Ice in Bering Sea Declines to Lowest Level in 5,500 Years

 Ice breaks up early on the Kuskokwim River beside the Bering
Sea and near the climate change-affected Yupik Eskimo village of
Quinhagak on the Yukon Delta in Alaska, April 12, 2019. (AFP Photo)
Ice breaks up early on the Kuskokwim River beside the Bering Sea and near the climate change-affected Yupik Eskimo village of Quinhagak on the Yukon Delta in Alaska, April 12, 2019. (AFP Photo)
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Ice in Bering Sea Declines to Lowest Level in 5,500 Years

 Ice breaks up early on the Kuskokwim River beside the Bering
Sea and near the climate change-affected Yupik Eskimo village of
Quinhagak on the Yukon Delta in Alaska, April 12, 2019. (AFP Photo)
Ice breaks up early on the Kuskokwim River beside the Bering Sea and near the climate change-affected Yupik Eskimo village of Quinhagak on the Yukon Delta in Alaska, April 12, 2019. (AFP Photo)

Winter ice in the Bering Sea, in the northern Pacific Ocean between Alaska and Russia, is at its lowest level in the past 5,500 years.

Researchers analyzed vegetation that accumulated on the uninhabited island of Saint Matthew over the last five millennia.

According to AFP, they looked at variations in peat layers of oxygen atoms called isotopes 16 and 18, whose proportions over time correlate with atmospheric and oceanic changes and precipitation.

The 1.45-meter peat core, taken from Saint Matthew in 2012, represented 5,500 years of accumulation.

"It's a small island in the middle of the Bering Sea, and it's essentially been recording what's happening in the ocean and atmosphere around it," said Miriam Jones, the researcher who conducted the study at the University of Alaska and then at the US Geological Survey.

The ice in the Arctic and Bering Seas melts in summer and freezes anew in winter, but satellite observations only date back to 1979. The advantage of the new analysis, published in the journal Science Advances, is that it goes back much further in time.

For the Arctic, the reduction of winter ice in recent decades is clear and rapid, in parallel with global warming and the increasing concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. But the Bering Sea in recent decades has seemed stable, the authors of the study say, with the exception of 2018 and 2019, when a strong reduction was observed. In this study, researchers tried to establish whether the current levels are an anomaly or a trend.

"What we've seen most recently is unprecedented in the last 5,500 years," writes Matthew Wooller, director of the Alaska Stable Isotope Facility, who participated in the analysis.

At this rate, conditions are now favorable for a completely ice-free Bering Sea, the authors conclude, highlighting an effect of consequences on the ecosystem.



Forecasts Warn of Possible Winter Storms across US during Thanksgiving Week

A drone view shows a damaged area, following the passing of Hurricane Helene, in Asheville, North Carolina, US, September 29, 2024. (Reuters)
A drone view shows a damaged area, following the passing of Hurricane Helene, in Asheville, North Carolina, US, September 29, 2024. (Reuters)
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Forecasts Warn of Possible Winter Storms across US during Thanksgiving Week

A drone view shows a damaged area, following the passing of Hurricane Helene, in Asheville, North Carolina, US, September 29, 2024. (Reuters)
A drone view shows a damaged area, following the passing of Hurricane Helene, in Asheville, North Carolina, US, September 29, 2024. (Reuters)

Forecasters through the US issued warnings that another round of winter weather could complicate travel leading up to the Thanksgiving holiday, while California and Washington state continue to recover from storm damage and power outages.
In California, where a person was found dead in a vehicle submerged in floodwaters on Saturday, authorities braced for more precipitation while grappling with flooding and small landslides from a previous storm. Thousands in the Pacific Northwest remained without power after multiple days in the dark.
The National Weather Service office in Sacramento, California, issued a winter storm warning for the state's Sierra Nevada for Saturday through Tuesday, with heavy snow expected at higher elevations and wind gusts potentially reaching 55 mph (88 kph). Total snowfall of roughly 4 feet (1.2 meters) was forecast, with the heaviest accumulations expected Monday and Tuesday.
The Midwest and Great Lakes regions will see rain and snow Monday and the East Coast will be the most impacted on Thanksgiving and Black Friday, forecasters said.
A low pressure system is forecast to bring rain to the Southeast early Thursday before heading to the Northeast. Areas from Boston to New York could see rain and strong winds, with snowfall possible in parts of northern New Hampshire, northern Maine and the Adirondacks. If the system tracks further inland, there could be less snow and more rain in the mountains, forecasters said.
Deadly 'bomb cyclone’ on West Coast Earlier this week, two people died when the storm arrived in the Pacific Northwest. Hundreds of thousands lost power, mostly in the Seattle area, before strong winds moved through Northern California. A rapidly intensifying “ bomb cyclone ” that hit the West Coast on Tuesday brought fierce winds that resulted in home and vehicle damage.
Rescue crews in Guerneville, California, recovered a body inside a vehicle bobbing in floodwaters around 11:30 a.m. Saturday, Sonoma County Sheriff’s Deputy Rob Dillion said, noting the deceased was presumed to be a victim of the storm but an autopsy had not yet been conducted.
Santa Rosa, California, saw its wettest three-day period on record with about 12.5 inches (32 centimeters) of rain by Friday evening, the National Weather Service in the Bay Area reported. Vineyards in nearby Windsor, California, were flooded on Saturday.
Tens of thousands without power in Seattle area Some 80,000 people in the Seattle area were still without electricity after this season’s strongest atmospheric river, a long plume of moisture that forms over an ocean and flows over land.
The power came back in the afternoon at Katie Skipper’s home in North Bend, about 30 miles (50 kilometers) east of Seattle, after being out since Tuesday. She was tired from taking cold showers, warming herself with a wood stove and using a generator to run the refrigerator, but Skipper said those inconveniences paled in comparison to the damage other people suffered, such as from fallen trees.
“That’s really sad and scary,” she said.
Northeast gets needed precipitation Another storm brought rain to New York and New Jersey, where rare wildfires have raged in recent weeks, and heavy snow to northeastern Pennsylvania. The precipitation was expected to help ease drought conditions after an exceptionally dry fall.
“It’s not going to be a drought buster, but it’s definitely going to help when all this melts,” said Bryan Greenblatt, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Binghamton, New York.
Heavy snow fell in northeastern Pennsylvania, including the Pocono Mountains. Higher elevations reported up to 17 inches (43 centimeters), with lesser accumulations in valley cities including Scranton and Wilkes-Barre. Less than 80,000 customers in 10 counties lost power.
Precipitation in West Virginia helped put a dent in the state’s worst drought in at least two decades and boosted ski resorts preparing to open their slopes in the weeks ahead.