Tag: Greenland

Than expected during last interglacial, according to new results During the last prolonged warm spell on Earth, the oceans were at least four meters - and possibly as much as 6.5 meters, or about 20 feet - higher than they are now.Where did all that extra water come from? Mainly from melting ice sheets on Greenland and Antarctica, and many scientists, including University of Wisconsin-Madison geoscience assistant professor Anders Carlson, have expected that Greenland was the main culprit.But Carlson's new results, published July 29 in Science, are challenging that assertion, revealing surprising patterns of melting during the last interglacial period that suggest that Greenland's ice may be more stable - and Antarctica's less stable - than many thought."The Greenland Ice Sheet is melting faster and faster," says Carlson, who is also a member of the Center for Climatic Research in the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies. But despite clear observations of that fact, estimates of just how much the ice will melt and contribute to sea level rise by the end of this century are highly varied, ranging from a few centimeters to meters."There's a clear need to understand how it has behaved in the past, and how it has ...

Aims to disrupt an imminent drilling campaign Activists of the environmental group Greenpeace have boarded an oil rig off the coast of Greenland in a bid to disrupt an imminent drilling campaign by Cairn Energy PLC in the Arctic waters.The Edinburgh-based oil company confirmed that protesters had boarded the semisubmersible drilling vessel Leiv Eiriksson, owned by Ocean Rig, around 100 miles off the coast of Greenland.A spokesman for Cairn said the vessel's operations had been completely unaffected.Cairn is the only company planning to drill in the region after disappointing results from a campaign last year. But Greenpeace has said if it strikes oil this summer it will spark an oil rush that would devastate the fragile Arctic environment.Greenland's government said that Greenpeace's actions were "illegal" and the protesters could be removed by the police if they continued to occupy the rig. "It is a clear illegal action Greenpeace that violates and abuses the free right to sail according to international regulations on the ocean," it said in a statement.Activist Ben Ayliffe said the protesters set up camp in a survival pod with enough supplies for 10 days and were meters from the huge drill-bit that Cairn hopes will strike oil ...

Sharing the exploration of the natural resources Malaysia has proposed the setting up of a special purpose vehicle for the sharing of economic activities among the claimant countries in the South China Sea.Defence Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak had suggested that the countries concerned create multilateral discussions rather than bilateral talks."If we may translate the suggestion, we would like to explore the natural resources, in particular hydro carbon, to be shared among the claimant countries."A special purpose vehicle can be created to share not only in terms of equity participation but also in terms of sharing the exploration of the natural resources," he said at the question-and-answer session on the final day of the 10th IISS Asia Security Summit - The Shangri-La Dialogue, here, Sunday.Brunei, China, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam all have a stake on the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea. Of these countries, only Brunei lacks a military presence in the area.Dr Ahmad Zahid said: "Our key performance index is not based on how many wars we are going to win but how many wars or crises we are going to avoid."So our role is ...

Ice of Greenland melting faster than expected