the explorers journal the global adventure issue - The Explorers Club

exploration newsedited by Jeff Blumenfeld, expeditionnews.comA r c t i c S e a i c erecord Lowfabled Northwest Passage open for shipping?square kilometers per year.One factor that contributedto this fall’s extreme declinewas that the ice was enteringthe melt season in an alreadyweakened state. Accordingto NSIDC research scientistJulienne Stroeve, “Spring of2007 started out with lessice than normal, as well asthinner ice.” Another factorwas an unusual atmosphericpattern, with persistent highatmospheric pressures overthe central Arctic Ocean andlower pressures over Siberiathis past summer—clear skiesunder the high-pressure cellpromoting strong melt. Atthe same time, the patternof winds pumped warm airinto the region. While thewarm winds fostered furthermelt, they also helped pushice away from the Siberianshore.Recycle thoseropesArctic ice has shrunk to thelowest level on record, newsatellite images show, raisingthe possibility that theNorthwest Passage will becomean open shipping lane.According to the NationalSnow and Ice Data Center(NSIDC), the average seaice extent for the month ofSeptember was 4.28 millionsquare kilometers, the lowestSeptember on record, shatteringthe previous record for8the month, set in 2005, by 23percent. At the end of the meltseason, September 2007 seaice was 39 percent below thelong-term average from 1979to 2000. If ship and aircraftrecords from before the satelliteera are taken into account,sea ice may have fallen by asmuch as 50 percent since the1950s. The September rateof sea ice decline since 1979is now approximately ten percentper decade, or 72,000extend your lifelineSterling Rope has launcheda rope recycling program inpartnership with Rock/CreekOutfitters, ClimbingGear.com,and the Triple Crown BoulderingSeries. Until the end of theyear, Sterling will be collectingand recycling used ropesof any brand, rewardingthose who participate witha discount on a brand newrope. Sterling feels that in cooperationwith climbers, they