A trek over treacherous Arctic terrain has resulted in a possible explanation for why Arctic sea ice is retreating at up to three times the rate that climate models say it should. Researchers have found that as multi-year ice declines, more of the saltier meltwater from younger ice is mixing into the ocean. That colder, denser water sinks more quickly and forces less dense water from deeper in the ocean up to the surface. Because fresh meltwater is colder than seawater, that means relatively warm water is being forced upwards, which may be part of the reason that sea ice is melting so much faster than anyone thought it would (Canadian Press, 6/27/11).

Chugach Electric Association's board has given approval for the electric co-op to purchase wind power from Cook Inlet Region Inc.'s proposed Fire Island wind project, a commitment that will allow the Anchorage-based Alaska Native corporation to proceed with construction. Assuming final approvals of a power sales agreement by both the Chugach and CIRI boards and subsequent approval by the Regulatory Commission of Alaska by mid-September, construction crews will be able to build most of the facilities needed in 2012 and start providing electricity to Chugach in January 2013 (Alaska Journal of Commerce, 6/17/11).

It's true. Read this recent report from Rich Seifert of the University of Alaska's Cooperative Extension Service on three beautiful and fascinating homes in Fairbanks that are using masonry stoves, extra insulation, passive design, and more techniques to reduce their energy use. There's lots to read and great pictures (Alaska Cooperative Extension Service, 6/1/11).

Rapid warming in the Arctic threatens to alter sea currents as ice and glaciers are melting at an accelerating pace, according to a new ice study. "There is a risk that this could alter large-scale ocean currents that affect climate on a continental scale," the study said. Sea levels will rise more drastically than the prediction of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the study said. Scientists are observing the work of feedback loops; the loss of ice and snow cover allows the sea and land to absorb more energy from the sun during the summer, promoting greater warming of the lower atmosphere (Anchorage Daily News, 6/16/11).

Black carbon emissions in Alaska absorb heat and warm the atmosphere while in the air, and then spread over the ice and snow, absorbing heat and increasing melting. The Center for Biological Diversity recently notified the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency of its intent to sue if the agency doesn't start taking some action against black carbon within 60 days. The Center for Biological Diversity said "Major cuts in black carbon emissions could slow the effects of climate change for a decade or two, buying policy makers more time to cut carbon dioxide emissions and potentially avoid irreversible effects of global warming" (Alaska Dispatch, 6/22/11).

"As sea ice continues to melt, accessibility by sea will increase, but the viability of an important network of roads that depend on freezing temperatures is threatened by a warming climate," said the study's lead author. Winners are expected to be coastal communities, coastal resource-extraction operations, tourism, fishing, and shipping concerns, the researchers say. Potential losers include inland mining and timber operations, inland oil and gas drilling, and smaller inland communities (Science Daily, 6/2/11).

The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously rejected a lawsuit brought by six states and several conservation groups that sought to force large utilities to cut emissions of greenhouse gases. In the June 20 decision, the justices said the courtroom is not the correct forum to control greenhouse gases. But the justices, including conservatives John Roberts and Antonin Scalia, reaffirmed that the authority to address greenhouse gas emissions rests with the Environmental Protection Agency (New York Times, 6/20/11).

A growing awareness by doctors of the public health consequences of climate change could be a key in breaking political logjams impeding action on mitigation and adaptation. As science points to the troubling health consequences of climate change, the American Medical Association (AMA) and various public health organizations are bracing themselves. In April the AMA published an editorial warning that climate change is putting public health at risk. To help doctors prepare for climate-related illnesses and injuries, AMA is holding continuing medical education courses on climate change in four states (Yale Forum on Climate Change & the Media, 6/7/11).

This month NOAA released its annual "2010 State of the Climate report, describing trends in more than 40 climate variables. In a briefing to the press, NOAA said the report provides a "consistent and unmistakable signal from the top of the atmosphere to the bottom of the oceans" that the world continues to warm. Drawing from the research of 368 scientists in 45 countries, the peer-reviewed report highlights findings providing multiple lines of evidence of a warming climate (Washington Post, 6/28/11).

Solar energy remains one of the fastest-growing sectors of the U.S. economy as its photovoltaics produced 66% more power in the first quarter of this year than during the same time last year, the industry recently reported. By the end of March, all grid-connected solar installations generated more than 2.85 gigawatts of electricity, enough to power nearly 600,000 U.S. homes, according to the quarterly report by the Solar Energy Industries Association and GTM Research. The two biggest factors driving this growth include reduced equipment costs and a rush to take advantage of federal tax credits that were expected to expire in 2010 but were extended through 2011 (USA Today, 6/16/11).

The United States experienced some of the most extreme weather events in its history this spring, including deadly outbreaks of tornadoes, near-record flooding, drought, and wildfires. Government scientists said recently that the frequency of extreme weather has increased over the past two decades, in part as a result of global warming caused by the accumulation of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. But they were careful not to blame humans for this year's rash of deadly events, saying that in some ways weather patterns were returning to those seen at the beginning of the last century (New York Times, 6/15/11).

The oceans are in a worse state than previously suspected, according to an expert panel of scientists convened by the International Programme on the State of the Ocean (IPSO). In a new report, they warn that ocean life is "at high risk of entering a phase of extinction of marine species unprecedented in human history". They conclude that issues such as over-fishing, pollution and climate change are acting together in ways that have not previously been recognized. The impacts, they say, are already affecting humanity (BBC News, 6/20/11).

Tighter limits on soot and smog provide a quick and easy way to fight global warming while protecting human health and raising crop output, a recent U.N. study said. It outlined 16 measures, ranging from plugging leaky gas transport pipelines to improving wood burning stoves, to limit "black carbon" - soot - methane and tropospheric ozone, which is a greenhouse gas that is a big component of smog. "A small number of emission reduction measures offer dramatic public health, agricultural, economic, and environmental benefits," the head of the U.N. Environment Programme said in a statement of the report (Reuters, 6/16/11).

Climate warming since 1995 is now statistically significant. 2010 data has pushed the trend past the threshold usually used to assess whether trends are "real". By widespread convention, scientists use a minimum threshold of 95% to assess whether a trend is likely to be due to an underlying cause, rather than emerging by chance. If a trend meets the 95% threshold, it basically means that the odds of it being due to chance are less than one in 20. "Basically what's changed is one more year of data, 2010, which made that trend significant at the 95% level which is the traditional threshold that statisticians have used for many years" said one climate scientist (BBC, 6/10/11).

New research suggests that jellyfish may be worsening the climate change problem by producing more carbon than the oceans can cope with. A new study finds that while bacteria are capable of absorbing the constituent carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus and other chemicals given off by most fish when they die, they cannot do the same with jellyfish. Jellyfish, populating the seas in ever-increasing numbers, break down into biomass with especially high levels of carbon, which the bacteria cannot absorb well. Instead of using it to grow, the bacteria breathe it out as carbon dioxide. This means more of the gas is released into the atmosphere (The Guardian, 6/12/11).