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Tag: Arctic

  • As Trump slams America’s NATO allies, they practice chasing Russian nuclear armed subs in the Arctic

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    Bergen, Norway — In the frigid waters off the coast of Norway, America’s NATO allies scour the depths for clandestine Russian activity.

    The stretch of ocean, viewed as a gateway to the Arctic, is where Europe’s high north meets the Russian high north, home to the Kremlin’s Northern Fleet. 

    Nuclear-armed Russian submarines are dispatched regularly from the vast naval base on the country’s freezing Kola peninsula, slipping silently beneath the waves before heading into the North Atlantic.  

    CBS News joined the crew of a NATO warship taking part in drills aimed at detecting, tracking and — if necessary — taking out these subs before they pass through the narrow gap between Greenland, Iceland and the U.K., and onward to the United States’ eastern seaboard.  

    If a war were to break out between Russia and the U.S. and its NATO allies, the area would become a strategic chokepoint.

    Commanders see Operation Arctic Dolphin — an exercise involving ships, submarines and aircraft from Spain, Germany, France, the U.K. and many other nations — as essential to maintaining cohesion in a military alliance that has endured for 75 years.

    “Norway has the great advantage of being a part of such a huge alliance,” said Commodore Kyrre Haugen, commander of the Norwegian Fleet overseeing Arctic Dolphin. “But every nation is taking advantage of being a part of something that is bigger than themselves.”

    The commander said Norway has operated in the Arctic since the Cold War, and the “special focus” on the region now highlights how crucial it is to the security of both Europe and the U.S.

    Arctic map shows Greenland and the Northern Hemisphere with locations of NATO and Russian military bases. 

    AFP via Getty Images


    “Those missiles can attack Europe, can attack America by being deployed in the deep seas, all into the Atlantic,” he said, referring to Russia’s arsenal.

    The NATO drill is just one aspect of a race to secure a region that has become a “front line for strategic competition,” according to U.S. Air Force General Alexus Grynkewich, NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander in Europe. 

    Russia’s already using the Arctic as a testing ground for its hypersonic missiles, designed to evade U.S. air defenses. 

    But threats to regional stability have also emerged closer to home.   

    President Trump angered NATO partners by repeatedly insisting the U.S. needed to take ownership of Greenland — and by threatening last month to impose tariffs on allies if they didn’t comply. 

    He backed off that threat, announcing a still-vaguely defined “ultimate long-term deal” with America’s NATO allies on Greenland, but he also routinely lambasts those allies, accusing them of not spending enough on their own defense. 

    Undeniably, the alliance is playing catch-up in the Arctic and the high north. Seven of the eight Arctic states are NATO Allies. Yet Russia, with more than half the Arctic coastline in its territory, has almost as many permanently-manned bases in the region as all NATO members combined.

    On the bridge of the Spanish frigate ESPS Almirante Juan de Borbon, the commander defended to CBS News the contribution to NATO by Spain, which Mr. Trump recently accused of not being “loyal” to the alliance.

    “I’m not going to dig into political dynamics,” said Rear Admiral Joaquín Ruiz Escagedo, before gesturing to the young naval officers busy in front of maps and radar screens. “But I would say the contribution of Spain, you can see here.”

    Escagedo said the country has “a lot of capabilities,” and is committed to NATO’s collective defense principle.

    “We cannot be isolated. The power of NATO is the unity,” he said. “That’s the success of NATO for decades.”

    That unity is about to be tested with a new mission. 

    NATO planning new Arctic Sentry mission for “enhanced vigilance” in the far north

    A spokesperson for Gen. Grynkewich, NATO’s American commander in Europe, confirmed to CBS News that planning is underway for a mission in the Arctic region.  

    Arctic Sentry will be an “enhanced vigilance activity to even further strengthen NATO’s posture in the Arctic and High North.”

    The spokesperson told CBS News that planning for the new mission has “only just begun, but details will follow in due course.”

    The possibility of an Arctic Sentry mission was first mentioned by Britain’s top diplomat last month, as an element of the negotiations that resolved Mr. Trump’s standoff with Europe over the fate of Greenland. 

    Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said the U.K. had proposed working “through NATO on a new Arctic sentry, which is similar to what we already have through NATO — a Baltic Sentry and an Eastern Sentry,” referring to existing regional security partnerships among NATO allies.

