How Studies of Norwegian Fjord Ice Can Help Create a Safer Future for the Arctic. During winter, a thick layer of ice can form on the surface of the northern Norwegian fjords. From fjord to fjord, year to year, this ice can change in its extent, thickness, and physical properties. These physical properties will determine how easily the ice will break when crossed or approached by a boat. How it interacts with the ocean below, what microscopic life may make the ice its home or how a pollutant in the water such as oil may make its way to the surface when placed underneath. The latter, the study of how oil interacts with sea ice, is increasing in its importance. Science Nordic

 

How an Arctic Hyena was Found in Canada, Then Lost, Then Found Again. This past February, Jack Tseng sat down in a warehouse room at the Canadian Museum of Nature's research facilities in Gatineau, Quebec, to examine a pair of million-year-old teeth. Peering through a microscope, he studied their cusps and ridges. "Within 5 minutes, I could tell," he said. These were the teeth of ancient hyenas - specifically Chasmaporthetes, or "running hyenas," known for their speed and endurance. Although only four hyena species exist today, the prehistoric world was full of them: nearly 70 species are currently known to have once roamed the planet. New York Times

Canadian Coast Guard Embarks on Longer Arctic Season This Year. Canada's aging Coast Guard fleet will enter Arctic waters two weeks earlier this year and remain one week longer, Coast Guard officials told reporters in a briefing last week. "We have icebreakers coming from three different regions operating in this area," said Mario Pelletier, the Coast Guard's deputy commissioner, during a news conference on Wednesday, June 19. Nunatsiaq Online

 

New Evidence Shows Rapid Response in the West Greenland Landscape to Arctic Climate Shifts. Evidence from an Arctic ecosystem experiencing rapid climate change reveals surprisingly tight coupling of environmental responses to climate shifts. Links between abrupt climate change and environmental response have long been considered delayed or dampened by internal ecosystem dynamics, or only strong when climate shifts are large in magnitude. The research team presents evidence that climate shifts of even moderate magnitude can rapidly force strong, pervasive environmental changes across a high-latitude system. Science Daily

 

Clouds Dominate Uncertainties in Predicting Future Greenland Melt. Recent research shows that the whole of the Greenland ice sheet could be gone within the next thousand years, raising global sea level by more than seven metres. However, most of the predictions about the future of the Greenland ice sheet focus on the impact of different greenhouse gas emission scenarios on its evolution and sea level commitment. University of Bristol

 

Researchers Discover Ancient 'Weapon-Making Site'-Beside the Skelton of 'Hunted' Woolly Mammoth. Palaeontologists made the exceptionally rare discovery on Kotelny Island part of the New Siberian archipelago. The island is the site of a major new Russian military base in the Arctic, called Northern Shamrock. The scientists dug out the remains of the mammoth skeleton from the thawing permafrost and found the tusk had evidence of human handiwork. Siberian Times

 

Canada's Military Feeling the Strain Responding to Climate Change. The country's top military commander says Canada's Armed Forces are being pushed to the limit responding to an increasing number of climate-related events such as floods and fires. In 2016 the military responded to only one climate disaster, the wildfire in Fort McMurray. But that number jumped to six deployments in each of the following two years. Gen. Jonathan Vance, the chief of the defence staff, says he needs more men and women to handle these crises and his soldiers need more training to deal with fires and floods. CBC News

 

Biological Adaptations in the Arctic Cervid, the Reindeer. Ruminants are a diverse group of mammals that includes families containing well-known taxa such as deer, cows, and goats. However, their evolutionary relationships have been contentious, as have the origins of their distinctive digestive systems and headgear, including antlers and horns (see the Perspective by Ker and Yang). To understand the relationships among ruminants, L. Chen et al. sequenced 44 species representing 6 families and performed a phylogenetic analysis. From this analysis, they were able to resolve the phylogeny of many genera and document incomplete lineage sorting among major clades. Interestingly, they found evidence for large population reductions among many taxa starting at approximately 100,000 years ago, coinciding with the migration of humans out of Africa.  Science Magazine