Students on Ice Blog

Polar Perspectives IPY Speaker Series & Youth Forums Update

POLAR PERSPECTIVES is now well underway, taking place at 15 venues across the country, in each of Canada’s provinces and territories! This pan-Canada IPY event is supported by the Government of Canada’s International Polar Year Program, the Walter & Duncan Gordon Foundation, the Alliance of Natural History Museums of Canada, Students on Ice, the Royal Canadian Geographical Society, Canadian Geographic Magazine, the National Inuit Youth Council and the Canadian IPY Youth Steering Committee.

The Speaker Series consists of an evening lecture program delivered to a general audience by prominent scientists, writers, artists, filmmakers, adventurers and leaders. It is intended to give the audience the latest knowledge on the IPY, Arctic issues and their impact on both the northern and southern Canadian population. Topics range from environmental and cultural issues in the north to recent polar research discoveries. A two-speaker format draws on local, national and international speakers at each venue. Each evening program includes special presentations, contests, and IPY-related booths and displays.

The Youth Forums are full-day educational programs providing secondary school students with a unique opportunity to learn about Arctic ecosystems, northern issues, IPY, climate change, Antarctica, and much more. Video-conferencing throughout the Canadian Arctic is enabling northern youth to share their thoughts, stories and perspectives with other northern and southern youth regarding Health, Culture, Climate Change, Conservation, Sovereignty and other topics. Participating students are tasked to answer such questions as “What does the Arctic mean to you?”, and are being challenged to make “IPY Commitments”.

The free public lectures have been well attended with over 800 attendees and a variety of IPY speakers, including Dr. Louis Fortier, Director of ArcticNet; Dr. Elizabeth Peacock, Polar Bear Researcher for the Government of Nunavut; Geoff Green, Founder & Executive Director of Students on Ice; Karsten Heuer, Author of Being Caribou; as well as many other representatives from Canadian Museums, Universities and IPY projects.

The Youth Forums have been a resounding success! Over 400 students have participated in the 9 events so far, and we still have 7 more to go! Participating students have learned a great deal about the polar regions, the IPY, and have been motivated and inspired to become more engaged and to explore further opportunities.

Polar Perspectives has been receiving excellent media coverage across the country (CBC, CTV, various newspapers).

REMAINING POLAR PERSPECTIVES LECTURES

November 20, 2008, Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre, Yellowknife, Northwest Territories
“Archaeology and Education on Ice!”
Tom Andrews – NWT Territorial Archaeologist
“Beyond the Map: A Geographer Reflects on 30 Years of Lessons from the Land”
Dr. James Raffan – Executive Director, Canadian Canoe Museum

November 24, 2008, Royal BC Museum, Victoria, British Columbia
“Climate change, its ecological impacts in BC’s cold regions and what we can do”
Dr. Richard Hebda – Royal BC Museum
“Plumbing the Polar Oceans: Their Job in the Global Climate System”
Dr. Eddy Carmack – Department of Fisheries and Oceans

November 26, 2008, Nova Scotia Museum of Natural History, Halifax, Nova Scotia
“Carving the islands of the Canadian Archipelago”
Dr. John Gosse – Dalhousie University
“Adventures in Arctic Palaeobiology”
Dr. Natalia Rybczynski – Canadian Museum of Nature

November 30, 2008, Yukon Beringia Interpretive Centre, Whitehorse, Yukon Territory
“International Polar Year”
Ian Church – Chair of the Canadian IPY National Committee
“North Towards Meaning”
Karsten Heuer – Author of Being Caribou

Royal Alberta Museum, Edmonton, AB – Date TBD 2009

Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, ON – Date TBD 2009

REMAINING POLAR PERSPECTIVES YOUTH FORUMS

We’ve had great success!
Over 400 students have attended so far at 9 events:

Canadian Museum of Nature, Ottawa, ON
Eptek Art and Culture Centre, Summerside, PEI
Royal Tyrrell Museum, Drumheller, AB
New Brunswick Museum, Saint John, NB
The Rooms, St. John’s, NL
Manitoba Museum, Winnipeg, MB
Royal Saskatchewan Museum, Regina, SK
Inuksuk High School, Iqaluit, NU