    “This is now going to be a focus of work through NATO, with different Arctic countries coming together and supported by other NATO countries on how we do that shared security,” she told CBS News’ partner network BBC News on Jan. 22.

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  • Maps show why Greenland is so important as the Arctic warms

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    President Trump has said repeatedly that he wants the United States to control Greenland, refusing to take military action off the table and declaring that he will make the semi-autonomous Danish territory part of the U.S. “one way or the other.”

    Mr. Trump says the U.S. needs to control the vast, largely frozen island that sits mostly inside the Arctic Circle for security reasons, accusing China and Russia of trying to take it over instead.

    Greenland’s own democratically elected leaders have rejected any U.S. takeover, with the island’s government calling it something they “cannot accept under any circumstance.”

    There are a number of reasons why Greenland is of such intense interest to the Trump administration, including its natural resources —  reserves of oil, natural gas and rare earth minerals. But the physical location of the island on the map — and the sea ice melting around its borders — is also of vital importance.

    New routes around the globe

    Melting Arctic sea ice has created more opportunity to use northern shipping routes — allowing logistics companies to save millions of dollars in fuel by taking much shorter paths between Asia and Western Europe and the United States.  Northern routes were long only passable in warmer months.

    Arctic sea routes

    CBS News


    There are a couple primary routes through the Arctic becoming more viable, the Northern Sea Route (NSR), which follows Russia’s roughly 15,000-mile northern border. That path doesn’t bring ships too close to Greenland, and Russia and China have agreed to develop the route together, and have been making greater use of it in recent years.

    A Russian commercial vessel, aided by an icebreaker, first traversed the NSR in the winter in February 2021, proving it was possible.  

    The other route, called the Northwest Passage, comes much closer to Greenland’s coastal waters and is more likely the path the Trump administration is concerned with.

    The other, longstanding way to get goods from ports in Russia or the manufacturing powerhouses of East Asia is to go south. But that course, through Egypt’s Suez Canal, is about 3,000 miles longer.

    According to the Arctic Institute, compared to the Suez Canal route, the Northern Sea Route can save shippers as much as 50% in costs, considering fuel and other expenses, by reducing the distance from Japan to Europe, for instance, to only about 10 days compared to the roughly 22 it would take to sail around the southern tip of Africa and then through the Suez Canal. 

    A 2024 analysis by the Middlebury Institute of International Studies also said the northern route would shave about 10 days of a similar journey from Shanghai, China, to Rotterdam in the Netherlands.

    As sea temperatures continue warming and winter ice cover shrinks, shipping traffic via the north is likely to increase, so control over that passage — and the long Greenlandic coastline that it skirts — will be of greater importance.

    The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shared graphs in 2022 predicting the new routes that would become available to regular tankers around Greenland over the coming decades.

    arc22-arcticshipping-berkman-fig1-1536x998.jpg

    Graphics shared by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in 2022 show the sea routes through the Arctic that are expected to become viable to regular vessels (in blue) and polar-class vessels (in red) around Greenland over the coming decades.

    NOAA


    NOAA’s modeling shows a dramatic increase in viable journeys for both polar-class vessels fortified to forge through sea ice, and normal open water-faring ships. The agency even predicts that by 2059, it will likely be possible for a polar-class vessel to sail the most direct route, right across the North Pole, as the formation of sea ice reduces further.

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  • Trump says the US ‘needs’ Greenland for Arctic security. Here’s why

