Climate change at the poles and around the globe
The latest figures from the NSIDC do not make happy reading. The Arctic sea ice extent averaged for October 2019 was 5.66 million square kilometers (2.19 million square miles), the lowest in the 41-year continuous satellite record. The experts tell us this was 230,000 square kilometers (88,800 square miles) below that observed in 2012—the previous …
Continue reading Arctic sea ice record low. Can we communicate our way out of climate paralysis?
Recently, the picture editor of the Guardian, Fiona Shields, published a piece explaining "why we are going to be using fewer polar bears and more people to illustrate our coverage of the climate emergency". She writes: "At the Guardian we want to ensure that the images we publish accurately and appropriately convey the climate crisis …
Continue reading Polar bear pictures and the climate emergency
When the latest IPCC report on climate change and the ocean and cryosphere was published last month, I wrote this commentary for Deutsche Welle. It is so directly related to the Ice Blog brief that it seems right to publish it again here. I am especially encouraged by the reactions of some of my young …
Continue reading Warming Arctic, warming world: the chilling truth
Since my first experiences of hiking in the Alps in the 1970s, I have had a fascination for ice, snow and sky. Later, as an environment journalist with Deutsche Welle, I had my first opportunity to visit the Arctic in 2007. It was the start of the international polar year and Moira Rankine of Soundprint …
Melting ever-faster: the Greenland ice sheet (Pic: Irene Quaile) Changing Arctic, Changing World This is a continuation of the Ice Blog. My fascination with the Arctic started back in 2007, when I was invited to join an international radio project to cover the International Polar Year. It was the beginning of a love affair and …
