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Pages and Posts Tagged ‘Arctic’


You Can’t Control the Weather

BARROW, ALASKA-- One afternoon a young adult female polar bear wandered by the ship. She appeared out of the blowing snow and walked past the stern, fairly close to the ship. An hour later she reappeared and approached the ship... {Read More »}



Life on the Ship

ABOARD THE USCGC POLAR SEA, ON THE BEAUFORT SEA-- For captures, we need calm winds, good visibility, thick continuous ice, and a good bear location. Those factors came together to allow us to recapture an adult female... {Read More »}



The Melting Arctic Ice

LARAMIE, WYOMING-- While I am spending the summer back at the University of Wyoming, the Arctic summer is in full swing. Sea ice breakup has accelerated, and Arctic ice extent declined rapidly throughout June... {Read More »}



The Bears of Summer

Summer is a critical time for polar bears and climate change is lengthening Arctic summers. {Read More »}



Pairing Scientific and Traditional Knowledge

Scientists have access to powerful instruments such as satellite technology that provides aerial views of the Arctic. Indigenous people have daily hands-on experience in the Arctic, and tap into traditional knowledge, passed down for centuries. {Read More »}



Polar Geography

Literally on opposite ends of the earth, the Arctic and Antarctica are vast, icy, and cold, but beyond that they’re very different. Antarctica, in the south, is a continent surrounded by ocean; the Arctic is an ocean surrounded by continents. {Read More »}



Climate Change

Climate change is a topic of worldwide concern, but it’s of particular concern at the poles. That’s because the impacts of global warming are felt first and most severely at higher latitudes. {Read More »}