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    Location, location, location: Greenland’s key position above the Arctic Circle makes the world’s largest island a key part of security strategy in the High North. But for whom?Increasing international tensions, global warming and the changing world economy have put Greenland at the heart of the debate over global trade and security, and U.S. President Donald Trump wants to make sure his country controls this mineral-rich country that guards the Arctic and North Atlantic approaches to North America.Greenland is a self-governing territory of Denmark, a longtime U.S. ally that has rejected Trump’s overtures. Greenland’s own government also opposes U.S. designs on the island, saying the people of Greenland will decide their own future. The island, 80% of which lies above the Arctic Circle, is home to about 56,000 mostly Inuit people who until now have been largely ignored by the rest of the world.Here’s why Greenland is strategically important to Arctic security: Greenland sits off the northeastern coast of Canada, with more than two-thirds of its territory lying within the Arctic Circle. That has made it crucial to the defense of North America since World War II, when the U.S. occupied Greenland to ensure it didn’t fall into the hands of Nazi Germany and to protect crucial North Atlantic shipping lanes.Following the Cold War, the Arctic was largely an area of international cooperation. But climate change is thinning the Arctic ice, promising to create a northwest passage for international trade and reigniting competition with Russia, China and other countries over access to the region’s mineral resources.Video below: Stephen Miller says ‘obviously Greenland should be part of the United States’ Greenland is also a rich source of the so-called rare earth minerals that are a key component of mobile phones, computers, batteries and other gadgets that are expected to power the world’s economy in the coming decades.That has attracted the interest of the U.S. and other Western powers as they try to ease China’s dominance of the market for these critical minerals.Development of Greenland’s mineral resources is challenging because of the island’s harsh climate, while strict environmental controls have proved an additional bulwark against potential investors. The U.S. Department of Defense operates the remote Pituffik Space Base in northwestern Greenland, which was built after the U.S. and Denmark signed the Defense of Greenland Treaty in 1951. It supports missile warning, missile defense and space surveillance operations for the U.S. and NATO.Greenland also guards part of what is known as the GIUK (Greenland, Iceland, United Kingdom) Gap, where NATO monitors Russian naval movements in the North Atlantic. Denmark is moving to strengthen its military presence around Greenland and in the wider North Atlantic. Last year, the government announced a roughly 14.6 billion kroner ($2.3 billion) agreement with parties including the governments of Greenland and the Faroe Islands, another self-governing territory of Denmark, to “improve capabilities for surveillance and maintaining sovereignty in the region.” The plan includes three new Arctic naval vessels, two additional long-range surveillance drones and satellite capacity.Denmark’s Joint Arctic Command is headquartered in Greenland’s capital, Nuuk, and tasked with the “surveillance, assertion of sovereignty and military defense of Greenland and the Faroe Islands,” according to its website. It has smaller satellite stations across the island.The Sirius Dog Sled Patrol, an elite Danish naval unit that conducts long-range reconnaissance and enforces Danish sovereignty in the Arctic wilderness, is also stationed in Greenland. In 2018, China declared itself a “near-Arctic state” in an effort to gain more influence in the region. China has also announced plans to build a “Polar Silk Road” as part of its global Belt and Road Initiative, which has created economic links with countries around the world.Then-U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo rejected China’s move, saying: “Do we want the Arctic Ocean to transform into a new South China Sea, fraught with militarization and competing territorial claims?”Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said Russia is worried about NATO’s activities in the Arctic and will respond by strengthening its military capability in the polar region. European leaders’ concerns were heightened following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Stefanie Dazio in Berlin contributed to this report.

    Location, location, location: Greenland’s key position above the Arctic Circle makes the world’s largest island a key part of security strategy in the High North. But for whom?

    Increasing international tensions, global warming and the changing world economy have put Greenland at the heart of the debate over global trade and security, and U.S. President Donald Trump wants to make sure his country controls this mineral-rich country that guards the Arctic and North Atlantic approaches to North America.

    Greenland is a self-governing territory of Denmark, a longtime U.S. ally that has rejected Trump’s overtures. Greenland’s own government also opposes U.S. designs on the island, saying the people of Greenland will decide their own future.

    The island, 80% of which lies above the Arctic Circle, is home to about 56,000 mostly Inuit people who until now have been largely ignored by the rest of the world.

    Here’s why Greenland is strategically important to Arctic security:

    Greenland sits off the northeastern coast of Canada, with more than two-thirds of its territory lying within the Arctic Circle. That has made it crucial to the defense of North America since World War II, when the U.S. occupied Greenland to ensure it didn’t fall into the hands of Nazi Germany and to protect crucial North Atlantic shipping lanes.

    Following the Cold War, the Arctic was largely an area of international cooperation. But climate change is thinning the Arctic ice, promising to create a northwest passage for international trade and reigniting competition with Russia, China and other countries over access to the region’s mineral resources.

    Video below: Stephen Miller says ‘obviously Greenland should be part of the United States’


    Greenland is also a rich source of the so-called rare earth minerals that are a key component of mobile phones, computers, batteries and other gadgets that are expected to power the world’s economy in the coming decades.