STILL TO COME:

Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre, Yellowknife, NWT – November 21
Royal BC Museum, Victoria, BC – November 24
Nova Scotia Museum of Natural History, Halifax, NS – November 26
Yukon Beringia Interpretive Centre, Whitehorse, YT – December 1
Biodôme, Montréal, QC – December 3
Royal Alberta Museum, Edmonton, AB – Date TBD 2009
Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, ON – Date TBD 2009

We encourage you to spread the word about the remaining Polar Perspectives Speaker Events and Youth Forums in your region.

For more information, please contact Sam Darling at sam@studentsonice.com or 1-866-336-6423

www.nature.ca/polarperspectives

The MASS Dialogues
Conversations on Youth Citizenship in our Warming World

From December 1-12, 2008, more than 180 countries and 10,000 members of civil society will meet in Poznan, Poland, under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), to continue to negotiate the global response to the climate crisis.

More than 500 young people will participate directly in the Poznan negotiations. As International Youth Delegates, they will engage in learning, communications, outreach, networking and advocacy activities. They will be the voice of young people globally at the negotiations.

Objectives and format

The MASS Dialogues are an effort to bring the youth experience in Poznan to the world.

The dialogues will be structured as 75-minute interactive videoconferences between a panel of youth delegates in Poland and groups of young people around the world. Panelists will begin by sharing their perspectives on the negotiations, the important role of young people in the international process, and the role of young people more generally. The dialogue will then be opened to online participants, who will have the opportunity to ask questions and voice their perspectives.

The dialogues will be hosted through Webex, a web-based meeting service that enables a rich interactive experience with participants from virtually anywhere in the world. All that is required is an internet connection (and a telephone or VOIP audio connection if participants wish to ask questions). Participants can then log on to an online meeting and participate as if they were in Poland themselves (well, not quite, but almost…).

Dialogues will be held every day of the negotiations at 0830 and 1730 (Poland time = UTC/GMT+1). Unless otherwise decided, all meetings will be open to the public and will follow a standard format. To ensure that the meetings will be well suited to diverse audiences, 2degreesC is working with an advisory team of youth leaders and educators from several countries to finalize the format and content for the meetings. Please contact us if you wish to customize the meeting format or content.

It may be possible to schedule dialogues at other times or on specific themes in order to accommodate:
• locations for whom neither of the 0830 CET and 1730 CET are convenient,
• the schedules of any dignitaries who may participate,
• particular interests of participating organization.

Please contact 2degreesC to discuss specially scheduled or themed dialogues. Unless otherwise arranged, dialogues will follow the standard format and content, which will be designed to appeal to a wide youth audience and which we believe will provide a valuable and inspiring learning experience.

In total, 2degreesC anticipates hosting approximately 30 dialogues.

Dialogues can be conducted in any language (so long as we have young people in Poland who can speak the language). For any particular dialogue, the language will be decided on a first come – first served basis. So, for example, if a Spanish-speaking group were first to confirm their participation in the 0830 dlalogue on December 2nd, we would establish Spanish as the language for that dialogue and arrange for a Spanish-speaking youth panel in Poznan. All Spanish-speaking young people from around the world would be welcome to join the call.

There is no limit on the number of participants in each dialogue.

An event schedule for the dialogues is available at www.2degreesC.com (click on MASS Dialogues on the left sidebar). This will be updated on an ongoing basis as we receive confirmations on group participation. The schedule will indicate the language for the dialogue, and if applicable, a theme.

Who is involved?

The MASS Dialogues are being convened by 2degreesC, in collaboration with youth partners and youth service organizations from around the world.

Partners in more than 20 countries have confirmed their commitment to organizing participation in their various countries.

Invitations are extended to all individuals and organizations that wish to organize a contingent of young people to participate in the dialogue.

If you are interested…

If you have any questions, please contact Aiden Abram at +1 519 515 0019 or send an email to MASS@2degreesC.com.

