query: The sea level was 20 to 30 feet higher than it is today, implying that the ice sheets in both Greenland and Antarctica must have partly disintegrated, a warning of what could occur in the relatively near future if the heating of the planet continues unchecked.”

positive: Sea level rise A sea level rise is an increase in the volume of water in the world 's oceans , resulting in an increase in global mean sea level . Sea level rise is usually attributed to global climate change by thermal expansion of the water in the oceans and by melting of Ice sheets and glaciers on land . Melting of floating ice shelves or icebergs at sea raises sea levels only slightly .   Sea level rise at specific locations may be more or less than the global average . Local factors might include tectonic effects , subsidence of the land , tides , currents , storms , etc. .  Sea level rise is expected to continue for centuries . Because of the slow inertia , long response time for parts of the climate system , it has been estimated that we are already committed to a sea-level rise of approximately 2.3 m for each degree Celsius of temperature rise within the next 2,000 years . IPCC Summary for Policymakers , AR5 , 2014 , indicated that the global mean sea level rise will continue during the 21st century , very likely at a faster rate than observed from 1971 to 2010 . Projected rates and amounts vary . A January 2017 NOAA report suggests a range of GMSL rise of 0.3 -- 2.5 m possible during the 21st century .   Sea level rises can considerably influence human populations in coastal and island regions and natural environments like marine ecosystems .

positive: West Antarctic Ice Sheet The Western Antarctic Ice Sheet ( WAIS ) is the segment of the continental ice sheet that covers West ( or Lesser ) Antarctica , the portion of Antarctica on the side of the Transantarctic Mountains which lies in the Western Hemisphere . The WAIS is classified as a marine-based ice sheet , meaning that its bed lies well below sea level and its edges flow into floating ice shelves . The WAIS is bounded by the Ross Ice Shelf , the Ronne Ice Shelf , and outlet glaciers that drain into the Amundsen Sea .   It is estimated that the volume of the Antarctic ice sheet is about 25.4 million km3 ( 6.1 million cu mi ) , and the WAIS contains just under 10 % of this , or 2.2 million km3 ( 530,000 cu mi ) . The weight of the ice has caused the underlying rock to sink by between 0.5 and 1 kilometres ( 0.31 -- 0.62 mi ) in a process known as isostatic depression .   Under the force of its own weight , the ice sheet deforms and flows . The interior ice flows slowly over rough bedrock . In some circumstances , ice can flow faster in ice streams , separated by slow-flowing ice ridges . The inter-stream ridges are frozen to the bed while the bed beneath the ice streams consists of water-saturated sediments . Many of these sediments were deposited before the ice sheet occupied the region , when much of West Antarctica was covered by the ocean . The rapid ice-stream flow is a non-linear process still not fully understood ; streams can start and stop for unclear reasons .   When ice reaches the coast , it either calves or continues to flow outward onto the water . The result is a large , floating ice shelf affixed to the continent .

positive: Tipping points in the climate system A tipping point in the climate system is a threshold that, when exceeded, can lead to large changes in the state of the system. Potential tipping points have been identified in the physical climate system, in impacted ecosystems, and sometimes in both. For instance, feedback from the global carbon cycle is a driver for the transition between glacial and interglacial periods, with orbital forcing providing the initial trigger. Earth's geologic temperature record includes many more examples of geologically rapid transitions between different climate states.Climate tipping points are of particular interest in reference to concerns about global warming in the modern era. Possible tipping point behaviour has been identified for the global mean surface temperature by studying self-reinforcing feedbacks and the past behavior of Earth's climate system. Self-reinforcing feedbacks in the carbon cycle and planetary reflectivity could trigger a cascading set of tipping points that lead the world into a hothouse climate state.Large-scale components of the Earth system that may pass a tipping point have been referred to as tipping elements. Tipping elements are found in the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets, possibly causing tens of meters of sea level rise. These tipping points are not always abrupt. For example, at some level of temperature rise the melt of a large part of the Greenland ice sheet and/or West Antarctic Ice Sheet will become inevitable; but the ice sheet itself may persist for many centuries. Some tipping elements, like the collapse of ecosystems, are irreversible.