    That has attracted the interest of the U.S. and other Western powers as they try to ease China’s dominance of the market for these critical minerals.

    Development of Greenland’s mineral resources is challenging because of the island’s harsh climate, while strict environmental controls have proved an additional bulwark against potential investors.

    The U.S. Department of Defense operates the remote Pituffik Space Base in northwestern Greenland, which was built after the U.S. and Denmark signed the Defense of Greenland Treaty in 1951. It supports missile warning, missile defense and space surveillance operations for the U.S. and NATO.

    Greenland also guards part of what is known as the GIUK (Greenland, Iceland, United Kingdom) Gap, where NATO monitors Russian naval movements in the North Atlantic.

    Denmark is moving to strengthen its military presence around Greenland and in the wider North Atlantic. Last year, the government announced a roughly 14.6 billion kroner ($2.3 billion) agreement with parties including the governments of Greenland and the Faroe Islands, another self-governing territory of Denmark, to “improve capabilities for surveillance and maintaining sovereignty in the region.”

    The plan includes three new Arctic naval vessels, two additional long-range surveillance drones and satellite capacity.

    Denmark’s Joint Arctic Command is headquartered in Greenland’s capital, Nuuk, and tasked with the “surveillance, assertion of sovereignty and military defense of Greenland and the Faroe Islands,” according to its website. It has smaller satellite stations across the island.

    The Sirius Dog Sled Patrol, an elite Danish naval unit that conducts long-range reconnaissance and enforces Danish sovereignty in the Arctic wilderness, is also stationed in Greenland.

    In 2018, China declared itself a “near-Arctic state” in an effort to gain more influence in the region. China has also announced plans to build a “Polar Silk Road” as part of its global Belt and Road Initiative, which has created economic links with countries around the world.

    Then-U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo rejected China’s move, saying: “Do we want the Arctic Ocean to transform into a new South China Sea, fraught with militarization and competing territorial claims?”

    Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said Russia is worried about NATO’s activities in the Arctic and will respond by strengthening its military capability in the polar region. European leaders’ concerns were heightened following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

    Stefanie Dazio in Berlin contributed to this report.

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  • Scientists Stunned as Tiny Algae Keep Moving Inside Arctic Ice

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    Scientists know that microbial life can survive under some extreme conditions—including, hopefully, harsh Martian weather. But new research suggests that one particular microbe, an algal species found in Arctic ice, isn’t as immobile as it was previously believed. They’re surprisingly active, gliding across—and even within—their frigid stomping grounds.

    In a Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences paper published September 9, researchers explained that ice diatoms—single-celled algae with glassy outer walls—actively dance around in the ice. This feisty activity challenges assumptions that microbes living in extreme environments, or extremophiles, are barely getting by. If anything, these algae evolved to thrive despite the extreme conditions. The remarkable mobility of these microbes also hints at an unexpected role they may play in sustaining Arctic ecology.

    “This is not 1980s-movie cryobiology,” said Manu Prakash, the study’s senior author and a bioengineer at Stanford University, in a statement. “The diatoms are as active as we can imagine until temperatures drop all the way down to -15 C [5 degrees Fahrenheit], which is super surprising.”

    That temperature is the lowest ever for a eukaryotic cell like the diatom, the researchers claim. Surprisingly, diatoms of the same species from a much warmer environment didn’t demonstrate the same skating behavior as the ice diatoms. This implies that the extreme life of Arctic diatoms birthed an “evolutionary advantage,” they added.

    An Arctic exclusive

    For the study, the researchers collected ice cores from 12 stations across the Arctic in 2023. They conducted an initial analysis of the cores using on-ship microscopes, creating a comprehensive image of the tiny society inside the ice.

    To get a clearer image of how and why these diatoms were skating, the team sought to replicate the conditions of the ice core inside the lab. They prepared a Petri dish with thin layers of frozen freshwater and very cold saltwater. The team even donated strands of their hair to mimic the microfluidic channels in Arctic ice, which expels salt from the frozen apparatus.

    As they expected, the diatoms happily glided through the Petri dish, using the hair strands as “highways” during their routines. Further analysis allowed the researchers to track and pinpoint how the microbes accomplished their icy trick.

