Tag: sea ice

According to the 28th annual State of the Climate report, 2017 was the third warmest year on record for the globe, behind 2016 and 2015. The planet also experienced record-high greenhouse gas concentrations as well as rises in sea level, while Arctic maximum sea ice coverage fell to a record low. 

The American Meteorological Society published its "State of the Climate in 2017", reporting that the sea level last year was the highest annual average since 1993. The sea level has increased for the sixth consecutive year. As for the Arctic, sea ice extent continued to see low levels.

NTSB released a report on the sinking of the vessel 'Destination', which caused the death of six crewmembers. The 110-foot vessel sank while it was sailing in the Bering Strait, with NTSB determining that the most probable cause of the sinking was the accumulation of ice on the vessel and its fishing gear after experiencing forecasted heavy freezing spray conditions.

The Boris Vilkitski LNG tanker left the Yamal plant on Friday for Montoir terminal in France,  after spending more than a week without operating. In addition, Christophe de Margerie appears to have loaded, and is now leaving the area. Moreover, the LNG tankers Vladimir Rusanov and Eduard Toll are waiting offshore the Yamal LNG plant. 

Ship navigation in polar seas takes additional knowledge beyond that needed in less challenging navigation environments. It requires long experience working on specialized vessels in ice conditions, which goes with special training.

A range of less than one degree Fahrenheit, or half a degree Celsius, of climate warming over the next century, could be proven crucial for Arctic as it increases the probability of future ice-free summers in the Arctic, a research by the University of Colorado shows. The research also noted that if warming stays at 1.5 degrees Celsius, the possibility of ice-free summers would drop by 70%.

The four lowest seasonal maximums all happened during the last four years. The reduction of the Arctic sea ice cover has many effects, impacting climate and weather, the marine environment, and indigenous human communities. The reduced ice is also changing shipping routes, increasing coastal erosion and affecting ocean circulation.

North China is experiencing record low temperatures this season, and specially low temperatures in the past 2 weeks, posing a threat to safe navigation due to icy sea condition in the area. The key ports affected are those in the Liaodong Bay area, from Dalian to Huludao, Panjin, Bayuquan, Jinzhou and Dandong.

Scientists are developing a new satellite measurement method for the observation from space of the large ice masses of Greenland and the Antarctic. “Tandem-L” is the name of a new satellite radar system, which launched in the year 2022 could provide urgently needed data concerning the shrinkage of the ice sheets in both hemispheres.