negative: Konrad Steffen Konrad `` Koni '' Steffen ( born 1952 ) is a glaciologist and the former director of the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences at the University of Colorado Boulder , a position he held from 2005 until he took office as the director of the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest , Snow and Landscape Research on July 1 , 2012 . He is known for his research into Arctic sea ice and the glaciers of Greenland , and how they are affected by global warming . He has often traveled to Greenland to study these glaciers firsthand ; for example , when studying Petermann Glacier for three weeks in 2004 , Steffen did so from a camp set up 4,000 feet up the flanks of the glacier 's ice cap . He also operates a network of 20 weather stations on the Greenland ice sheet , the first of which , Swiss Camp , he established in 1990 . He has argued that due to this ice sheet melting faster than anticipated , sea levels could rise by about 3 feet by 2100 , considerably higher than the IPCC 's upper limit of 59 cm , and that Greenland might lose all its ice in 10,000 years , but Antarctica would take considerably longer , since it is so much bigger .

negative: Vashon Glaciation The Vashon Glaciation or Vashon Stade was the most recent period of very cold climate in which glaciers existed at elevations at and near sea level in the western part of present-day Washington state . It occurred during a colder than present part of the current ice age .   The Vashon Glaciation lasted from about 19,000 - 16,000 BP ( Before Present - present defined as January 1 , 1950 for this scale ) . The Cordilleran Ice Sheet was an ice sheet that covered present-day southern Alaska and parts of western Canada . During the Vashon Glaciation , the Cordilleran Ice Sheet advanced into the Puget Sound region .

negative: East Antarctic Ice Sheet The East Antarctic Ice Sheet ( EAIS ) is one of two large ice sheets in Antarctica , and the largest on the entire planet . The EAIS lies between 45 ° west and 168 ° east longitudinally .   The EAIS is considerably larger in area and mass than the West Antarctic Ice Sheet ( WAIS ) . It is separated from the WAIS by the Transantarctic Mountains . The EAIS rests upon a large land mass , contrary to that of the WAIS , which rests mainly on bedrock below sea level . The EAIS is also home to the thickest ice on the frozen white continent , at 15,700 ft ( 4,800 m ) . More well known , however , is that the EAIS is home to the geographic South Pole as well as of the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station .

negative: Hartmut Heinrich Hartmut Heinrich ( born March 5 , 1952 in Northeim , Lower Saxony ) is a German marine geologist and climatologist . Dr. Heinrich is Head of the Physics Department at the Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency ( BSH ) in Hamburg . He is actively involved in GOOS ( Global Ocean Observing System ) . In 1988 he described the suddenly occurring climate changes in the history of the earth , which have since been named after him , Heinrich events .   Heinrich studied geology at the University of Göttingen and attained a doctorate at the University of Kiel in marine geology . The discovery which was named for him , Heinrich events -- periods of substantial ice output of the continental ice sheets , by which the global climate is strongly affected -- were subsequently confirmed by investigations of ice core samples from the Greenland ice sheet by the Greenland ice core project ( GRIP ) . Dr. Heinrich warns of the global warming consequences which could occur precipitously and of far larger effects on navigation and population .

negative: West Antarctica West Antarctica , or Lesser Antarctica , one of the two major regions of Antarctica , is the part of that continent that lies within the Western Hemisphere , and includes the Antarctic Peninsula . It is separated from East Antarctica by the Transantarctic Mountains and is covered by the West Antarctic Ice Sheet . It lies between the Ross Sea ( partly covered by the Ross Ice Shelf ) , and the Weddell Sea ( largely covered by the Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf ) . It may be considered a giant peninsula stretching from the South Pole towards the tip of South America .   West Antarctica is largely covered by the Antarctic ice sheet , but there have been signs that climate change is having some effect and that this ice sheet may have started to shrink slightly . The coasts of the Antarctic Peninsula are the only parts of West Antarctica that become ( in summer ) ice-free . These constitute the Marielandia Antarctic tundra and have the warmest climate in Antarctica . The rocks are clad in mosses and lichens that can cope with the intense cold of winter and the short growing-season .

negative: Geography of Antarctica The geography of Antarctica is dominated by its south polar location and , thus , by ice . The Antarctic continent , located in the Earth 's southern hemisphere , is centered asymmetrically around the South Pole and largely south of the Antarctic Circle . It is washed by the Southern ( or Antarctic ) Ocean or , depending on definition , the southern Pacific , Atlantic , and Indian Oceans . It has an area of more than 14 million km ² .   Some 98 % of Antarctica is covered by the Antarctic ice sheet , the world 's largest ice sheet and also its largest reservoir of fresh water . Averaging at least 1.6 km thick , the ice is so massive that it has depressed the continental bedrock in some areas more than 2.5 km below sea level ; subglacial lakes of liquid water also occur ( e.g. , Lake Vostok ) . Ice shelves and rises populate the ice sheet on the periphery .