    The researchers developed and used special microscopes and experimental environments to track how the diatoms move through ice. Credit: Prakash Lab/Stanford University

    “There’s a polymer, kind of like snail mucus, that they secrete that adheres to the surface, like a rope with an anchor,” explained Qing Zhang, study lead author and a postdoctoral student at Stanford, in the same release. “And then they pull on that ‘rope,’ and that gives them the force to move forward.”

    Small body, huge presence

    If we’re talking numbers, algae may be among the most abundant living organisms in the Arctic. To put that into perspective, Arctic waters appear “absolute pitch green” in drone footage purely because of algae, explained Prakash.

    The researchers have yet to identify the significance of the diatoms’ gliding behavior. However, knowing that they’re far more active than we believed could mean that the tiny skaters unknowingly contribute to how resources are cycled in the Arctic.

    “In some sense, it makes you realize this is not just a tiny little thing; this is a significant portion of the food chain and controls what’s happening under ice,” Prakash added.

    That’s a significant departure from what we often think of them as—a major food source for other, bigger creatures. But if true, it would help scientists gather new insights into the hard-to-probe environment of the Arctic, especially as climate change threatens its very existence. The timing of this result shows that, to understand what’s beyond Earth, we first need to protect and safely observe what’s already here.

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    Gayoung Lee

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  • Archaeologists Identify Franklin Expedition Captain Who Became Food for His Crew

    Archaeologists Identify Franklin Expedition Captain Who Became Food for His Crew

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    On May 19, 1845, two ships set sail from Kent, England. The crew and officers of the HMS Erebus and HMS Terror, under the command of Sir John Franklin, were to carry out a mapping mission of the Canadian Arctic’s Northwest Passage. The trip, to put it mildly, would not go well.

    Before they reached their destination, five crew members left the ship due to sickness. They would be the lucky ones, as both ships would end up trapped in Arctic ice. While some died before abandoning the ship, 105 of them eventually left the vessels behind and set out to find help overland. In total, 129 sailors lost their lives.

    Recollections from Inuit who saw the sailors, and marks discovered on some of the remains, tell a grisly tale, in which those who lived the longest were forced to eat the remains of the dead. Now, almost 180 years after the expedition began, the remains of one of those unfortunate men subjected to posthumous cannibalism has been identified as belonging to James Fitzjames, captain of the Erebus.

    Researchers have found human bones and teeth on several trips to King William Island, dating back to the mid-19th century. That’s where over 100 survivors of the ill fated voyage had fled after abandoning their stuck ships, and ultimately, where they died. At one location, 451 bones, belonging to at least 13 sailors, were found. Who those bones belonged to remained a mystery, until anthropologists and DNA experts at Canada’s University of Waterloo and Lakehead University began analyzing them several years ago. They published some of their findings in a recent edition of the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports. After examining 17 bone and tooth samples, collected from one of the King William Island camps, the DNA was compared to samples taken from living relatives of some of the doomed sailors.

    Cut marks on the jaw bone of James Fitzjames indicate his body was used as food by his fellow sailors. © University of Waterloo

    “We worked with a good quality sample that allowed us to generate a Y-chromosome profile, and we were lucky enough to obtain a match,” said Stephen Fratpietro of Lakehead University’s Paleo-DNA lab.

    Fitzjames was a senior member of the expedition. In fact, he was the one who wrote the report declaring Franklin’s death. His rank didn’t prevent his remains from being used for survival; cut marks on his jaw bone indicate some of those still living had at least tried to eat him.

    Photo of James Fitzjames
    A portrait of James Fitzjames, captain of the HMS Erebus. © University of Waterloo

    “This shows that he predeceased at least some of the other sailors who perished, and that neither rank nor status was the governing principle in the final desperate days of the expedition as they strove to save themselves,” said Douglas Stenton, an adjunct professor of anthropology at Waterloo, in a statement.

    Fitzjames is only the second member of the expedition whose remains have been identified. In 2021, some of the same scientists used a similar technique to determine some tooth and bone had once belonged to John Gregory, a warrant officer who served on the Erebus. Scientists rediscovered the Erebus in 2014, while the Terror was found in 2016.

    The archaeologists aren’t done. They’ve asked other distant family members of sailors who were on the Franklin expedition to contact them, hoping they, too, will generate matches that allow more remains to be identified.

