A last look at satellite-derived observations (CryoSat-2/SMOS merged product) of #Arctic sea ice thickness before summer begins (https://spaces.awi.de/spaces/CS2SMOS/blog/2025/04/17/560630047/Operational+L3+SMOS+sea+ice+thickness+production+ended+for+the+2024+25+winter+season+for+the+Arctic+and+switched+to+the+Antarctic+since+15+April.)

Observations will resume again in the fall in association with the freeze season. Graphic from https://zacklabe.com/arctic-sea-ice-volumethickness/.

A floating laboratory will uncover the secrets of the Arctic winter.

The Tara Polar Station, a €20 million research vessel with a crew of 12, will drift across the Arctic ice to enable better monitoring of a rapidly changing environment.

Construction, which began in 2023 and was funded mostly by the French government, is almost complete.

https://mediafaro.org/article/20250421-a-floating-laboratory-will-uncover-the-secrets-of-the-arctic-winter?mf_channel=mastodon&action=forward

Scientists blame climate change for spread of infectious diseases and unleashing of ice-locked microbes in Arctic

Climate change is creating new pathways for the spread of infectious diseases like brucellosis, tularemia, or E. coli in the Arctic, according to a broad international consortium of scientists with a wide range of expertise in human, animal, and environmental health in the North Pole

https://alaska-native-news.com/scientists-blame-climate-change-for-spread-of-infectious-diseases-and-unleashing-of-ice-locked-microbes-in-arctic/78434/

Adam Steer is a (former) polar researcher posting interesting videos from the Arctic and Antarctic, as well as other topics. You can follow at:

@adam_steer

There are already 11 videos uploaded, if these haven't federated to your server yet you can browse them all at https://makertube.net/a/adam_steer/videos

You can also follow Steer's general account at @adamsteer

Monday ice update - #Arctic sea ice extent is currently the 8th lowest on record (JAXA data)...

• about 100,000 km² below the 2010s mean
• about 410,000 km² below the 2000s mean
• about 840,000 km² below the 1990s mean
• about 1,410,000 km² below the 1980s mean

More plots: https://zacklabe.com/arctic-sea-ice-extentconcentration/

Revisiting temperature anomalies over the last month (left), 3 months (center), and 12 months (right) across the #Arctic...

Data from @CopernicusECMWF ERA5 reanalysis.

#Videos Show #Narwhals Using Their Tusks to Play With Their Food
Researchers observed surprising behaviors by the #whales in #Canada's #Arctic.
Narwhals chased arctic char but did not, strangely, try to catch and eat it. The whales even slowed down when necessary to keep the fish just off the tip of their tusks. When they did interact with the fish, they used gentle taps or nudges — a stark difference to when they were observed hunting fish.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/12/science/narwhals-tusks-video.html
https://archive.ph/tU1fS

#wildlife #nature

#photo #photography #norge #norway
#potd #photooftheday #alttext #arctic #wildlifephotography #birding #bird #birdphotography #birdphoto #sea #ocean

Arctic sea ice extent, concentration, drift 2017-2022

https://makertube.net/w/qyzxktNDMLBMpBHgUB5zB1

Sea ice extent in the Bering Sea is now just above the 1991-2020 median for the date in NSIDC data and just below the seasonal maximum extent that occurred the last week of March. Increasing areas of low concentration ice/open water well north of the pack ice edge are normal for this time of year. @Climatologist49 @ZLabe

UK must expand its #Arctic military position, defence review to say

> [..] as the region becomes increasingly contested owing to melting sea ice opening up access

> The document (calls) for significant investment in #drones and cutting-edge technology

> The review has been heavily affected by US President #DonaldTrump’s shift in security policy, including his intention to scale down American #military resources based in Europe https://on.ft.com/4jhnrBp
#UK #NATO #GlobalWarming #ClimateChange

The invisible poison threatening Arctic communities.

In her project "Under the Ice of the Arctic, Mercury," French photographer Juliette Pavy reveals an alarming reality unfolding far from the public eye: The increasing exposure of Indigenous populations in Greenland and Nunavut to concerning levels of methylmercury.

https://mediafaro.org/article/20250419-the-invisible-poison-threatening-arctic-communities?mf_channel=mastodon&action=forward

The invisible poison threatening Arctic communities.

In her project "Under the Ice of the Arctic, Mercury," French photographer Juliette Pavy reveals an alarming reality unfolding far from the public eye: The increasing exposure of Indigenous populations in Greenland and Nunavut to concerning levels of methylmercury.

https://mediafaro.org/article/20250419-the-invisible-poison-threatening-arctic-communities?mf_channel=mastodon&action=forward

Sea surface temperatures difference from the 1991-2020 average for the oceans around around Alaska. Generally near to above normal except in sea ice-influenced areas in the eastern Bering Sea. Data courtesy NOAA. @Climatologist49 @ZLabe

Temperatures across the #Arctic Circle over the last 100 years...

Data from https://berkeleyearth.org/data/. Graphic available for download at https://zacklabe.com/arctic-sea-ice-figures/.

https://united24media.com/latest-news/could-russia-launch-a-svalbard-operation-a-look-at-russias-arctic-fleet-capabilities-7699 #arctic #norway #russia #geopolitics

The variability and multidecadal decline of March #Arctic sea-ice thickness and sea-ice volume...

+ Data information: https://climatedataguide.ucar.edu/climate-data/pan-arctic-ice-ocean-modeling-and-assimilation-system-piomas
+ More visualizations: https://zacklabe.com/arctic-sea-ice-volumethickness/