Background Articles

If you're wondering why British Columbia experienced such a mild winter and early spring, you could maybe blame it on a mysterious "blob" of warm water in the Pacific Ocean.

Since 1976, the distribution of molting Black Brant ( Branta bernicla nigricans ) on the Arctic Coastal Plain has shifted from inland freshwater lakes to coastal marshes, such as those occupying the Smith River and Garry Creek estuaries.

Ice skating on Goodacre Lake in Beacon Hill Park was a common winter pleasure in the past. Generations of Victorians glided under the Stone Bridge on natural ice and circled the islands in the moonlight.

Living conditions and economic development in the face of climate change are the challenges the Arctic Council needs to deal with. Resource development is important to the people.

Medvedev used an inhaler during a second-set changeover Wednesday while being looked at by a doctor, who checked his breathing with a stethoscope.

A squall that dropped barely an inch of snow Friday morning added just enough accumulation to make this the snowiest November in Anchorage since recordkeeping began in 1953. The National Weather Service measured 1.1 inches at the agency’s Sand Lake offices between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m., according to meteorologist Kristine Chen. That puts the total snow accumulation at 39.1 inches, narrowly surpassing the 1994 total of 38.8 inches, she said.

As atmospheric scientists, we found in a recent study that thawing permafrost contains lots of microscopic ice-nucleating particles. These particles make it easier for water droplets to freeze; and if the ones in permafrost get airborne, they could affect Arctic clouds.

The temporary repairs would consume about 60% of the town’s annual budget for contract work on roads, a Girdwood official said.

Ben Rich looks back at a month in which an air frost has been seen somewhere in the UK every single morning. In fact, provisional data from the Met Office suggests it has been the frostiest April for at least 60 years - with the lowest average minimum temperatures since 1922.

Drought, economic collapse and soaring food prices have pushed millions into hunger. Cash aid from the Disasters Emergency Committee is helping families feed their children and send them back to school

Arctic soil microbes in Svalbard are equipped with enzymes to degrade carbon compounds and can adapt to climate change, potentially affecting CO2 emissions feedback loops.

Forty-two reindeer were found foraging among the skeletal remains of a herd on St. Matthew’s Island, a remote patch of Alaskan land in the Bering Sea. What makes it most puzzling is that only three years earlier, the same herd numbered 6,000 animals.

Hurricanes form in the tropics, feeding on very warm ocean waters. As they track northward, they may transform to an extratropical storm with an added punch, sometimes reaching southern Greenland, Alaska, and even Arctic latitudes of the North Atlantic.

Researchers warn the shift can have dire consequences for animals, like penguins, who breed and rear their young on the sea ice while also hastening global warming by reducing how much sunlight is reflected by white ice back into space.

A handful of super powerful tropical cyclones in the last decade has a couple of experts proposing a new category of whopper hurricanes: Category 6.

As the Arctic continues to warm faster than the rest of the planet, evidence mounts that the region is experiencing unprecedented environmental change. The hydrological cycle is projected to intensify throughout the twenty-first century, with increased evaporation from expanding open water areas and more precipitation. The latest projections from the sixth phase of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP6) point to more rapid Arctic warming and sea-ice loss by the year 2100 than in previous projections, and consequently, larger and faster changes in the hydrological cycle. Arctic precipitation (rainfall) increases more rapidly in CMIP6 than in CMIP5 due to greater global warming and poleward moisture transport, greater Arctic amplification and sea-ice loss and increased sensitivity of precipitation to Arctic warming. The transition from a snow- to rain-dominated Arctic in the summer and autumn is projected to occur decades earlier and at a lower level of global warming, potentially under 1.5 °C, with profound climatic, ecosystem and socio-economic impacts. The Arctic warms faster than other areas of the planet, which also influences precipitation. Here, the authors show that the latest CMIP6 model ensemble shows a faster Arctic warming and sea-ice loss, causing an earlier transition from a snow- to a rain-dominated Arctic than previously thought.

Global average temperature exceeded previous record by substantial margin

Shaktoolik, a village in Alaska, is still waiting for aid from FEMA to rebuild a protective berm that was destroyed by a typhoon, leaving the community vulnerable to storms and erosion.

An assessment by geotechnical experts will need to be completed in order to know the stability of the slide and understand continuing risk.

Hail severity will increase in most regions of the world while Australia and Europe are expected to experience more hailstorms as a result of climate change, an international review led by a UNSW Sydney researcher has found.