(CBC News, 5 February 2010) -- The head of the largest climate change study ever undertaken in Canada says the Arctic sea ice is thinning faster than expected. "It's happening much faster than our most pessimistic projections," said University of Manitoba Prof. David Barber, the lead investigator of the Circumpolar Flaw Lead study. A flaw lead is the term for open water between pack ice and coastal ice. The study aboard the Canadian Coast Guard research ship Amundsen began in July 2007 and involved 370 scientists from around the world. It was the first time a research vessel had ever remained mobile in open water in the Far North. Barber called the expedition climate scientists' "first opportunity to look at what the Arctic Ocean looks like in the middle of winter." They found that Arctic sea ice is disappearing faster than scientists expected.

"We're seeing it happen more quickly than our model thought [it] would happen," said Barber. "It's an early indicator of what we can expect to happen further south," Barber said at a news conference in Winnipeg. "We can expect things to happen faster here, too." Barber said the human impact on climate is being superimposed on the natural variation in climate and temperature. The result is more variability in the climate: warm spells are getting warmer and the cold spells are getting colder. The researchers also found that storms have become more frequent in the North as the sea ice thins.

Tagged: Arctic, IPY project, News, Polar research: Reports and findings

(Winnipeg Free Press, 5 February 2010) -- WINNIPEG - Scientists from all over the world are in Winnipeg Friday to release the preliminary findings from the largest Arctic climate change study ever conducted in Canada. University of Manitoba professor David Barber, the lead investigator in the three-year-old Circumpolar Flaw Lead System study, will join 300 scientists for the news conference just after noon. Students from across the province have also been invited to attend the news conference.

Tagged: Arctic, News, Public events and conferences

(Gabriel Zárate/Nunatsiaq News, 4 February 2010) -- A project that promises to revolutionize the way traditional knowledge is gathered and used across Nunavut’s vast expanse has run into a problem all too familiar to software entrepreneurs everywhere — it’s running out of cash. The Igliniit Project has spent two years testing and refining a computer program for hunters to log what they see and do on while out on the land. But as the money from the International Polar Year’s research winds down, Igliniit looks to new sources to continue its work. Since Igliniit’s inception five years ago it has spent around $260,000 in technology, travel and fees.

 Shari Gearheard, one of the project’s coordinators, said it’s not clear how much more the project will need. That will depend on what new applications her group chooses to develop. She was looking to scientists’ groups and the departments of the Government of Nunavut for fresh funding. Igliniit has produced a program for a pocket computer to record weather data and hunters’ observations while on the land. Using a stylus on the touch-screen, hunters can record what they encounter while hunting or traveling. Igniniit’s coordinators presented their work in Iqaluit on Jan. 27 to a full house at Nunavut Arctic College and Unikkaarvik Visitors Centre.

The machine has icons for a variety of Arctic animals, as well as weather conditions, ice conditions, and even garbage, all though a pictographic interface in both English and Inuktitut syllabics. If it’s an animal, the hunter can record if he simply saw it or shot it. As a hunter taps the icons of what he sees, the machine records the time and the location of the sighting. Although the computer has GPS capability, it’s only for recording locations, not navigation. Hunters can do that on their own, Gearheard explained. The machine has an external weather sensor, which can be mounted on a snow machine or dog sled. The sensor takes readings of air pressure, humidity and temperature every 30 seconds. The weather data combined with the hunters’ observations has the potential to produce an enormous amount of raw data on areas of the Arctic seldom visited by researchers.

Gearheard said she hoped every hunters and trappers organization in Nunavut would consider using the Igliniit system to document their land. “The more you have eyes out there, the more you can share information,” she said.

Tagged: Arctic, News, Research, Research infrastructure