As I started work on this post, on December 23rd, the thermometer here in north-western Germany showed 14° Celsius. I’ve long given up dreaming of a White Christmas in this part of the world, but roses and honeysuckle in bloom in mid-winter? 2020 marked the close of the warmest decade (2011-2020) on record, according to …
Continue reading 2021: Future doesn’t just happen – It’s what we make it
Last Monday, Germany’s public service broadcaster ARD dedicated its prime viewing time after the evening news to the Arctic, the start of a whole week of themed programme contributions. It showed a film documentary on the MOSAiC project, a spectacular year-long expedition, during which the legendary icebreaker Polarstern – (pole star) belonging to Germany’s polar …
Continue reading The Arctic, the climate: some gloom but no doom – and a promise of progress
Imagine you head for the North Pole to test your brand-new giant, state-of-the-art icebreaker – and you can’t find any ice thick enough to smash. That must have been a frustrating anti-climax for the crew and operators of the Russian Arktika. When I read the story by Thomas Nilsen on the Independent Barents Observer, I …
Greenland's massive ice sheet is melting ever faster in a year of record temperatures. Has it passed the point of no return?
Rapid emissions cuts could still ensure their long-term survival. Otherwise, some Arctic regions seem set to lose polar bears by 2080 – and all but a few populations could collapse by 2100, according to a new study.
Zackenberg station from the air (I.Quaile) In the remote, high Arctic region of north-eastern Greenland, at 74° North, a scattered group of blue and white buildings and tent-like structures perches above a river which starts to swell with melting ice, in a broad valley amongst green and brown hills, dotted with snow. For almost 25 …
Heatwaves across the Arctic, smouldering wildfires, early melt onset in Greenland while corona holds up climate negotiations- summer 2020 takes us into unknown territory.
This blog post was written for Arctic Relations , a website devoted to “Arctic scholarship and stories”, led by Hannes Hansen-Magnusson, a Senior Lecturer in International Relations at the University of Cardiff, and coordinated by Charlotte Gehrke from the same University. There is a wonderful network of Arctic experts and enthusiasts around the planet. Thanks …
With much of the world in lockdown and the potentially lethal corona virus dominating the agenda, it is easy to become distracted from other important issues – such as climate change in the Arctic. There is a trend - which I consider unfortunate and counter-productive - especially in the social media to discuss how the …
As the iceblogger - like most folks these days - gets organised in the days of corona, with virtual meetings and conferences in the making, perhaps these favourite Arctic pictures will bring a smile until the next post is ready. If you read German, I have written a couple of articles for Polar Journal, where …
