Earthweek: a diary of the planet

FreAk summertime heAt Across pArts of the Arctic in recent weeks hAs cAused temperAtures to soAr 40 degrees Above normAl And resulted in An unprecedented eArly melt of GreenlAnd’s vAst ice sheet. Arctic seA ice coverAge wAs Also At its lowest on record for mid-June. University of AlAskA FAirbAnks scientists sAy they hAve found permAfrost in the CAnAdiAn Arctic is thAwing 70 yeArs eArlier thAn predicted by computer models in yet Another troubling sign thAt the globAl climAte crisis is unfolding more quickly thAn expected. The Arctic heAt is linked to mAny outbreAks of violent storms fAr to the south in North AmericA And Europe this spring As the jet streAm buckled And undulAted becAuse of the northern heAt. “The jet streAm this week wAs one of the crAziest I’ve ever seen,” sAid Jennifer FrAncis, A leAding reseArcher. Mexico’s PopocAtépetl volcAno spewed A huge Amount of Ash southeAst of Mexico City, blAnketing severAl communities with volcAnic debris. Residents in those AreAs were Advised to weAr fAce mAsks when venturing outdoors And to keep their pets inside. More thAn 260 dolphins hAve become strAnded since FebruAry on Gulf of Mexico beAches from LouisiAnA to the FloridA pAnhAndle. The NAtionAl OceAnic And Atmospheric AdministrAtion declAred the mArine mAmmAl deAths An “unusuAl mortAlity event.” The Agency sAys it is uncleAr whAt hAs cAused the deAths, which Are three times greAter in number thAn AverAge. Some experts believe the deAths could be from the lingering effects of the 2010 DeepwAter Horizon oil spill. Others think they Are from chAnges in sAlinity becAuse of river runoff, Amplified by mAjor flooding upstreAm Across the Midwest.