Friends of the Earth

Loss of Arctic sea ice ‘70% man-made’

Study finds only 30% of radical loss of summer sea ice is due to natural variability in Atlantic – and it will probably get worse.

The radical decline in sea ice around the Arctic is at least 70% due to human-induced climate change, according to a new study, and may even be up to 95% down to humans – rather higher than scientists had previously thought.

The loss of ice around the Arctic has adverse effects on wildlife and also opens up new northern sea routes and opportunities to drill for oil and gas under the newly accessible sea bed.

The reduction has been accelerating since the 1990s and many scientists believe the Arctic may become ice-free in the summers later this century, possibly as early as the late 2020s.

“Since the 1970s, there’s been a 40% decrease in the summer sea ice extent,” said Jonny Day, a climate scientist at the National Centre for Atmospheric Science at the University of Reading, who led the latest study.

[Read more.]

[Photo credit: AlaskaStock/Corbis]

An amazing shot in service of conservation:

The US actor Maggie Q swims with a whale shark off Cancun, Mexico, as part of a campaign to publicise the plight of marine animals threatened by the demand for shark fin soup. China has announced a ban on shark fin from all official banquets. Photograph: Paul Hilton/AFP/Getty Images.

(via guardian)

A memo to U.S. politicians, via mothernaturenetwork:

Conservation is patriotic in U.S., poll finds
More than 4 in 5 Americans agree that protecting natural resources is a patriotic duty, suggesting wilderness conservation has bipartisan appeal.

savethearctic:

www.savethearctic.org

(via greenpeaceusa)

We saw the news this morning — such a sad loss of a historic icon of the conservation movement. Via mothernaturenetwork:

Giant tortoise Lonesome George dies
The only remaining Pinta Island giant tortoise in the world passed away on Sunday with no known offspring.