negative: Greenland's Grand Canyon Greenland 's Grand Canyon or Grand Canyon of Greenland is a tentative canyon of record length discovered underneath the Greenland ice sheet as reported in the journal Science on 30 August 2013 ( submitted 29 April 2013 ) , by scientists from the University of Bristol , University of Calgary , and University of Urbino , who described it as a mega-canyon .   Ice-penetrating radar data collected during NASA 's Operation IceBridge showed a huge subglacial canyon running from the central region of the island northward into the Arctic Ocean , to the fjord of the Petermann Glacier . The bottom of the canyon is below sea level ; the canyon is likely to have influenced basal water flow from the ice sheet interior to the margin . Jonathan Bamber , a geographer at University of Bristol , stated , `` The distinctive V-shaped walls and flat bottom suggests water carved the buried valley , not ice . ''   The canyon is more than 750 km long , up to 800 m deep and 10 km wide , making it the longest canyon discovered on the Earth to date . There are , however , many canyons -- including Arizona 's Grand Canyon and Tibet 's Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon , previously the world 's longest -- that are deeper .   The canyon predates ice sheet inception and has influenced basal hydrology in Greenland over past glacial cycles .

negative: Eemian Sea The Eemian Sea was a body of water located approximately where the Baltic Sea is now during the last interglacial , or Eemian Stage , Marine isotopic stage ( MIS ) 5e , roughly 130,000 to 115,000 years BP . Sea level was 5 to 7 metres higher globally than it is today , due to the release of glacial water in the early stage of the interglacial . Although `` Eemian '' rightly applies only to the northern European glacial system , some scientists use the term in a wider sense to mean any high-level body of water in the last interglacial .   The early Eemian Sea connected with the White Sea along the line of the present White Sea-Baltic Canal . Karelia was inundated and Lakes Ladoga and Onega were mere depressions in the shallow eastern end of the Eemian sea . At the other end the sea connected to the North Sea more broadly than its presently does . Much of northern Europe was under shallow water . Scandinavia was an island . The salinity of the Eemian Sea was comparable to that of the Atlantic . Scientists reach these conclusions from a study of types of micro-organisms fossilized in the clay sediments laid down in the Eemian Sea , and from the included pollen of Corylus , Carpinus and Betula .   During MIS 5e , the mean annual temperature was 3 ° C higher than today . At its end , during the cooler prelude of MIS 5d , c , b and a , the region continued to rise isostatically . Some water was recaptured in ice . Levels in the Eemian Sea dropped , and the opening to the White Sea was blocked . The post-Eemian brackish lake did not last long geologically speaking , but was covered totally with ice . The Weichselian glaciation starting fully in MIS 4 , with an interstadial in 3 and a greatest extent in 2 , produced , at its maximum in 20,000-18 ,000 BP , an ice sheet more than 3 km high . As the lake bed was only a few hundred metres deep , no lake could have existed . The ice extended southward into northern Europe as far as France and eastward as far as Poland . At its recession , the Baltic Ice Lake appeared .

negative: Thwaites Glacier Thwaites Glacier is an unusually broad and fast Antarctic glacier flowing into Pine Island Bay , part of the Amundsen Sea , east of Mount Murphy , on the Walgreen Coast of Marie Byrd Land . Its surface speeds exceed 2 km/yr near its grounding line , and its fastest flowing grounded ice is centred between 50 and 100 km east of Mount Murphy . It was named by ACAN after Fredrik T. Thwaites , a glacial geologist , geomorphologist and professor emeritus at the University of Wisconsin -- Madison . Thwaites Glacier drains into West Antarctica 's Amundsen Sea and is closely watched for its potential to raise sea levels .   Along with Pine Island Glacier , Thwaites Glacier has been described as part of the `` weak underbelly '' of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet , due to its apparent vulnerability to significant retreat . This hypothesis is based on both theoretical studies of the stability of marine ice sheets and recent observations of large changes on both of these glaciers . In recent years , the flow of both of these glaciers have accelerated , their surfaces lowered , and the grounding lines retreated .