An event schedule for the dialogues is available at www.2degreesC.com (click on MASS Dialogues on the left sidebar).

To confirm your participation, please email us at MASS@2degreesC.com. 2degreesC will then update the event schedule to reflect your confirmation.

Joining instructions will be emailed out to participants in the week prior to the dialogues.

In December 2008, three world-class adventurers, including ultra-runner Ray Zahab, legendary arctic explorer Richard Weber, and elite adventurer Kevin Vallely will trek 1094 kilometers (680 miles), self-supported, to the South Pole in a goal of under 40 days. Dragging sleds weighing over 73 kilograms (160 pounds) each, the team hopes to achieve what most are saying is impossible!

The entire expedition will unfold live on www.southpolequest.com; students, parents and teachers from all over the world will have access to the free educational resource available in daily module form on the education page.

The runners will collect data for the ongoing research projects that will provide material for the researchers, as well as the Impossible2Possible (i2P) team - and will be utilized in the educational modules.

The team will use solar technology and the latest communications technology to blog to www.southpolequest.com and others on the internet, as well as send dispatches to various resources including Outside Online. Photos and podcasts will be delivered and uploaded during the expedition, and video will appear both before and after.

Impossible2Possible has a goal with this expedition of inspiring a generation of youth to realize that they have the ability to achieve and exceed any perceived limits they think they may have - and that they hold the keys to contributing in making the world a better place - for themselves, and their peers.

With the help and a unique partnership with Students On Ice, two i2P youth ambassadors will have the adventure and educational experience of a lifetime. These two student ambassadors will travel to Antarctica aboard the Students On Ice ship and take part in activities that will be both exciting and life changing for these leaders of today and tomorrow.

i2P youth ambassadors will be sending video footage of their journey and this will be hosted in the multimedia section on www.southpolequest.com. Look for these videos to start very soon.

24-year-old photojournalist from Afghanistan turned her lens to the Arctic for this year’s Students On Ice expedition to Baffin Island

A photographer’s journey from Afghanistan to the Arctic

Mike Barber
Calgary Herald

Friday, October 3, 2008

When Farzana Wahidy was preparing for a trip to the Canadian Arctic, she shared many of the same concerns a 24-year-old heading far, far north might have: not having Internet access, being thousands of miles from her family, and spending two weeks in an environment not entirely conducive to a leisurely vacation.

But for the 24-year-old photojournalist from Afghanistan it also marked a wholly new experience - travelling with men. “In Afghanistan, it’s not normal for men and women to travel together,” she said.

Wahidy, who is studying photojournalism on a scholarship at Loyalist College in Belleville, Ont., turned her lens from Afghanistan to the Arctic when she took part in this year’s Students On Ice expedition to Baffin Island with 65 other young people from around the world (www.studentsonice.com). The annual expedition teams up scientists, environmentalists and polar experts with the students who learn about the precarious balance in which the Arctic hangs.

Wahidy knows plenty about regions in a state of flux. After taking up photography as a teenager in Kabul, she began chronicling the lives of women and orphans in Afghanistan after the Taliban were removed from power in 2001. Since then, her work has been published by the Associated Press, Agence-France Presse, and most recently, as part of a National Geographic exhibition in Los Angeles.
While she’d travelled to across Europe and throughout much of Asia, Wahidy said nothing that she had seen before could prepare her for the Arctic.

“It was perfect,” she said. “It was an entirely different environment for me. To be in the Arctic, it was so quiet and peaceful. There was no thinking about the hard stories from Afghanistan.”

With the cool northern air easing her mind, she said she was astounded by the natural beauty - particularly the seals, whales, and polar bears that were as foreign to her as the snow leopards, hyenas, and tigers of Afghanistan are to Canadians.

She said the August journey revealed to her the global impact of climate change.

Last summer, satellite images showed receding ice in the Arctic Ocean opened the Northwest Passage for the first time since satellite records began in 1978. Wahidy said that seeing dried up rivers around her hometown in 2007 had much the same effect on her: that changes in North American can affect the lives of those a world away.

