Arctic ice levels, August 2012
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The National Snow and Ice Data Centre in the USA confirmed that data presented by its Japanese colleagues show that Arctic sea ice shrank to its lowest point since satellite records began in 1979, down to 4.1 million square kilometres (1.58 million square miles) in August. This is 70,000 square kilometres (27,000 square miles) less than the previous record low set on 18 September 2007. Foreign experts forecast that by 2040, the Earth’s ice cap might disappear, but Russian scientists disagree with these pessimistic forecasts. Experts from various countries are closely monitoring the state of the Arctic sea ice because this region is the “weather kitchen” of the planet. Since 1979, they’ve used satellite images, but applied different methods to assess the area covered by ice. Scientists from the Arctic and Antarctic Scientific Research Institute (AANII) in St Petersburg are leaning on rich experience gained by field studies, which foreign experts don’t have.
Dr Genrikh Alekseyev said, “The findings show that the Arctic sea ice is ‘renewing’ itself; this is a seasonal change, it’s not the disappearance of the icepack. The reason is that in the summer, the ice melts, whilst in the winter, ice is formed. Practically, the area covered by winter ice shrinks very slowly. In the winter, the ice layer is restored. However, this concerns especially newly-formed ice in the process of formation, and, by next year, its thickness can reach up to 1-metre (@40 inches) or more”.
In winter, the newly-formed ice actively can form a 1.2-metre (@47 inches)-thick layer, whilst the coastal ice can grow up to 2.0 metres (79 inches). Consequently, the Arctic sea ice layer doesn’t change significantly. Moreover, according to Dr Alekseyev, in the summer, ice melts seas unequally in different places. This year, the seas through which the Northern Sea Route passes were covered with an unusually-thick ice layer. A thin ice layer covered the Barents Sea, but the amount of ice in the Kara, Laptev, East Siberian, and Chukchi Seas exceeded the level of 2007. The conditions in the Arctic in a warm summer can be considered abnormal, but the Northern Sea Route hasn’t been completely freed from ice yet. Dr Alekseyev noted, “This means that we’d still need icebreakers in future. According to forecasts made by using calculations on global models, by the end of the century, ice might disappear almost completely in the summer, but ice will be formed up to the previous borders in the winter”.
The extreme melting of ice in the summer 2012 is most likely the last sign that the warming is ending. In fact, ice is a product of climate, and Dr Alekseyev pointed up that when you compared the graphs of the air temperature and melting ice, one can see that they coincide. The long-term monitoring by experts at the institute confirmed the presence of a 60-year climatic fluctuation cycle, where reorganisation of atmospheric processes and the circulation of oceans related to them take place. At present, according to their calculations, another period of warming is ending, whilst the previous warming peak was registered between 1930 and 1940. We only know the nature of these cycles in a vague way, and scientists are still unaware of many of the natural processes of the oceanic environment.
31 August 2012
Maria Domnitskaya
Voice of Russia World Service
http://english.ruvr.ru/2012_08_31/Arctic-sea-ice-rejuvenating/
Voices from Russia 
Russia “Consecrates” North Pole to Reassert Ownership
Tags: Arctic, Arctic Ocean, Barents Sea, Bishop Iakov, Bishop Iakov Tislenko, Franz Josef Land, Graham Bell Island, icebreakers, Kirill I of Moscow, Long Range Aviation, MiG-31, Moscow, Moscow Patriarchate, North Pole, Northern Sea Route, Novaya Zemlya, nuclear-powered icebreakers, Orthodox, Orthodoxy, Patriarch Kirill, Patriarch Kirill I, political commentary, politics, Religion, Religion and Spirituality, Rossiya (icebreaker), Russia, Russian, Russian Orthodox Church, Vladimir Putin, White Sea
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Russian Orthodox Bishop Iakov Tislenko of Naryan-Marsky lowered a “holy memorial capsule” into the sea at the North Pole in an attempt to “consecrate” the Arctic and reassert Moscow‘s claims to the territory. Bishop Iakov conducted a service on the ice alongside the nuclear icebreaker Rossiya during a polar expedition titled “Arctic-2012”, organised by the Russian Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute. The metal capsule bore the inscription, “With the blessing of Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and all the Russias, the consecration of the North Pole marking 1,150 years of Russian Statehood”.
The Kremlin is keen to claim the hydrocarbon riches off its northern coast despite territorial claims from other governments, and is gradually re-militarising the area. In July, a Moscow think-tank suggested that the Arctic Ocean should be renamed the “Russian Ocean“, and, this week, the Defence Ministry announced that MiG-31 supersonic interceptor aircraft would have bases in the region by the end of the year.
Patriarch Kirill Gundyaev, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church (sic), is a close ally of President Vladimir Putin, who says exploiting oil and gas reserves in the North is a “strategic priority”. At the North Pole, a small group of scientists and the Rossiya’s captain Oleg Shchapin attended the bishop’s service, which was held during an expedition to find a floe suitable for Russia’s 40th drifting polar research station and to deliver a 17-strong team to man the outpost for the next year. The consecration earlier this month highlights Russia’s urge to claim international waters beyond its continental shelf because of underwater ridges it says are attached to the mainland.
Bishop Iakov, who is thought to be the first Russian priest to visit the pole {not so, there was liturgy served here some time back: editor}, emphasised that the consecration symbolised efforts “to restore Russia’s position and confirm its achievements in the Arctic”. In 2007, in another political move, Russia planted its flag on the seabed below the polar ice cap using a remotely-operated mini-submarine, symbolically laying claim to the surrounding area. The Rossiya carried on its voyage an icon and holy relics of St Nicholas the Wonderworker, the patron saint of sailors, normally kept in the diocese’s main church on land.
The MP appointed Bishop Iakov last year as ruling bishop of the newly-created Diocese of Naryan-Marsky, which lies inside the Arctic Circle on the White and Barents Seas, which is its most northerly diocese. The diocese includes the islands of Novaya Zemlya and Franz Josef Land, where the Long-range Aviation (VVS-DA) has recently upgraded airfields as operational strategic bomber stations. One airbase on Graham Bell Island boasts a 7,000-foot year-round compacted-ice runway. Bishop Iakov has taken part in other polar missions, sailing the length of the contested Northern Sea Route between Scandinavia and Alaska along Russia’s Arctic coast, which Russia claims and seeks to charge ships for using like the Panama Canal, but most other countries regard it as international waters. In 2004, the bishop consecrated an Orthodox church in Antarctica at Russia’s Bellingshausen research station.
27 September 2012
Bruce Jones
Tom Parfitt
The Telegraph (London UK)
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/russia/9571743/Russia-consecrates-North-Pole-to-reassert-ownership.html