"Over the past week, as each thread of our ordinary existence unravels and travel feels like something we used to do, I’ve been holding tight to a single mental image. The deep brown gaze of a caribou calf as it passed inches from my face. The whites of its eyes as it glanced at me in surprise. The animal’s fear of the unknown dwarfed by its clarity of purpose."
"The about 100 researchers that on Tuesday set foot in Tromsø, Norway, will hardly be able to recognize the life they left in December."
"Scientists have found a new point of major vulnerability in the Antarctic ice sheet, in a region that already appears to be changing as the climate warms and has the potential to raise sea levels by nearly five feet over the long term."
SEJournal welcomes back from hiatus our WatchDog feature, now recast as an opinion column from Joseph A. Davis, Society of Environmental Journalists’ veteran freedom of information advocate and longtime SEJournal contributor. In part one of a two-parter, find out why we’re relaunching the new column, plus get Davis’ take on government openness (or lack thereof) around coronavirus, as well as more on SEJ’s deep commitment to open information and a rundown of its recent FOI activities. And watch for part two next week.
"The polar ice caps are melting six times faster than in the 1990s, according to the most complete analysis to date."
"A new study casts doubt on the effectiveness of what is considered a state-of-the-art tool to help industry avoid injuring or disturbing polar bears by detecting their dens in the snow. Over more than a decade on the North Slope of Alaska, the study found, oil companies located fewer than half of the known dens of maternal bears and their infant cubs using airborne instruments called forward-looking infrared, or FLIR, cameras."
"Antarctica, the coldest, windiest and driest continent on Earth, set a record high temperature on Thursday, underscoring the global warming trend, researchers said."
As U.S. coal’s comedown continues, our latest Issue Backgrounder takes a close look at the factors behind the industry’s decline and finds a combination of economics, competition and shifting global markets, along with aging technology, politics and environmental pushback. What’s in store for coal in 2020?
"A massive iceberg with the robotic sounding name D28 has separated in recent days from an ice shelf in Antarctica, prompting both awe and concern around the world. Measuring 610 square miles, D28 is slightly larger than Oahu, Hawaii, and some are worried that its fracture from the Amery Ice Shelf is a signal of climate change."
"An E&E News reporter spends six weeks on an icebreaker with scientists who are unraveling the mysteries of the Arctic."