Just as she did after the collapse of the Taliban, Wahidy used her camera to record the world around her. “I will photograph whatever I see,” she said. “It means a lot to me show (my) world. I find a way through photography to express myself; I feel myself freed.”

Post-secondary students from around the world are preparing to participate in the Students on Ice-International Polar Year Antarctic University Expedition in February 2009.

For more information about the expedition and how you can get involved, visit www.uantarctic.org!

Below is a recently published article that appeared in The Edmonton Journal and The Calgary Herald about expedition participants from one of SOI’s University Expedition partners, the University of Alberta:

U of A students plan chilly winter getaway
Program will take group to Antarctica

by KEITH GEREIN
Edmonton Journal

Saturday, September 27, 2008

Next February, when many university students will spend their winter break in sandals and swimwear, a group of 11 from the University of Alberta hope to be packing tuques and gloves.

Like other students, they will fly south, but instead of stopping in Mexico or Costa Rica they will venture all the way to Antarctica for an intensive two-week course on the frozen continent.

Students begin the trip at the southern tip of Argentina, where they will board a ship to Antarctica. The Ushuaia is a full-service research vessel equipped with sleeping and eating quarters, classrooms and lab space.

Students will live on the boat, taking field trips to the ice on inflatable Zodiac boats. If time and weather allow, they may also visit some of the continent’s permanent research stations, including one that helped discover the hole in the ozone layer.

A team of academics will be on board, including Marianne Douglas, a U of A professor and director of the Canadian Circumpolar Institute. She’s already been to Antarctica three times.

“It’s such an amazing feeling to be in such a remote area,” she said. “As the ship gets closer, you start to see albatross, then more of the birds, and then you start to see some whales and seals. And once you get even closer you start seeing penguins and finally icebergs.”

Providing the experience is Students on Ice, a Canadian non-profit group that annually takes high school students to the Arctic and Antarctic.

There is room for up to 70, plus 10 academic staff.

For Douglas, organizing the trip with Students on Ice is part of her effort to increase Canadian-led research and interest in the Antarctic.

The course, which will be for credit, features a broad-based curriculum with lessons on wildlife, history, politics and environmental issues.

“We’re trying to expose as many people as possible to these environments that are still pretty pristine but are also very fragile,” she said.

“My hope is that the people who see these areas and get an appreciation for them, when they go back home, they have good information they can use to determine who they vote into political power and how they lead their lives.”

It will be summertime in Antarctica when the students arrive, but temperatures will still often be below zero.

Sally Ells, 22, an environmental conservation student, said she is most looking forward to seeing cold-weather plants and mosses and, of course, the penguins.

“When I tell people I’m going down there, often the first thing they say is, ‘Oh my God, bring me back a penguin.’ “

IPY Polar Day: “People at the Poles”

Canadians:

Come celebrate IPY Polar Day - People at the Poles
Learn more about the coolest part of Canada!

Where: The Canadian Museum of Civilization, Gatineau, QC

Also available to everyone via live webcast at www.ipycanada.ca

When: Wednesday, September 24, 2008
10 am to 11:30 am. Attend in person or log on www.ipycanada.ca
Please arrive in person at 9:30 am.

What: Hear about important and exciting IPY research projects involving people in the North. Learn more about IPY and the importance of polar research. Share in the inspiring details of Canadian youth who have just returned from Arctic voyages. Visit booths and displays to learn about the many different sides of northern research.

Speakers:
- Laakkuluk Williamson, Inuit Health Survey, Committee member, Nunavut
- Crystal Lennie, Inuit Health Survey, Steering Committee member, Inuvialuit Settlement Region
- Patricia Sutherland, Researcher, Museum of Civilization, Inuit History: Climatic Change
- James Kuptana, Circumpolar Flaw Lead System Study, Circumpolar Inuit Field Program
- Claudio Aporta, Inuit Sea Ice Use and Occupancy Project
- Gita Laidler, Inuit Sea Ice Use and Occupancy Project
- Geoff Green, Students on Ice Expeditions & The Polar Education Foundation
- Adamina Partridge, Schools on Board

The Canadian Press has reported that a massive Arctic ice shelf has broken free and is now adrift in the Arctic Ocean.

