This article is about explorers who are diving beneath the Ross Ice Shelf to figure out how global warming is affecting life in the arctic oceans. They were to be staying in ice structures as depicted in the article, which they built due to the new skills that they learned in their 6 week snow survival courses. Both sites chosen were meant to serve as a comparison to prior data collections and expeditions. "Seven of the nine-member team would be diving beneath the ice, and they hoped to complete four dives each day by two-person diving teams, for a total of 60 dives during their six weeks of fieldwork on the ice shelf, Joanna Norkko said." The water they are diving in is -1.9 degrees Celsius. The main threat posed is by Seals which are non-aggressive but could occupy the ice holes they dig while the explorers are under the water. This could prove fatal.

In west Antarctica, a glacier 4.5 times the size of Manhattan broke off from the rest of it's body. This is over 103 square miles of ice. Events like this could lead to future increases to sea level. "Of all the glaciers in West Antarctica, the Pine Island Glacier is the largest contributor of ice to the ocean. Each year, it loses 45 billion tons (408 billion metric tons) of ice, causing sea levels to increase 0.03 inches (1 millimeter) every eight years." "If the entire glacier melted, sea levels could rise 1.7 feet (0.5 m), The Washington Post reported." The reason why the ice is cracking is because the water beneath it is heating up. This "inside out" melting may be happening because human-caused climate change is warming the oceans, or because of increased ocean flow reaching the bottom of the ice shelf where the glacier rests.

A study from Stanford University has conclusively found that the use of geothermal, wind, solar, and water energy to power economic sectors "including the electric grid itself, transportation, heating and cooling, industrial, and the agriculture, forestry and fishing industries — would significantly reduce energy consumption, decrease deaths from air pollution, create millions of jobs, stabilize energy prices and save trillions of dollars on health care and climate-related costs." 139 countries could feasibly be converted to these energy types by 2050, accounting for 99% of air pollution world-wide. The health issues alone due to pollution will cost each country $28 trillion each year, so the money spent to convert the system of generating electricity would be very useful in stymieing this flow of cash.

"The reason behind the significant decrease in the ozone layer is unusually warm weather conditions in Antarctica's stratosphere, which helped push away ozone-depleting chemicals. However, the overall trend of a shrinking ozone hole is a result of the global effort to eliminate ozone attacking chemicals such as chlorofluorocarbons, previously used in refrigerants." The hole first appeared in the 1980's, and has been gradually increasing in size since. At one point in the early 2000s it hit over 25 million square miles large. Increase in temperature is believed to cause short-term healing to the hole. "The ozone layer helps protect humans, animals, and plants from harmful ultraviolet radiation. Depletion of the ozone layer causes an increased risk of skin cancer, cataracts, suppresses the immune system and can damage plants. " The scientists believe that it will take until 2070 for all of the ozone depleting chemicals to decay.

Although this sounds utterly ridiculous to me, increases in pollution relate directly to increased crime rate. However, to back their claims they looked over nine years over data from more than 10,000 cities. It's hard to refute such data. The experience of air pollution is found to make people more anxious, thus more likely to commit crimes. This research provides simply another reason, no matter how small, to reduce air pollution. Sadly the administration of the United States seems to be working against this. Carbon emission is one huge contributor and I feel that policy is moving in the wrong direction, and politicians are selfish for repealing environmental policies. 

Potentially the most disastrous oil spill since 1991, a huge oil-carrying ship called The Sanchi crashed into a freighter. 3 bodies were found but 29 others were presumed dead from both China and Iran. The bigger issue at hand is the even dirtier fuel that was powering the ship leaking. This is the single largest instance of such a leakage, and furthermore is taking place in a prime breeding and migratory spot for aquatic life. Whales, blue crab, and mackerel all traffic the area of the spill. Despite being concentrated for a 40 mile radius initially, it is spreading and is now 200 miles off the coast of Japan. This especially dense oil can sink down deep into the ocean potentially further damaging marine life. This is an environmental tragedy.