Important Innovations

Northern Russia's Intense Heatwave & Wildfires Source:  Siberian Forest Fires in June 2020 via satellite image Clear Impact of Climate Change Two Years in a Row I n June 2020, towns in northern Russia are experiencing sweltering heat normally found in the Tropics.  In Siberia, it's so hot wildfires are breaking out, pine trees are bursting into flames and peat bogs are stone dry.  In some locations, temperatures have hit 100 degrees (F).  Climate scientists are calling the Siberian heat wave a "warning cry" about Climate Change from the Arctic.  Experts at the World Meteorological Organization are troubled by satellite images showing that much of Russia's Arctic is in an extreme heat zone. Blazing Heat The extreme heat is fanning forest fires and igniting normally water saturated peat bogs.  Climate scientists fear that the intense heat and fires in Siberia are signs of even hotter and drier conditions to come with more frequent forest fires.  Those

High Amounts of Microplastics Found in Arctic Sea Ice Source:  Northwest Passage Project Global Plastic Pollution Even in the most remote corners of the Earth - the Canadian Arctic - very significant amounts of plastic contamination have just been discovered.  A team of US scientists spent 18 days drilling large quantities of Arctic ice in four separate locations and then analyzing it.  Their discovery of high amounts of microplastic contamination in the ice is disturbing and underscores the global extent of plastic pollution.  For a great news blog with more details, go to Important Innovations Collection: Microplastic Contamination in Arctic Ice : New Evidence of Global Plastic Pollution Source:  Northwest Passage Project Even in Remote Regions of the Canadian Arctic US s...

July Launch to the Arctic Sea Source:  Akademik Lomonosov Chernobyl on Ice Environmental activists like Greenpeace call Russia's Akademik Lomonosov "Chernobyl on Ice" and the "Floating Chernobyl."  They fear the floating nuclear power plant will cause an environmental disaster like Chernobyl and the Fukashima reactor in Japan when it was hit by a tsunami.  In July,  the nuclear reactor will hit the high seas for its final destination in far eastern Russian  in the Arctic Sea.  It's purpose is to bring electricity to the remote and mineral rich area.  2 million people and companies extracting hydrocarbons and precious stones are located in the region that the floating nuclear power plant will serve. Long Towing Haul The 477 meter long nuclear power plant will be towed and float to Pevek, a small Arctic port that is 4,000 miles away from Moscow.  The Russian government argues it is designed to withstand the harshest conditions including hurricanes a

New Research:  Sulfuric Acid Speeding Erosion in the Artic Courtesy:  NOAA Runoff from Melting Permafrost in Alaska Flows Toward the Sea The Arctic's ice melt from global warming seems to get worse with every new scientific study.  Melting permafrost is making the ground unstable and waterlogged.  But scientists now say it's also dissolving rocks and minerals embedded in it. Acid Mix Sulfite minerals in the ice are forming sulfuric acid as the ice melts.  That's creating an acid mix that's speeding erosion. Dramatic Changes & CO² Releases The Arctic is undergoing dramatic changes as temperatures rise and sea ice melts.  The Arctic is warming twice as fast as the rest of the earth.  The sulfuric acid and escalating erosion are just one more consequence of an ice melt process that threatens to release billions of tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere from the permafrost alone.