See the story here.

Large Arctic ice shelf breaks away, now adrift in Arctic Ocean

The Canadian Press

September 3, 2008

TORONTO — Canadian scientists are sounding another environmental alarm with word that a massive Arctic ice shelf has broken free and is now adrift in the Arctic Ocean.

The 50-square-kilometre Markham Ice Shelf broke away in early August, researchers say, and two large sections representing 60 per cent of the Serson Ice Shelf have also become detached.

That means some 214-square-kilometres of Arctic ice shelves have been lost this summer, or about a quarter of what was left. It’s the equivalent of more than three times the area of the Manhattan island.

“It’s astounding what’s happening up there right now,” said Derek Mueller, a researcher at Trent University in Peterborough, Ont.

The ice shelf loss comes at a time when Arctic sea ice is at a near-record low and other significant climate change indicators are being observed in the north, Mr. Mueller said.

New cracks are forming in the Ward Hunt Ice Shelf – the largest one remaining – and it is expected to continue to disintegrate in the coming years.

More than 90 per cent of Canada’s ice shelves have been lost over the past century, the bulk of those during a warm period in the 1930s and 1940s. And temperatures in the Arctic are even warmer now.

Conditions that have kept the ice shelves in balance for some 4,000 years are no longer present, Mr. Mueller said.

“The ice shelves are not regrowing,” he said.

Mr. Mueller also said the ice shelves are home to unique forms of life that are at risk.

“They are actually a habitat for microbial life,” Mr. Mueller said. “Not only are we losing the ice, but we’re losing these unique ecosystems that go with the ice, that depend on the ice to be there.”

The Ward Hunt Ice shelf

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation has reported that Canada’s ice shelves suffered major melting over the summer of 2008.

See the story here.

Ice shelves suffered major melting over summer

Canada’s ice shelves suffered massive erosion over the summer, losing almost one-quarter of their area, researchers have found.

The ice shelves on the north coast of Ellesmere lost 214 square kilometres over the summer, or an area three times larger than Manhattan Island, said a group of researchers from Ontario, Quebec and the United States on Tuesday.

The entire Markham ice shelf broke away in early August and is now adrift in the Arctic Ocean, carving away 50 square kilometres. Two large sections of the Serson ice shelf also broke off, shrinking it by 122 square kilometres or about 60 per cent. The Ward Hunt ice shelf lost 22 square kilometres.

“These substantial calving events underscore the rapidity of changes taking place in the Arctic,” said Dr. Derek Mueller, who has been studying the shelves at Trent University, in a statement. “These changes are irreversible under the present climate and indicate that the environmental conditions that have kept these ice shelves in balance for thousands of years are no longer present.”

Unusually high air temperatures were the main cause of the cracking, the researchers said, and the disintegration trend is likely to continue. Canada’s most northerly national park, Quttinirpaaq, is therefore likely to lose its last remaining ice shelf as the largest one remaining, Ward Hunt, continues to crack up.

The disintegration will have an effect on local ecosystems, the researchers said. The Serson ice shelf, for example, had been damming a large freshwater lake, which is now threatened.

“The extent of their loss this season is significant,” said Dr. Warwick Vincent, director of Laval University’s Centre for Northern Studies, who collaborated on the study. “Unique ecosystems that depend on this ice are on the brink of extinction.”

The Ellesmere ice shelves are made up of ancient sea ice and snow and are up to 4,500 years old. Scientists have measured them to be about 40 metres thick.

More than 90 per cent of Canada’s ice shelves have been lost over the past century, with most melting during a warm period in the 1930s and 1940s.

Temperatures are higher now than they were then, researchers said, which had led to accelerated breakup since 2002.