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    Adam Kovac

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  • WTF Fun Fact 13681 – Only One Sunrise a Year

    WTF Fun Fact 13681 – Only One Sunrise a Year

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    The North Pole experiences only one sunrise a year. This singular event marks a transition from one seemingly endless night to a day that lasts for months.

    Why the North Pole Has Only One Sunrise a Year

    At the North Pole, the sun is a shy dancer, making a grand entrance once a year. This happens because the Earth’s axis is tilted. As the Earth orbits the sun, this tilt allows for varying degrees of sunlight to reach different parts of the planet at different times of the year.

    For the North Pole, there’s a period when the sun doesn’t rise at all, known as polar night. This occurs because the North Pole is angled away from the sun. Then, as the Earth continues its journey around the sun, a day arrives when the sun peeks over the horizon, marking the only sunrise of the year.

    A Day That Lasts for Months

    Following this singular sunrise, the North Pole enters a period of continuous daylight. The sun, once it rises, doesn’t set for about six months. This period, known as the midnight sun, is a time when the North Pole is tilted towards the sun, basking in its light day and night. Imagine a day that stretches on, where darkness doesn’t fall, and the concept of night loses its meaning. This is the reality at the North Pole, a place where time seems to stand still under the constant gaze of the sun.

    The Science Behind the Phenomenon

    The reason behind this extraordinary occurrence is the Earth’s axial tilt. This tilt is responsible for the seasons and the varying lengths of days and nights across the planet. At the poles, this effect is amplified. The North Pole’s orientation towards or away from the sun dictates the presence or absence of sunlight. During the winter solstice, the North Pole is tilted furthest from the sun, plunging it into darkness. As the Earth orbits to a position where the North Pole tilts towards the sun, we witness the year’s only sunrise, ushering in months of daylight.

    Living under the midnight sun is an experience unique to the polar regions. For the indigenous communities and wildlife of the Arctic, this constant daylight influences daily rhythms and behaviors. Animals adapt their hunting and feeding patterns to the availability of light and prey. Human residents have also adapted to these unique conditions, finding ways to mark the passage of time without the usual cues of sunrise and sunset.

    A Long Night and Only One Sunrise a Year

    The contrast between the endless night and the day that lasts for months is a stark reminder of the Earth’s diverse environments. It challenges our perceptions and highlights the adaptability of life in extreme conditions. The North Pole, with its single sunrise, stands as a testament to the planet’s wonders. It’s a place where the rules of day and night are rewritten by the tilt of the Earth and its path around the sun.

    — WTF fun facts

    Source: “Time Has No Meaning at the North Pole” — Scientific American

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  • Navalny confirms he’s in Arctic penal colony and says he’s “fine”

    Navalny confirms he’s in Arctic penal colony and says he’s “fine”

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    Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny on Tuesday said he was “fine” after a “pretty exhausting” 20-day transfer from his prison near Moscow to a penal colony beyond the Arctic Circle.

    Navalny’s supporters said on Monday that the Kremlin critic, whose whereabouts had been unknown for more than two weeks, was now in the penal colony in Russia’s far north and had been visited by his lawyer.

    Jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny attends a court hearing via video link
    Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny is seen on May 17, 2022 on a screen via video link from the IK-2 corrective penal colony in Pokrov, Russia, before a court hearing in Momscow to consider an appeal of his prison sentence.

    EVGENIA NOVOZHENINA / REUTERS


    “Don’t worry about me. I’m fine. I’m totally relieved that I’ve finally made it,” Navalny wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. “I’m still in a good mood, as befits a Santa Claus,” referring to his winter clothing and a beard he grew during his journey.

    “I now have a sheepskin coat, an ushanka hat (a fur hat with ear-covering flaps), and soon I will get valenki (a traditional Russian winter footwear),” he added.

    On his personal channel on the social media venue Telegram he wrote Tuesday that, “I now live beyond the Arctic Circle. In the village of Kharp on Yamal.”

    “They brought me in on Saturday evening,” he said. “And they were transporting with such precautions and along such a strange route (Vladimir – Moscow – Chelyabinsk – Yekaterinburg – Kirov – Vorkuta – Kharp) that I did not expect that anyone would find me here until mid-January. Therefore, I was very surprised when yesterday the cell doors were opened with the words: ‘You have a lawyer.’ He told me that you had lost me, and some were even worried. Thank you very much for your support!

