Winter fun in Lapland

Stars and Stripes reports on the winter paradise of Lapland.

[The] region offers more than the usual high-adrenalin ski and snowboard experiences. For something a little more sedate, day and night illuminated cross-country skiing tracks stretch a total of nearly 150 miles and offer a choice of easy and challenging routes.

The locals also conduct safaris by reindeer through the stunning local wilderness, including herding and lassoing in the experience before sled rides through the snowy forests. Driving a team of four to six huskies through the still, soundless landscapes is also an option, as is ice fishing and some steamy “rest and relaxation” time in that great Finnish invention, the sauna.

Read the full story: With huskies, skiing, reindeer and a snow hotel

Photo by David Cawley

Soot-covered ice speeds melt

Reuters reports on the study showing how soot-covered Arctic ice accelerates its melt.

Scientists at the United Nations climate talks this week in Poland say that global warming efforts should be redirected to soot, ozone, and methane reduction from Europe, Russia, and the USA:

"'Reductions in these pollutants would have a greater impact' in the next two decades than curbing emissions of the main greenhouse gas -- carbon dioxide," they say.

Dark colors absorb more sunlight, so the black pollution particles from industry and vehicle exhaust that now cover the Arctic ice are speeding its melt.

Read the full story: Soot darkens ice, stokes runaway arctic melt: study

Artic ice melting fast, near tipping point?

Environmental News Network reports on a study showing evidence of greater Arctic ice melt than previously anticipated.

The report released by World Wildlife Fund (WWF), called the Arctic Climate Impact, shows vast climate change in all arctic systems that is already altering ecosystems and affecting the people and animals living there.

The scientists behind the report are alarmed to the point of discussing whether the Arctic is near the so-called tipping point where nothing can be done to reverse the damage.

The reduction of greenhouse gases worldwide is what will help reduce the melt.

Read the full story: Climate change hitting Arctic faster, harder

No worries in Alaska's ANWR

The Washington Post reports on an epic-ish trip to "one of North America's last remaining wild expanses" - aka - Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). A trip that author Paula Stone worried about ahead of time incessantly and needlessly since the trip turned out to have beautiful weather. Dangers and annoyances like huge mosquitoes and bears were dealt with humor and awe respectively. And the experience and vistas were worth it:

"No amount of reading could have prepared me for the beauty of this treeless place. I kept kneeling on the tundra to inspect gorgeous wildflowers, grasses clinging to fragile soils, swelling berries and tiny spiders, while [my husband] clambered on the rocks. Overhead, chattering birds -- most of which had migrated thousands of miles to breed here -- raced the clock to raise their young during the short summer season. The vistas were enormous, stunning: a distant mountainside was awash in pink; another bloomed wispy white. We walked along ancient animal trails, over spongy tussocks, across shivery streams, in the wake of bear, wolf and caribou tracks. A rainbow halo encircled the sun."

Read the full story: No roads, no regrets

Climate change prompts rise in sled-dog vacations

The Washington Post reports on the strangely growing trend of dog-sledding vacations. Travelers head to the northern reaches of Canada and Scandinavia to sit on sleds and be pulled by teams of furry dogs:

"Dog breeders and tour operators said the rising interest comes in part from the bull market for environmentally friendly vacations. 'There is a kind of beauty in it -- it's environmental, and the down-to-earth part of it attracts people,' said Kenth Fjellborg, a [Swedish] dog breeder who said he takes at least 5,000 people on dog-sled tours a year, up from 200 people in the early 1990s."

Read the full story: Dog-sledding, like climate, heating up