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The Consequences of Permafrost Melting

December 16th, 2011 | Comments Off | Posted in Geology.com

“As the Arctic warms, greenhouse gases will be released from thawing permafrost faster and at significantly higher levels than previous estimates. This thawing will release approximately the same amount of carbon as deforestation. However, the effect of thawing permafrost on climate will be 2.5 times greater because emissions include methane.” Quoted from the University of Alaska Fairbanks press release.

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Canadian Diamond Mines

December 15th, 2011 | Comments Off | Posted in Geology.com

Throughout the 20th century most people would never have thought about Canada being an important producer of diamonds . But in 1991 two geologists found evidence of kimberlite pipes about 100 miles south of the Arctic Circle. Soon Canada became one of the world’s leading diamond producers.

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Runaway Melting on the Greenland Ice Sheet

October 25th, 2011 | Comments Off | Posted in Geology.com

Researchers at City College of New York have discovered that the Greenland ice sheet can experience cycles of extreme melting even when temperatures are not hitting record highs.

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Oil Exploration in the Arctic

October 19th, 2011 | Comments Off | Posted in Geology.com

An article on the FuelFix.com website describes some of the current activity, ideas and plans related to oil exploration on the Arctic continental shelves.

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Time Lapse Video: Northern Lights

September 20th, 2011 | Comments Off | Posted in Geology.com

Here is a really interesting video by Ole Salomonsen that shows the Northern Lights through a series of time lapse videos taken near Tromsø, Norway.

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Proof of Extreme Ice Loss

September 19th, 2011 | Comments Off | Posted in Geology.com

James Balog, professional ice photographer gives a TED.com talk titled: “Time-lapse proof of extreme ice loss”.

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The Largest Recorded Meteorite Fall

September 13th, 2011 | Comments Off | Posted in Geology.com

“The February, 1947 fall of the Sikhote-Alin iron in a remote part of eastern Siberia was, by far, the largest recorded meteorite event in history.” Quoted from MeteoriteBlog.org. (great photos!) Related: What are Meteorites?

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Are the Northwest Passage and Northern Sea Route Viable for Shipping?

August 29th, 2011 | Comments Off | Posted in Geology.com

Climate change is opening the Northwest Passage and Northern Sea Route but one question remails: will Russia and Canada have enough interest and resources to develop the infrastructure needed to make them viable shipping routes?

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Moving a Town to Mine Iron Ore

August 4th, 2011 | Comments Off | Posted in Geology.com

The town of Kiruna, Sweden is located 90 miles north of the Arctic Circle and directly over valuable iron ore. Luossavaara-Kiirunavaara AB has been mining in the area for over 100 years and will pay to move the town to get at the ore. Fortunately there is little opposition – the town exists because of the mine. View Larger Map

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Petermann Ice Island

July 24th, 2011 | Comments Off | Posted in Geology.com

In August 2010 a large “ice island” about four times the size of Manhattan broke from the Petermann Glacier on the northwestern coast of Greenland . Now the “Petermann Ice Island” is about the size of Manhattan and drifting off the coast of Labrador .

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