Nick Sundt's blog

As costly climate extremes exact a mounting toll on the U.S. economy and further strain the Federal budget, the path forward is clear: acknowledge and better understand the growing threat posed by climate variability and change, do what we can to slow climate change by sharply reducing greenhouse gas emissions, improve our weather forecasts and climate projections, and prepare ourselves for future impacts. Yet ideologues are pushing an opposite agenda: deny climate change and systematically eviscerate the Federal government’s efforts to address it. They are leaving Americans dangerously unprepared, saddled with the rapidly mounting costs of increasingly extreme weather. 

Just weeks before Arctic sea ice extent reaches a record or near-record annual low, observers estimate that over 20,000 walruses have hauled-out near Point Lay, Alaska.  The aerial observers also have spotted dead walruses on their flights over the Chukchi Sea.

We reported on 12 August 2011 that walruses, driven ashore by the lack of Arctic sea ice over shallow waters, were starting to "haul out" along the Alaskan shores of the Chukchi Sea.  Airborne observers now report that by 17 August, "[a]pproximately 8,000 walruses were observed hauled out on land slightly north of Point Lay [Alaska]."  A panoramic photo shows the two immense haul-outs spotted during the survey flight.

Earth Hour 2011 embraced 5,251 cities and towns in 135 countries and territories and reached an estimated 1.8 billion people worldwide. Our new video, backed by acclaimed Icelandic rock band Sigur Rós, showcases the passion of this year's Earth Hour participants from all corners of the globe, celebrating the planet and taking action beyond the hour.  Mark your calendar for Earth Hour 2012: 31 March 2012, 8:30 pm!

Radio-tagged walruses are hauling out on the shoreline of Alaska's Chukchi Sea, three weeks earlier than in 2010.

Driven by climate variability and change, the extent and volume of Arctic sea ice will drop to one of the lowest levels on record this September. We provide links to resources on past, present and projected Arctic sea ice trends and the consequences in the Arctic and globally.

In 2011, the U.S. has been hammered by climate extremes, with economic damages by mid-June approaching a record $32 billion. Yet determined Congressional opponents of Federal climate change efforts are doggedly impeding Federal activities to inform and engage the public around climate impacts, vulnerability and risks; and to prepare for those impacts. Such tactics have successfully stymied progress on climate policy for over a decade, but at a high cost that is becoming increasingly evident: they have left Americans dangerously unprepared for an era of climate disruption.

In a new video, Jared Diamond talks about climate change, drawing parallels between modern Americans and the Classic southern lowland Maya – who failed to take the actions that might have avoided the collapse of their civilization. However, unlike the Maya, we have the “unique opportunity” and capacity to “learn from remote places and to learn from places remote in time,” Diamond says. “And among all the things that might incline me towards pessimism, that is the biggest thing that in the end inclines me towards optimism.”

In the northern Great Plains, record winter and spring precipitation followed now by historic floods, has affected dramatically both wildlife and people. From decimated populations of pronghorn antelope to flooded riverside communities, there is widespread evidence of the kinds of impacts that are likely to become more common in the region as atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases continue to rise.

President Barack Obama and President  Dmitry Medvedev of Russia on Thursday (26 May 2011) in a joint statement noted the "effects of climate change and other pressures on the common natural and cultural heritage of the Bering Strait region" and the "significance of unique Arctic ecosystems." The two leaders recognized the "importance of cooperation to protect nature and natural resources ... and to apply effective strategies aimed at sustainable development" in the region.  They declared their "intention to deepen cooperation...including the expansion of interaction between the national agencies that are responsible for the specially protected natural territories/areas of both countries..."