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When considering the implications of thawing permafrost, our initial worries are likely to turn to the major issue of methane being released into the atmosphere and exacerbating global warming or issues for local communities as the ground and infrastructure become unstable. While this is bad enough, new research reveals that the potential effects of permafrost thaw could also pose serious health threats. As part of the ESA–NASA Arctic Methane and Permafrost Challenge, new research has revealed that rapidly thawing permafrost in the Arctic has the potential to release antibiotic-resistant bacteria, undiscovered viruses and even radioactive waste from Cold War nuclear...

OSLO (Reuters) - Part of East Antarctica is more vulnerable than expected to a thaw that could trigger an unstoppable slide of ice into the ocean and raise world sea levels for thousands of years, a study showed on Sunday. The Wilkes Basin in East Antarctica, stretching more than 1,000 km (600 miles) inland, has enough ice to raise sea levels by 3 to 4 meters (10-13 feet) if it were to melt as an effect of global warming, the report said. The Wilkes is vulnerable because it is held in place by a small rim of ice, resting on...

Busy weather week coming up, just like the way things have been here since the holidays. Glad things are slowing down a bit so I can provide you with the latest updates again. Well, I don’t need to tell many of you just how cold it has been since the first of the year as you, like I, have been experiencing it. But really, just how cold has it been? Since the 1st of January, more than 2,900 winter related records have been tied or broken.

Inter-Korean Thaw Sparks Rumors Rumor is rife about behind-the-scenes meetings between the two Koreas, especially since a U.S. official claimed North Korean leader Kim Jong-il invited President Lee Myung-bak to a summit. An academic who advises the government on North Korea policies said, "Rumor has it that a former corporate CEO who is close to Lee is meeting with a North Korean official in a third country like China. Such rumors seem to be rampant because no one can find traces of the National Intelligence Service or the Unification Ministry making contact with North Korean agencies as they did under...

THAW Back in May, it was announced that Val Kilmer would be starring in a new eco-horror film called The Thaw. In the flick, some scientists come across a thawing Woolly Mammoth in a melting ice cap. Supposedly, rising world temperatures due to global warming are behind the discovery. Anyways, that Woolly is packing a deadly parasite that has laid dormant (and hungry we might add) for thousands of years. As you can deduce, everyone becomes infected and all hell breaks loose.There were those that were suspicious whether or not this film would ever get made — but it looks...

UNH Scientist Announce New Beginning of Natural Spring The sun will still cross the equator on March 20th marking the vernal equinox and the official start of spring, but Mother Nature is increasingly getting a jumpstart on the celestial movements. Over the last 150 years, scientific measurements show that events signifying the beginning of spring have all shifted. These events now happen about a week earlier on average in the northeast United States, according to a new report, Evidence of Early Spring, from the group Clean Air-Cool Planet (CA-CP), which today announced the new, first day for "natural spring," March...

Polar thaw opens Arctic sea route By Julius Strauss in Murmansk (Filed: 04/03/2004) A fabled Arctic sea route which claimed the lives of countless sailors during the Age of Exploration looks set to be transformed into a busy shipping lane connecting Europe and Asia. Shipping experts say that as the polar ice recedes the notorious North-East Passage, which winds its way along Russia's frigid and barren northern coastline past Siberia, could come to rival the Suez Canal as a global trade route. Scientists say the Arctic icecap has been rapidly thawing, arguably due to global warming, and is shrinking at...

Theatres Making Antiwar Statements By Leonard Jacobs On March 2, over 110 New York theatre groups and venues will make a pro-peace statement, from program inserts and curtain speeches to performance events and street actions. Spearheading the action is THAW, short for Theaters Against War. Formed by New York-based actors, playwrights, and directors, THAW isn't just concerned about war overseas, but "escalating attacks on civil liberties here at home." According to Hillary Keegin, an Equity actor and spokesperson, artists "don't have to look outside our own community to do something... we have space, audiences, and concerned individuals." The participating theatres...