    He said he had seen little of his surroundings except for a snow-covered adjoining cell used as a yard and a fence outside his window.

    “True, there are no deer, but there are huge, fluffy, very beautiful shepherd dogs,” he said. 

    The U.S. State Department said it remained “deeply concerned for Mr. Navalny’s wellbeing and the conditions of his unjust detention”.

    Navalny mobilized huge anti-government protests before being jailed in 2021, after surviving an assassination attempt by poisoning.

    He has spent most of his detention at a penal colony in the Vladimir region, some 155 miles east of Moscow.

    A court in August extended his sentence to 19 years on extremism charges, and ruled he be moved to a harsher “special regime” prison that usually houses particularly dangerous prisoners.

    The facility Navalny is currently in is not a “special regime” one although there is one of that category in the same location.

    One major difference from his previous place of detention is that any letters will take much longer to reach Navalny since they would go through the regular postal service rather than email.

    Allies said his transfer could be linked to the upcoming presidential election in Russia, ahead of which many Kremlin critics have been jailed or fled.

    Prisoner transfers in Russia can take weeks as inmates are moved by train to far-flung facilities in what was known as the Gulag in Soviet times.

    Temperatures in Kharp are expected to go down to minus 15 degrees in coming days.

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  • Greenhouse emissions could skyrocket if methane escapes frozen prison

    Greenhouse emissions could skyrocket if methane escapes frozen prison

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    Greenhouse gas emissions could skyrocket if the permafrost on an Arctic island melts, scientists have found.

    Millions of cubic meters of methane are trapped under the permafrost on Svalbard island in Norway. Permafrost is a permanently frozen layer underneath the surface of the Earth. And in this case, it serves as a frozen prison for this catastrophic amount of methane.

    But the permafrost is rapidly melting due to the warming climate. This means that vast amounts of methane could escape into the atmosphere, according to a new study published in Frontiers in Earth Science.

    “At present the leakage from below permafrost is very low, but factors such as glacial retreat and permafrost thawing may ‘lift the lid’ on this in the future,” Thomas Birchall of the University Center in Svalbard, and lead author of the study said in a press release on the findings.

    Methane is a potent greenhouse gas emitted into the atmosphere from both human activities and natural processes. It is the second most significant contributor to climate change after carbon dioxide.

    Svalbard is very similar to the rest of the Arctic in terms of its geological and glacial history, according to the study. This means vast amounts of methane may be present elsewhere in the region.

    To study the permafrost, researchers used historical data to map the frost and the accumulation of methane beneath it. However, it remains a complicated topic of study due to its being extremely inaccessible to humans.

    But it is possible to measure using wellbore—holes drilled in the ground to retrieve resources such as oil and gas.

    Svalbard has widespread permafrost; however, it is patchier in certain areas. Ocean currents towards the island’s west mean it is warmer there, making the permafrost elsewhere thinner with more patches. Therefore, an escape of methane would be more likely here, as the permafrost is more likely to melt, releasing the potent gas.

    But even in areas where the permafrost is thick—such as in the island’s lowlands—there is potential for the gas to escape.

    Longyearbyen, Svalbard and (inset) a 3D illustration of methane. A study found that greenhouse gas emissions could skyrocket it methane escapes from the permafrost on the Arctic island.
    Suzi Media Production / vchal/Getty

    Scientists looked out for ice forming inside the wellbore, as well as changes in background gas measurements. They discovered abnormal amounts of pressure beneath the permafrost, which suggested it acted as a seal for the gas below.

    “All the wells that encountered gas accumulations did so by coincidence—by contrast, hydrocarbon exploration wells that specifically target accumulations in more typical settings had a success rate far below 50%,” said Birchall. “These things seem to be common. One anecdotal example is from a wellbore that was drilled recently near the airport in Longyearbyen.

    “The drillers heard a bubbling sound coming from the well, so we decided to have a look, armed with rudimentary alarms designed for detecting explosive levels of methane—which were immediately triggered when we held them over the wellbore.”

    Previous research has shown that the upper layer of permafrost around the world is thawing at a quicker rate with the warming climate. The question as to whether or how the deeper layer of permafrost is affected remains a mystery and very difficult to study.

    Do you have a tip on a science story that Newsweek should be covering? Do you have a question about permafrost? Let us know via science@newsweek.com.