The six ice shelves along the northern Ellesmere coastline, High Arctic Canada, in 2004 (Mueller et al. 2006). The Ayles Ice Shelf broke out in August 2005.

photo: Max Holmes

The next International Polar Day, on September 24th, will focus on PEOPLE. These days occur every three months and are a great opportunity to join students around the world and engage your local community, media, schools, family, or friends in learning about a specific aspect of the Polar Regions.

ONE MONTH from now, during the week of September 22nd, IPY will be launching a global media and education focus on IPY and People and we’d love you to add your voice to the chorus, and share your personal experiences of the Arctic or Antarctic with students around the world.

There are many ways that you can get involved, here are just some ideas:

1. Launch a Virtual Balloon
2. Start a Local Discussion Connecting Communities from Pole to Pole
3. Initiate and join students in an on-line global discussion about communities around the world
4. Phone in to a LIVE radio event in your area and share your experience with SOI
5. Use this as an opportunity to share your experience with SOI

Links to the all of these activities can be found from the sidebar at
http://www.ipy.org/index.php?/ipy/detail/people

More details:

1. Launch a Virtual Balloon:
show the involvement of yourself, your class, your friends, or your school in this event and watch virtual balloons flying around the world. Balloon launching is quick, fun, easy and a great way to add your voice to a global awareness of the polar regions.

http://www.ipy.org/index.php?/ipy/detail/people_launch_a_virtual_balloon/

2. Local Discussion: Connecting Communities
On this People Day we encourage classrooms around the world to consider their own community and life in a very different place,- if you live in the Arctic, consider what life might be like in a non-Arctic region, and if you are living in a non-Arctic region, imagine what life is like in the Arctic.

You can download a flyer from http://216.70.123.96/images/uploads/peopleactivityenglish.pdf or send people to http://www.ipy.org/index.php?/ipy/detail/global_student_discussion/

*** see if you can get people in your area talking about the Arctic, and launching their own virtual balloons! ***

3. Global Student Discussion
As a follow-up to the classroom debate, or on your own, please share your ideas in an online forum at http://polarday.tiged.org during the week of September 22nd (and beyond). You can even go in now and start initiating some conversations for students who have never been to the polar regions.

The on-line classroom is now live, please register ahead of time and look around the site. Registration Code is polardaycollaborator. For more details, see http://216.70.123.96/images/uploads/polar_day_instructions.pdf

This is a new development so we would really appreciate you going in soon and sending any feedback about the site to Kristi Skebo at skebo@ualberta.ca.

4. Around The World Radio Events
CKLB, an aboriginal community radio station in Arctic Canada, is proud to be hosting a new type of live event celebrating our connection with the North.

For 24 hours CKLB will be connecting people around the world through an Internet radio stream which can be found at www.ncsnwt.com. We encourage everyone to tune in to the radio events listed below. There will be three opportunities for students to speak LIVE with the radio show and experts or send in questions by email or CKLB website.

Radio Events:

1. Sept 24 UTC+2, 1130-1530 Continental European time
2. Sept 24UTC-4, 1300-1550 Americas time (EDT)
3. Sept 25 UTC+10, 1300-1500 Australia (Sydney) time

CKLB would love to YOU to join them LIVE on the air and to ask participating IPY project representatives questions directly during the broadcast. To join in, send Kristi Skebo (skebo@ualberta.ca) a contact phone number to call and provide some details about yourself or your class and school (if they are also participating).

There will also be an IPY Day blog at the www.ncsnwt.com website for people to post questions in real time, and email questions will also be accepted. A complete list of IPY projects that will be highlighted during the radio events will be provided soon. Please email Kristi Skebo (Skebo@ualberta.ca) for more information about how to participate in this exciting radio event.

More details:
http://www.ipy.org/index.php?ipy/detail/live_radio_events/

5. Use this as an opportunity to share your experience with SOI
Journalists and educators around the world are always looking for a new story and way to make polar research relevant. And they love a local hook! Use this Polar Day as an opportunity to talk about your experiences and projects, and use the IPY.org website for back-up if your contacts want to know more about the bigger picture of your Ant/Arctic experience. You can also always feel free to send them to the SOI or IPY office for more information.