negative: Marine regression Marine regression is a geological process occurring when areas of submerged seafloor are exposed above the sea level . The opposite event , marine transgression , occurs when flooding from the sea covers previously exposed land .   Evidence of marine regressions and transgressions occurs throughout the fossil record , and these fluctuations are thought to have caused or contributed to several mass extinctions , among them the Permian-Triassic extinction event ( 250 million years ago ) and Cretaceous -- Paleogene extinction event ( 66 Ma ) . At the time of the Permian-Triassic extinction , the largest extinction event in the Earth 's history , global sea level fell 250 m ( 820 ft ) .   A major regression could itself cause marine organisms in shallow seas to go extinct , but mass extinctions tend to involve both terrestrial and aquatic species , and it is harder to see how a marine regression could cause widespread extinctions of land animals . Regressions are , therefore , seen as correlates or symptoms of major extinctions , rather than primary causes . The Permian regression might have been related to the formation of Pangaea : the accumulation of all the major landmasses into one body could have facilitated a regression , by providing `` a slight enlargement of the ocean basins as the great continents coalesced . '' However , that cause could not have applied in all , or even many , other cases .   During the ice ages of the Pleistocene , a clear correlation existed between marine regressions and episodes of glaciation ; as the balance shifts between the global cryosphere and hydrosphere , more of the planet 's water in ice sheets means less in the oceans . At the height of the last ice age , at around 18,000 years before the present , the global sea level was 120 to 130 m ( 390-425 ft ) lower than today . A cold spell around 6 million years ago was linked to an advance in glaciation , a marine regression , and the start of the Messinian salinity crisis in the Mediterranean basin . Some major regressions of the past , however , seem unrelated to glaciation episodes -- the regression that accompanied the mass extinction at the end of the Cretaceous Period being one example .   A clear and certain understanding of major marine regressions has not yet been achieved ; according to one hypothesis , regressions may be linked to a `` slowdown in sea-floor spreading , leading to a generalized drop in sea level ( as the mid-ocean ridges would take up less space ) ... '' In that view , major marine regressions are one aspect of a normal variation in rates of plate tectonic activity , which lead to major episodes of global volcanism like the Siberian Traps and the Deccan Traps , which in turn cause large extinction events .

negative: North Ice North Ice was a research station of the British North Greenland Expedition ( 1952 to 1954 ) on the inland ice of Greenland . The coordinates of the station were , at an altitude of 2341 m above sea level . The British North Greenland Expedition was led by Commander James Simpson RN . The station recorded the lowest temperature ever in North America with -66.1 C on 9 January 1954 . The name of the station contrasts to the former British South Ice station in Antarctica .

negative: Strudel (ice) A strudel -LSB- ˈstruːdəl -RSB- ( plural : strudel ) is a vertical hole in sea ice through which downward jet-like , buoyancy-driven drainage of flood water is thought to occur . This feature is less than a few tens of meters in size and typically occurs within 30 km from a river mouth , in the sea ice expanse that is fastened to the coastline ( known as fast ice ) . Once the water that flooded the ice has completely drained off the ice surface , strudel become recognizable by a radial pattern of feeder channels that lead to the hole . They are elongated and irregularly spaced , with the larger ones up to several kilometers apart . Their distribution tends to be controlled by weak areas in the ice -- in places , they line up along fractures or refrozen extensional cracks . The ice sheet where they occur may be 2 m in thickness , at water depths ( below the ice ) in the order of a few meters .   The term strudel is German , and designates a whirlpool , in reference to the water vortex that forms above these features during drainage . It has been suggested that this vortex could present a hazard for investigators wishing to study this phenomenon in the field , and that this would explain , at least partly , why little is known about strudel .

negative: Glacier morphology Glacier morphology , or the form a glacier takes , is influenced by temperature , precipitation , topography , and other factors . Types of glaciers range from massive ice sheets , such as the Greenland ice sheet or those in Antarctica , to small cirque glaciers perched on a mountain . Glaciers types can be grouped into two main categories , based on whether ice flow is constrained by the underlying bedrock topography .

