#arctic

ramnath@nerdpol.ch

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For the third day in a row, #Arctic #sky watchers are reporting a widespread outbreak of #polar #stratospheric #clouds. "The colors are spectacular," says Ramune Sapailaite, who photographed the display over Gran, #Norway:

"The clouds were visible in the sky all day, but the #colors really exploded just before #sunset," says Sapailaite. "I took these pictures using my cellphone."

Widely considered to be the most beautiful clouds on Earth, polar stratospheric clouds (PSCs) are rare. Earth's stratosphere is very dry and, normally, it has no clouds at all. PSCs form when the temperature in the Arctic stratosphere drops to a staggeringly-low -85 C. Then, and only then, can widely-spaced water molecules begin to coalesce into tiny ice crystals. High-altitude sunlight shining through the crystals creates intense iridescent colors that rival auroras.

During a typical Arctic winter, PSCs appear no more than a handful of times, and the first sightings usually come in January. This week's apparition marks an early start, and may herald many more PSCs to come.
spaceweather.com

ramnath@nerdpol.ch

#Unmanned KAMAZ #trucks started regular #cargo #transportation in the #Arctic 👏

It's not just testing anymore. The trucks transport Gazprom Neft's cargo daily along a 140-kilometer winter road in hard-to-reach areas of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District.

Each drone is equipped with an array of sensors that scan the environment, recognize obstacles within a 200 meter radius, and create a #digital #road map. The #software is entirely Russian.

On busy #roads, traffic is also possible - they are currently being tested in different cities of Tatarstan.
t.me/Slavyangrad
/48835

ramnath@nerdpol.ch

enter image description here

#SOLAR #WIND SPARKS #ARCTIC #AURORAS: A co-rotating interaction region (CIR) hit Earth's #magnetic field on Dec. 30th, sparking a G1-class geomagnetic storm. Marianne Bergli photographed the light show from Kvaløya, Tromsø, #Norway:

"The solar wind is blowing out the old year and welcoming the new," says Bergli. "Happy New Year, everyone!"

CIRs are transition zones between slow- and fast-moving streams of solar wind. They contain shock waves and enhanced magnetic fields that do a good job sparking Arctic auroras. Fast solar wind following the CIR sustained the display for hours.
https://spaceweather.com/

tord_dellsen@diasp.eu

Russian Embassy in Reykjavik:

⚡️🎙Comment on the statements by the Head of the Icelandic Delegation to the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Bryndís Haraldsdóttir

💬We took a note of the statements by the Head of the Icelandic Delegation to the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Bryndís Haraldsdóttir published on July 4 on the RUV news feed when she expressed concern about “Russia's militarization of the Arctic”. Such statements are of no surprise to us, especially in the light of the new NATO Strategic Concept, which declares our country “the most significant and direct threat” to the Alliance.

Nevertheless, once again we would like to remind the fundamental position of our country on the issue raised by Ms. Bryndís Haraldsdóttir. The Russian Federation considers high latitudes as a territory that should remain a zone of low military-political tension, a peaceful multilateral dialogue with the participation of all regional actors. At the same time, from a military point of view Russia takes legitimate measures necessary to ensure the security of its own Arctic coast.

Since 2016, Russian officials have repeatedly put forward proposals to restore the format of meetings of the Chiefs of the General Staffs of the Armed Forces of the Arctic states. We are convinced that professional military discussions within the framework of such meetings would contribute to the strengthening of the confidence-building measures in the region.

This idea, in particular, was mentioned by Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov in May 2021 during the XII session of the Arctic Council in Reykjavik. At the same time, the Russian Foreign Minister confirmed readiness to work out, as a first step, the possibility of organizing consultations at the level of military experts of the eight Arctic countries. We have never get negative replies to this but no positive reaction followed as well.

❗️Obviously, constructive cooperation in the Arctic is not in the interests of the Western countries, which prefer to blame Russia for the militarization of the High North, in order to justify their own military build-up here, including that through regular maneuvers in the region of the North Atlantic Alliance member-states. It is well-known that the first large-scale NATO Air Force exercise “Arctic Challenge” was held the Arctic back in 2015 with the participation, which is worth mentioning, of such “neutral” countries as Finland and Sweden. In autumn 2018 NATO exercise "Trident Juncture" - the largest combat efficiency check-up since the collapse of the USSR – was held as well.

#russia #arctic #iceland #osce #nato

garryknight@diasp.org

Freeze frames: the epic wilderness of Greenland – in pictures | Art and design | The Guardian

From Inuit hunters to the vast expanses of snow and ice, Danish photographer Carsten Egevang’s images spring from a three-decade fascination with the planet’s least-populated country

Sometimes, black and white photography seems to be the best means of highlighting the extremes of life in the Arctic.

#photography #BlackAndWhitePhotography #Arctic #Greenland

https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2022/jan/12/freeze-frames-the-wilderness-of-greenland-in-pictures

Polar bear swimming in the sea

sylviaj@joindiaspora.com

‘This new snow has no name’: Sami reindeer herders face climate disaster

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/dec/17/new-snow-no-name-sami-reindeer-herders-climate-disaster

“Our #livelihoods #depend on a #planet that is not on #fire. We are an #Arctic #people and our #culture is written in #snow. But #climate-change means the snow will get less and less. We must realise we can’t #overconsume our planet. This is #urgent. We need to #listen to all the #indigenous people in the #world who know how to #live in #harmony with the planet.”

#sami #reindeer #herders #polar #region #europe #norway #finland #sweden #russia #climate #disaster #environment #ejf #nature #extreme #weather #farming #animals

sylviaj@joindiaspora.com

‘Ice has a memory’ ~ an Inuit poem contemplates scientific exploration of Greenland

https://vimeo.com/539368995

' #Greenland is the #world’s #largest #island, a #sprawling #landmass covered by a notoriously #receding #ice #sheet. With a population of just 56,000, it’s also one of the #least #populated places on #Earth. The vast majority of these #Greenlanders are #Greenlandic #Inuit, with roots on the island stretching back centuries. Recent decades, however, have brought a new kind a visitor – #climate #scientists with #complex #devices for #drilling and #prodding the Earth. Setting up #temporary #camps that tend to leave #permanent #marks, they aim to peer into the deep past #preserved in the #ice, hoping that it will offer hints about the climate’s precarious #future.

An #impressionistic work of #nonfiction with #science-fiction influences, #Utuqaq (‘ice that lasts year after year’) juxtaposes images of a #scientific #expedition to Greenland’s ice sheet with a #poem about the visitors, narrated in #Kalaallisut, a variant of Greenlandic Inuit language, by #AviajaLyberth. As the filmmaker #IvaRadivojevic’s #otherworldly and often #beautiful #exploration unfolds, two distinct perspectives on the #stark #white #landscape slowly emerge. #climatechange #short #documentary #stunning #poetic #arctic #film