EARTHWEEK: A DIARY OF THE PLANET

For the week ending Friday, June 18.

On thinning ice

The sea ice around the north pole is probably thinning up to twice as fast as previously thought, according to research by university college london. writing in the cryosphere, scientists say earlier estimates on the depth of the ice cap were based on outdated data collected by the soviets from 1954 to 1991. they say their modeling of temperature, snowfall and ice floe movements provides a better understanding of how fast arctic sea ice is disappearing. “sea ice thickness is a sensitive indicator of the health of the arctic. and when the arctic warms, the world warms,” the lead researcher says.

Sargassum belt

Beaches in florida, the caribbean and tropical atlantic are being overwhelmed by masses of sargassum, a seaweed growing explosively because of fertilizer runoff. While the seaweed is key to the marine environment, excessive nitrogen and phosphorus in coastal waters from the fertilizers have caused the recent proliferation. This poses a health risk as rotting sargassum creates toxic hydrogen sulfide gas that can be dangerous for people with respiratory problems. levels of fecal bacteria can also be high around the decaying blooms, a researcher says.

Warming bites

Global heating may soon mean that mosquitoes will become active all year in places where they normally disappear during winter. Researchers from the university of florida compared how different types of mosquitoes respond to changes in temperatures. they found that the mosquitoes’ ability to tolerate swings in temperature changes through the seasons. “mosquitoes in more temperate regions are well prepared to be active during those times,” a researcher says.

Wind power resistance

The expansion of wind farms to generate power could reach a point of diminishing returns if too many are placed near each other, research finds. this threatens coastal areas of northern europe, where limited space means the turbines are built in clusters. Writing in scientific reports, researchers say wind speeds up to 60 miles downwind of the farms are significantly slowed under some conditions. This means output from neighboring wind farms could be cut up to 25% if they are too close together.

Dawdling Dumbo

A herd of wayward elephants that mysteriously trekked about 300 miles across southern china in the spring took a break to wait for an errant youngster to catch up. State broadcaster cctv reports that despite repeated calls from the impatient adults, the 10-year-old doesn’t appear to be in any hurry to reunite with the group. before the pachyderms’ respite, hundreds of trucks were dispatched to keep the 15 ambling migrants out of populated areas. Officials are planning to use food bait and roadblocks to help guide the herd to a new suitable habitat.