negative: Ice algae Ice algae are any of the various types of algal communities found in annual and multi-year sea or terrestrial ice . On sea ice in polar regions of the oceans , ice algae communities play an important role in primary production . The timing of blooms of the algae is especially important for supporting higher trophic levels at times of the year when light is low and ice cover still exists . Sea ice algal communities are mostly concentrated in the bottom layer of the ice , but can also occur in brine channels within the ice , in melt ponds , and on the surface .   Because terrestrial ice algae occur in freshwater systems , the species composition differs greatly from that of sea ice algae . These communities are significant in that they often change the color of glaciers and ice sheets , impacting the reflectivity of the ice itself .

negative: Extreme points of Antarctica The tallest mountain in Antarctica is Mount Vinson rising 4,892 metres ( 16,050 feet ) above sea level .  The lowest point in Antarctica is within the Bentley Subglacial Trench , which reaches 2,555 metres below sea level . This is also the lowest place on Earth not covered by ocean ( although it is covered by ice ) .  The lowest accessible point in Antarctica is the shore of Deep Lake , Vestfold Hills , which is 50 m beneath sea level .  The point on land farthest from any coastline on the Antarctic Continent is located at . This is also known as the South Pole of inaccessibility .  Antarctica is the southernmost land mass on Earth . The Geographical South Pole lies on the Polar Plateau at . It is here that the southernmost human habitation on Earth is located : Amundsen -- Scott South Pole Station ( U.S. Administered Base ) .  Vostok Station is the most isolated research base on the continent ( located at ) , and it is situated over the southernmost lake in the world , Lake Vostok , a subglacial lake 4,000 metres ( 13,000 feet ) under the surface of the ice where the station sits . Formerly administrated by the Soviets , it is now operated by Russia .  The southernmost volcano on the planet -- Mount Erebus -- is in Antarctica on the world 's southernmost island reachable from the sea : Ross Island .  The southernmost island is Berkner Island . It is embedded in the ice shelf , fully covered by ice and fully below sea level .  The Ross Sea is the southernmost sea in the world , with its southernmost extremity ( Gould Coast ) at the foot of the Horlick Mountains approximately 200 miles ( 320 km ) from the Geographic South Pole . However , this area is covered by the Ross Ice Shelf . The southernmost open sea is also part of Ross Sea , namely Bay of Whales at 78 ° 30 'S , at the edge of Ross Ice Shelf .  The northernmost extremity of the Antarctic mainland ( without nearshore islands ) is Prime Head , at the northern tip of the Trinity Peninsula at . The Antarctic Peninsula is the largest contiguous part of the continent projecting north of the Antarctic Circle and thus has many of the continent 's research bases . Prime Head is 609 mi ( 980 km ) from Cape Horn . The northernmost research base on the mainland is Esperanza Base .

negative: Mini-Neptune A mini-Neptune ( sometimes known as a gas dwarf or transitional planet ) is a planet of up to 10 Earth masses , less massive than Uranus and Neptune , which have about 14.5 and 17 , respectively . Mini-Neptunes have thick hydrogen -- helium atmospheres , probably with deep layers of ice , rock or liquid oceans ( made of water , ammonia , a mixture of both , or heavier volatiles ) . These planets have small cores made of low-density volatiles .   Theoretical studies of such planets are loosely based on knowledge about Uranus and Neptune . Without a thick atmosphere , it would be classified as an ocean planet instead . An estimated dividing line between a rocky planet and a gaseous planet is around two Earth radii . In fact , empirical observations are showing that planets larger than approximately 1.6 Earth-radius ( more massive than approximately 6 Earth-masses ) contain significant amounts of volatiles or H -- He gas ( such planets appear to have a diversity of compositions that is not well-explained by a single mass -- radius relation as that found in rocky planets ) . Similar results are confirmed by other studies . As for mass , the lower limit can vary widely for different planets depending on their compositions ; the dividing mass can vary from as low as one to as high as 20 .   Several exoplanets have been discovered that are possibly gas dwarfs , based on known masses and densities . For example , Kepler-11f has a mass of 2.3 , yet its density is the same as that of Saturn , implying that it is a gas dwarf with a hydrogen -- helium ( or water vapor ) atmosphere and only a small rocky core . The even smaller Kepler-138d , having only roughly Earth 's mass , is also suspected to be a gas planet due to its relatively large diameter ( ~ 20,500 km ) and therefore low density . Such planets are not found orbiting too close to their parent stars , where their thick atmospheres would be evaporated by heat or blown away by stellar winds . It is demonstrated that the inner planets of the Kepler-11 system have higher densities than planets farther away .

