Vast cracks appear in Arctic ice

By David Shukman
Environment correspondent, BBC News

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A Canadian expedition found the new cracks

Dramatic evidence of the break-up of the Arctic ice-cap has emerged from research during an expedition by the Canadian military.

Scientists travelling with the troops found major new fractures during an assessment of the state of giant ice shelves in Canada's far north.

The team found a network of cracks that stretched for more than 10 miles (16km) on Ward Hunt, the area's largest shelf.

The fate of the vast ice blocks is seen as a key indicator of climate change.

Satellite image of Ward Hunt Ice Shelf cracks Enlarge Image

One of the expedition's scientists, Derek Mueller of Trent University, Ontario, told me: "I was astonished to see these new cracks.

"It means the ice shelf is disintegrating, the pieces are pinned together like a jigsaw but could float away," Dr Mueller explained.

According to another scientist on the expedition, Dr Luke Copland of the University of Ottawa, the new cracks fit into a pattern of change in the Arctic.

"We're seeing very dramatic changes; from the retreat of the glaciers, to the melting of the sea ice.

"We had 23% less (sea ice) last year than we've ever had, and what's happening to the ice shelves is part of that picture."

When ice shelves break apart, they drift offshore into the ocean as "ice islands", transforming the very geography of the coastline.

Mission to Ayles Ice Island

Last year, I was part of a BBC team that joined Dr Mueller and Dr Copland as they carried out the first research on Ayles Ice Island, an iceberg the size of Manhattan.

It has since split into two, each vast chunk of ice now 400 miles (640km) south of its original position.

The rapid changes in the Arctic have reignited disputes over territory.

The Canadian military's expedition was billed as a "sovereignty patrol", the lines of snowmobiles flying Canadian flags in a display of control.

After the record Arctic melting last year, all eyes are now on what happens to the sea ice this summer.

Although its maximum extent last winter was slightly greater than the year before, it was still below the long-term average.

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Huddler.com Releases “Green My Ride” FaceBook App: I’m Ranked #8 Worldwide

The Green My Ride Facebook App

Huddler.com, the new green community of crowd-powered product reviews (and other good stuff), just released a new Facebook app that gives you yet another excuse to avoid what you really should be doing.

Green My Ride has a simple premise: start out as a gas guzzling, flower crushing monster vehicle, and by earning credits through various actions (below), you can earn more efficient cars (up to a solar-powered electric car) to display on your Facebook profile.

If you need some incentive to blow more time on Facebook (most of us don’t, and I’m not kidding about being number #8 in the world), Huddler is offering a weekly prize to the top scorer: one year’s worth of real renewable energy credits (RECs) from Village Green Energy.

You can earn credits by doing any of the following:

• 1 credit for: Each product added to your profile (up to 8), and every friend invited to use Green My Ride.
• 5 credits for: Each friend you invite that actually signs up.
• 10 credits for: Each review you write on http://greenhome.huddler.com (check out the site for more)
• 15 credits for: Creating an account on http://greenhome.huddler.com and linking it to this Facebook account.

I’ve already upgraded to a green hybrid after accruing 89 credits.

So what’s the point?

Well, if you really need a reason, I think Huddler does a great job of aggregating green products into a simple interface, giving users the opportunity to explore, rank, and review green product options, and see what others have to say about them.

Just take a look at the number of electric vehicles listed under the transportation section, half of which (I’m embarrassed to say) I’ve never heard of before. Speaking of which, I’ve added most of the cool ones to my profile already…

Beyond winning a year of RECs, there’s also some simple satisfaction in making a symbolic gesture that, on some level, might be helping to reinforce the ecological consciousness of other Facebook users.

Or you can just use it as another bragging point with your friends.

My only question is, who’s going to knock me off Green My Ride’s Top 10 List?

Check out the Green My Ride Facebook App Here.

Check out Huddler.com Here.

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Study: N. Pacific humpback whale population rises

HONOLULU (AP) -- Once hunted to the brink of extinction, humpback whales have made a dramatic comeback in the North Pacific Ocean over the past four decades, a new study says.

The study released Thursday by SPLASH, an international organization of more than 400 whale watchers, estimates there were between 18,000 and 20,000 of the majestic mammals in the North Pacific in 2004-2006.

Their population had dwindled to less than 1,500 before hunting of humpbacks was banned worldwide in 1966.

"It's not a complete success, but it's definitely very encouraging in terms of the recovery of the species," said Jeff Walters, co-manager of the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary.

The study, sponsored by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, is the most comprehensive analysis ever of any large whale population, said David Mattila, science coordinator for the sanctuary.

At least half of the humpback whales migrate between Alaska and Hawaii, and that population is the healthiest, Mattila said.

But isolated populations that migrate from Japan and the Philippines to Russia are taking a longer to recover after whaling operations ceased, he said.

"Whales are long-lived and give birth one at a time .... so if the population gets pushed too low, it may take quite awhile to come back. Maybe that's what's happening in the west," Mattila said.

The whales are protected under federal laws that include the Marine Mammal Protection Act and the Endangered Species Act.

Their resurgence could spark a debate over whether they should still be considered endangered, said Naomi McIntosh, superintendent for the humpback sanctuary.

"Those discussions are bound to happen, and we knew that going into the study, we anticipated it," she said. "I think it's too early to make that call."

The number of collisions between whales and boats has been increasing, probably because the population is larger, Walters said. Whale entanglements in marine debris, fishing gear and aquaculture structures also are a growing concern.

The whale count was made based on data collected from Hawaii, Mexico, Asia, Central America, Russia, the Aleutians, Canada and the United States' northwest coast.

The study used a system of photographing whale flukes - the lobes of a whale's tail - in six different feeding and breeding areas around the world, and then matching the pictures with whale flukes photographed in wintering areas.

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