Earthweek: a diary of the planet
For the week ending Friday, Aug. 26.
Disappearing ice
The former director of the Scott Polar Institute in Cambridge says the Arctic Ocean will be almost entirely free of ice either by next summer or the summer of 2018 because of climate change. Peter Wadhams says this will let ships sail directly over the North Pole, with only a few patches of sea ice remaining in the Northwest Passage and elsewhere along parts of Canada’s Arctic coastline. NASA Goddard sea ice scientist Walt Meier says that while the recent melting slowdown this summer probably means a new record low won’t be set in September, no long-term recovery is expected.
Refuge losses
Storms toppled more than a hundred acres of forest this year in central Mexico, where migrating monarch butterflies spend each winter. The severe weather was accompanied by rain, cold and high winds, which killed more than 7 percent of the wintering butterflies. “Never had we observed such a combination of high winds, rain and freezing temperatures,” monarch expert Lincoln Brower said.
Antarctic monitors
The deep dives of elephant seals in the Southern Ocean reveal that freshwater from melting Antarctic ice could be slowing part of the ocean circulation. The trend could decelerate currents that bring warm water and nutrients to the poles and warm water to the equator. Because frigid Antarctic waters are usually too hostile for scientists to conduct measurements, an armada of elephant seals was tagged with tiny instruments that measure temperature and salinity as they dive deep through various ocean layers in search of food.
Mosquitonado
Hollywood has envisioned the implausible phenomenon of spinning columns of bloodthirsty sharks, but tornadoes of bloodsucking mosquitoes were photographed near Russia’s central Ural Mountains. The photographer said each column contained millions of the insects.
Vanuatu rumblings
The South Pacific island nation of Vanuatu raised the alert level around the Ambae volcano. The country’s Geohazards Observatory warned residents and tourists to remain far away from the crater because of the risk of volcanic ash, toxic gases and tremors.