negative: Retrogradation Retrogradation is the landward change in position of the front of a river delta with time . This occurs when the mass balance of sediment into the delta is such that the volume of incoming sediment is less than the volume of the delta that is lost through subsidence , sea-level rise , and/or erosion . As a result , retrogradation is most common :  during periods of sea-level rise which results in marine transgression . This can occur during major periods of global warming and the melting of continental ice sheets .  with extremely low sediment input .

negative: Ice giant An ice giant is a giant planet composed mainly of elements heavier than hydrogen and helium , such as oxygen , carbon , nitrogen , and sulfur . There are two known ice giants in the Solar System , Uranus and Neptune .   Ice giants consist of only about 20 % hydrogen and helium in mass , as opposed to the Solar System 's gas giants ( Jupiter and Saturn ) , which are both more than 90 % hydrogen and helium in mass . In the 1990s , it was realized that Uranus and Neptune are a distinct class of giant planet , separate from the other giant planets . They have become known as ice giants because their constituent compounds were ices when they were primarily incorporated into the planets during their formation , either directly in the form of ices or trapped in water ice . The amount of solid volatiles within the ice giants today is , however , very small .

negative: Nioghalvfjerdsbrae Nioghalvfjerdsbrae , sometimes referred to as `` 79 N Glacier '' , is a large glacier located in northeast Greenland . It drains an area of 103,314 km2 of the Greenland Ice Sheet with a flux ( quantity of ice moved from the land to the sea ) of 14.3 km3 per year , as measured for 1996 .

negative: Astrological transit Astrological transits are one of the main means used in horoscopic astrology to forecast future trends and developments ( the other means used is astrological progression , which progresses the horoscope forward in time according to set methods ) . As its name implies , astrological transits involve a method of interpreting the ongoing movement of the planets as they transit the horoscope . This is most often done for the birth or Natal Chart of a particular individual . Particular attention is paid to changes of sign , or house , and to the aspects or angles the transiting planets make with the natal chart .   A particularly important transit is the planetary return . This occurs when a transiting planet returns to the same point in the sky that it occupied at the moment of a person 's birth . What this means is that the planet has completed a whole circuit of the sky , and signifies that a new cycle in the person 's life is beginning . The most significant returns are those of the outer planets Jupiter and Saturn . The Jupiter return occurs approximately every 12 years and heralds a new phase of growth and development . The Saturn return occurs approximately every 30 years , and heralds a new phase in the aging process when new realities and responsibilities must be faced .

negative: Hurricane force wind warning A hurricane force wind warning is a warning issued by the National Weather Service of the United States when sustained winds or frequent gusts of 64 knots ( 118 km/h , 74 mph ) or greater are either being observed or are predicted to occur . The winds must not be directly associated with a tropical cyclone , or a hurricane warning will be issued . If winds are lighter than 64 knots , a storm warning or gale warning will be issued . In US maritime warning flag systems , two red square flags with a black square taking up the middle ninth of each flag is used to indicate a hurricane force wind warning ( the use of one such flag denotes a storm warning or a tropical storm warning ) .   Example of a hurricane force wind warning :   URGENT - MARINE WEATHER MESSAGE  NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PORTLAND OR  249 AM PDT MON MAR 12 2012   PZZ255-275-121800 -  / O.CON.KPQR.HF.W.0002.000000T0000Z-120313T0100Z /  COASTAL WATERS FROM CASCADE HEAD TO FLORENCE OR OUT 10 NM -  WATERS FROM CASCADE HEAD TO FLORENCE OR FROM 10 TO 60 NM -  249 AM PDT MON MAR 12 2012   ... HURRICANE FORCE WIND WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 PM PDT  THIS EVENING ...   A HURRICANE FORCE WIND WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 PM PDT  THIS EVENING .   * WINDS ... SOUTH WIND 40 TO 50 KT WITH GUSTS TO 70 KT EXPECTED TO  PEAK MONDAY MORNING OVER THE OUTER WATERS ... WITH LOCAL GUSTS TO  75 KT POSSIBLE OVER THE INNER WATERS MONDAY LATE MORNING AND  EARLY AFTERNOON .   * SEAS ... COMBINED SEAS WILL REACH 28 TO 30 FEET EARLY MONDAY  MORNING ... POSSIBLY HIGHER ... THEN EASE TO AROUND 20 FEET BY  EARLY MONDAY EVENING . SEAS WILL BE QUITE CHOPPY WITH A HIGH  SOUTH TO SOUTHWEST WIND WAVE COMPONENT ... AND A WEST LONGER  PERIOD SWELL COMPONENT .   PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS ...   A HURRICANE FORCE WIND WARNING MEANS WINDS OF 64 KNOTS OR GREATER  ARE IMMINENT OR OCCURRING . ALL VESSELS SHOULD REMAIN IN PORT ... OR  TAKE SHELTER AS SOON AS POSSIBLE ... UNTIL WINDS AND WAVES SUBSIDE .

