Arctic

The Arctic's "Last Ice Area," a region where summer sea ice is expected to survive the longest and therefore act as a refuge for the wildlife that depends on it, is already feeling the effects of climate change, new research shows.

Based on historical readings from an automatic weather station in Greenland, on December 22, 1991, Klinck, located on the summit of the Greenland ice sheet, plunged to -69.6 °C (-93.3 °F), the coldest recorded temperature in the Northern Hemisphere.

The Arctic is one place that’s been hit particularly hard by climate change. Now a new study has shown that the Arctic is beginning to transition into an entirely new climate state, leaving its predominantly frozen state behind.

A few years ago researchers discovered bacteria in Antarctica that could survive on nothing but air. Now the team has found evidence of this handy ability in other cold desert locations. The finding could have implications for life beyond Earth.

Storing the world’s knowledge digitally online makes it vulnerable to being lost in a disaster. As a backup, GitHub has now archived 21 TB of public open source data and buried it in a vault in the Arctic in an effort to preserve it for 1,000 years.

The dramatic changes taking place in the Arctic as a result of climate change have long been known to spell trouble for polar bears, but a new study mapping out their future has provided a particularly grim outlook.

Scientists at Stanford have observed a dramatic increase in the concentration of phytoplankton in the Arctic Ocean, a phenomenon they liken to a “thickening algae soup” that will cause a big change in how effectively it absorbs carbon dioxide.

New observations from a weather station in Siberia illustrate the warming trend taking hold in the Arctic Circle, with scientists logging an extreme temperature of 38 °C (100.4 °F), thought to be a new record for the region.

Although a hole in the ozone layer might sound like a retro environmental issue, it’s still a problem today. While it's usually over Antarctica, scientists have now spotted the biggest ozone layer hole in at least 25 years forming over the Arctic.

The Arctic permafrost is thawing, which could release huge amounts of greenhouse gases stored there. But now researchers have found that methane-munching microbes might counter some of that, resulting in far lower emissions than previously thought.

A new NASA-led study has illuminated one of the consequences of global warming in the Arctic, with satellite data revealing that ice melt is flooding one of the region’s significant ocean currents with unprecedented amounts of fresh water.

The Arctic Bath has finally opened in Swedish Lapland. The circular hotel floats on a river and provides visitors with a luxury getaway that includes a restaurant, spa, and a plunge into the icy water.