If you have any questions, please email Rhian Salmon (ipy.ras@gmail.com) or Kristi Skebo (skebo@ualberta.ca).

photo: Livia Monami

Figure 1. Daily Arctic sea ice extent for August 26, 2008, fell below the 2005 minimum, which was 5.32 million square kilometers (2.05 million square miles). The orange line shows the 1979 to 2000 average extent for that day. The black cross indicates the geographic North Pole. Sea Ice Index data. About the data.
—Credit: National Snow and Ice Data Center See http://nsidc.org/arcticseaicenews/

Arctic sea ice at second lowest level

by Dan Joling, The Associated Press

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Arctic Ocean sea ice has melted to the second lowest minimum since satellite observations began, according to scientists at the U.S. National Snow and Ice Data Center.

Sea ice melt recorded on Monday exceeded the low recorded in 2005, which had held second place.

With several weeks left in the melting season, ice in summer 2008 has a chance to go below last year’s record low, the scientists at the University of Colorado said.

Environmental groups said the ice melt is another alarm bell warning of global warming.

“It’s an unfortunate sign that climate change is coming rapidly to the Arctic and that we really need to address the issue of global warming on a national level,” said Christopher Krenz, Arctic project manager for Oceana.

“This is not surprising, but it is alarming,” said Deborah Williams, a former Interior Department special assistant for Alaska. “This was a relatively cool summer, and to have ice decrease to the second lowest minimum on record demonstrates that global warming’s ongoing impact is profound.”

The centre, based at the University of Colorado, reported that the ice melted below the 2005 minimum of 5.3 million square kilometres set on Sept. 21 that year. Exact figures were to be released later Wednesday.

Through the beginning of the melt season in May until early August, daily ice extent for 2008 closely tracked the values for 2005, the centre said.

In early August 2005, the decline began to slow. In August 2008, however, the decline has remained steady at a brisk pace.

The most recent retreat primarily reflects melting in the Chukchi Sea off Alaska’s northwest coast and the East Siberian Seas off the coast of eastern Russia, the center said.

The Chukchi Sea is home to one of two populations of Alaska polar bears.

Federal observers flying for a whale survey on Aug. 16 spotted nine polar bears swimming in open ocean in the Chukchi Sea. The bears were 25 to 105 kilometres off the Alaska shore. Some were swimming north, apparently trying to reach the polar ice edge, which on that day was 645 kilometres away.

Polar bears are powerful swimmers and have been recorded on swims of 160 miles, but the ordeal can leave them exhausted and susceptible to drowning in high seas.

Sea ice is their primary habitat, where they hunt their favourite prey – ringed seals – which create lairs on ice for breeding and which maintain breathing holes through the ice.

Summer sea ice last year shrank to about 4.27 million square kilometres, nearly 40 per cent less than the long-term average between 1979 and 2000. Most climate modelers predict a continued downward spiral, possibly leading to an Arctic Ocean that is ice free during the summer months by 2030 or sooner.

Mr. Krenz said the announcement Tuesday showed that last year’s record-low sea ice was not an anomaly. As ice covers fewer square kilometres of ocean, he said, warming will accelerate.

“It’s going to accelerate climate change through changes in the reflectance of the Arctic,” he said. “It’s going from bright ice to a much darker ocean.”

More square kilometres of dark ocean will absorb more heat. More warmth will accelerate melting of Arctic permafrost, allowing organic matter now frozen to melt and add to the greenhouse gas problem, he said.

“That allows for the breakdown of that by bacteria and other organisms that release CO2 or methane, depending on how the breakdown occurs,” he said.

The effects faced by people in the Arctic eventually will reach the rest of the nation and the world, he warned.

Figure 2. The graph above shows daily sea ice extent.The solid light blue line indicates 2008; the dark blue dotted line indicates 2005; the dashed green line shows extent for 2007; the gray line indicates average extent from 1979 to 2000. Sea Ice Index data.
—Credit: National Snow and Ice Data Center See http://nsidc.org/arcticseaicenews/