times faster now than they were in the 1990s, contributing to about a third of the rise in sea levels, with implications for coastal flooding and erosion. Here’s a report from the BBC: Earth’s great ice sheets, Greenland and Antarctica, are now losing mass six times faster than they were in the 1990s thanks to warming conditions. A comprehensive review of satellite data acquired at both poles is unequivocal in its assessment of…

Cruising Life
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Antarctica Hits Historic 65 Degrees, “Doomsday Glacier” Melting

Here’s a disturbing story from USA Today, with a video, about a historic high of 65 degrees in Antarctica. Scientists also found warm water under the “Doomsday Glacier” there, which could accelerate its melting. The temperature was recorded at an Argentine research base on the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula. It beats the previous record of 63.5 degrees Fahrenheit, set in 2015. The Antarctic Peninsula is among the fastest warming regions on Earth. A balmy temperature of nearly 65 degrees was recorded in Antarctica on Thursday, and if verified, it would be an all-time record high for the normally bitterly…

Cruising Life
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In Search for Food, Right Whales Heading All the Way Up to the Gulf of St. Lawrence

Because of warmer water temperatures, an ever-smaller population of North Atlantic right whales is heading farther up the Bay of Fundy and the Gulf of St. Lawrence in search of food. Here’s what this means not only for the whales, but also for the fishermen and cruisers in the area. Read the whole story in The New York Times: By Karen Weintraub Something happened to the population of North Atlantic right whales in the last decade, as their numbers shrank and fewer calves were born. Scientists had long speculated that a change had occurred in the whales’ sources of food.…

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Iceberg Twice the Size of New York City in Final Stages of Splitting Off from Antarctica

An iceberg twice the size of New York City is in what scientists call “the final stage” of breaking off from the Brunt Ice Shelf on the Weddell Sea on northwest Antarctica. The final separation will occur when two cracks meet, separating an iceberg measuring some 580 square miles and up to 820 feet thick from the mainland. Anticipating the separation, the Halley VI Research station, manned by the British Antarctic Survey, has been moved 14 miles inland, on the other side of the cracks. The separation, or calving, of an iceberg is a normal part of the life cycle…

Cruising Life
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Ice Melting at Record Levels in Bering Sea, Even in Winter

Even in the depths of winter, ice in the Bering Sea has been melting at a record rate, and scientists say the amount of ice that has disappeared this winter has been “extreme.” Ice covering the Bering Sea is the lowest on record at this time of year. Indeed, this winter the amount of ice lost is about the size of Montana. It was the second straight year that ice retreated drastically. Now, low ice levels affect local communities who traditionally hunt for walrus and other wildlife during the winter; it also will change the feeding habits of Arctic animals.…

Cruising Life
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New Report: Ocean Heat Waves Threaten Marine Life

Heat waves in the ocean are occurring more often, and lasting much longer, than they have in the past, and they’re threatening marine life around the planet. Here’s a solid report from The New York Times about what this means: When deadly heat waves hit on land, we  hear about them. But the oceans can have heat waves, too. They are happening far more frequently than they did last century and are harming marine life, according to a new study. The study, published Monday in the journal Nature Climate Change, looked at the impact of marine heat waves on the…

On Watch with Peter Janssen
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How Warmer Water in the Gulf of Maine is Affecting Lobstermen, for Better and for Worse

Here’s a dramatic video-story from The Washington Post about how the warming waters in the Gulf of Maine are changing people’s lives and disrupting economies there, for better or worse. The Continental U.S. is 1.8 degrees F warmer now than it was a century ago; seas on the coasts are nine inches higher. Water in the Gulf of Maine is warming faster than water in 99 percent of the world’s oceans, changing patterns of marine life, particularly for lobster fisheries, and upsetting a way of life that many families enjoyed for generations. “There’s no doubt things are changing,” one lobsterman…

Cruising Life
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Want To Cruise on the Rhine? Don’t Wait Too Long. It’s Drying Up

Thinking about taking a cruise down the Rhine? Don’t wait too long; it’s drying up. Indeed, water levels on the Rhine, one of the most important rivers in Europe, if not the world, hit 12-year lows last summer, with low points continuing up to the end of the year. At shallow points, river traffic ground to a halt for a month. The source of the Rhine lies high in the Swiss Alps; the river then runs through Switzerland, Germany and the Netherlands, before emptying into the sea at Rotterdam. It runs past medieval castles, hillside vineyards, and throbbing industrial centers…

Cruising Life
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A Climate Crisis in the Galapagos Starts To Change Life There

Climate change, a combination of warming ocean water and the storms caused by El Niño, is threatening the unique sea and land life in the Galápagos Islands that inspired Charles Darwin and his theory of evolution. As a result, life on the Galápagos is changing, often in ways that have not been seen before. The Galápagos, which lie 846 miles west of Ecuador, are at the intersection of three major ocean currents. They also are in the cross hairs of El Niño , one of the world’s most destructive patterns, which causes rapid and extreme ocean heating across the tropics…

On Watch with Peter Janssen
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On Watch

New UN Report on Global Warming: “Quite a Shock.” If Temperatures Keep Rising, Say Goodbye to Coral Reefs, the Maldives By Peter A. Janssen The United Nations just released a major report on global warming, painting a darker picture of the consequences of rising temperatures than scientists had previously thought. The report, by hundreds of scientists around the world and endorsed by 180 nations, “is quite a shock,” said Bill Hare, the author of earlier Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reports and a physicist. The consequence are particularly dire for coral reefs, which are vital to supporting ocean life. Warmer…

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