My Path to San Diego SCPA

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This Summer in the Arctic

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As reported previously on this blog, Arctic sea ice rebounded this summer. About half of the sea ice survived the summer melt. Last summer's sea ice hit a record low. The rebound did not seem to surprise some scientist because two record lows in a row have yet to be recorded since Arctic sea ice levels have been tracked. During my visit to the Arctic (Aug. - Sept. 2013), on-board the USCGC Healy, many observers commented on the relative abundance of polar bear sightings . This news of a sea ice rebound would also be welcome to the native Inupiaq peoples of Alaska, since subsistence hunting of whales is a continuing cultural practice. More on the Arctic sea ice rebound here .
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Day 1 of Research Cruise

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USCG Healy is an icebreaker ship, home-ported at Seattle, WA Hey readers. I just landed on the ship on which I'll be part of the science team, collecting sediment samples in the Arctic Ocean. I'll be onboard the USCG Healy, which is an icebreaker ship, operated by the United State Coast Guard. The mission will take three-and-a-half weeks, and I'll be absent the first week of school. The flight from San Diego to Barrow, AK was a long one! I departed San Diego on Wednesday, August 14th at 7:00pm, and arrived in Barrow at 11:30am on Thursday, August 15th. You don't have to be a mathematician to know it was a long, long flight, with a long, long layover in Anchorage, AK. (16.5 hours total)!
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Are There Consequences to a Warming Arctic?

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Could a rapidly warming Arctic create crazy storms? (Fox41 Blog) In an article written by Stephanie Paige Ogburn in Scientific American , a question was poised: Does a warming Arctic affect mid-latitude weather? Sandy-like events are receiving a lot of media attention, and many are wondering if there is a link to climate change. "R apid warming in the Arctic is changing the way the jet stream behaves. Since the jet stream is a driving force behind weather over the temperate part of the Earth, also known as the mid-latitudes, many people would be affected by this switch." Jennifer Francis , a climate scientist at Rutgers, has been working on this hypothesis that a warming Arctic has a link to crazy weather events. Though she admits the signal is somewhat weak at this point, the body of evidence is gathering. "Arctic sea ice extent continues to plunge below average each summer. Measurements have shown that the winds that blow west to east and drive the jet ...
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