negative: Cordilleran Ice Sheet The Cordilleran ice sheet was a major ice sheet that periodically covered large parts of North America during glacial periods over the last ~ 2.6 million years . This included the following areas :   Western Montana  The Idaho Panhandle  Northern Washington state down to about Olympia and Spokane  All of British Columbia  The southwestern third or so of Yukon Territory  All of the Alaska Panhandle  South Central Alaska  The Alaska Peninsula  Almost all of the continental shelf north of the Strait of Juan de Fuca   The ice sheet covered up to 2.5 million square kilometres at the Last Glacial Maximum and probably more than that in some previous periods , when it may have extended into the northeast extremity of Oregon and the Salmon River Mountains in Idaho . It is probable , though , that its northern margin also migrated south due to the influence of starvation caused by very low levels of precipitation .   At its eastern end the Cordilleran ice sheet merged with the Laurentide ice sheet at the Continental Divide , forming an area of ice that contained one and a half times as much water as the Antarctic ice sheet does today . At its western end it is believed nowadays that several small glacial refugia existed during the last glacial maximum below present sea level in the now-submerged Hecate Strait and on the Brooks Peninsula in northern Vancouver Island . However , evidence of ice-free refugia above present sea level north of the Olympic Peninsula has been refuted by genetic and geological studies since the middle 1990s . The ice sheet faded north of the Alaska Range because the climate was too dry to form glaciers .   Unlike the Laurentide ice sheet , which is believed to have taken as much as eleven thousand years to fully melt , it is believed the Cordilleran ice sheet , except for areas that remain glaciated today , melted very quickly , probably in four thousand years or less . This rapid melting caused such floods as the overflow of Lake Missoula and shaped the topography of the extremely fertile Inland Empire of Eastern Washington .

negative: Patagonian Ice Sheet thumb | right | Map showing the extent of the Patagonian Ice Sheet in the Strait of Magellan area during the last glacial period . Selected modern settlements are shown with yellow dots . The sea-level was much lower than shown in this picture .   The Patagonian Ice Sheet was a large elongated and narrow ice sheet centered in the southern Andes that existed during the Llanquihue glaciation . The ice sheet covered all of Chile south of Puerto Montt plus the western fringes of Argentine Patagonia .

negative: West Antarctic Rift The West Antarctic Rift is a major , active rift valley lying between East and West Antarctica . It encompasses the Ross Sea , the area under the Ross Ice Shelf and a part of West Antarctica . Its evolution is due to lithospheric thinning of the non-cratonic area of West Antarctica .   Exploration of the geology of the West Antarctic Rift is difficult , because , apart from peaks of the Transantarctic Mountains that protrude above the ice , the region is covered by the vast West Antarctic Ice Sheet . Thus , the rift is less well known than other major rift valleys . It is known , however , that like the East African Rift , the West Antarctic Rift is actually a number of much shorter rifts that cross Antarctica . There is also a sharp division between older , broader Paleogene rifts including the Ross Sea Basin and the younger , narrower Terror Rift . There are also a large number of failed rifts extending as far as Berkner Island .   Although many rifts within the West Antarctic Rift system are no longer active , it is now known that West Antarctica is moving away from the East Antarctic Craton in a north/northeasterly direction ( approximately in the direction of the South Georgia Islands ) at a rate of about 2 mm per year or 500,000 years per kilometre .   The West Antarctic Rift is the source of all the recently active volcanoes within Antarctica , and of most of the major Antarctic mountain systems outside the Antarctic Peninsula . It is also believed to have a major influence on ice flows in West Antarctica , because fast moving ice streams are believed to be influenced by the lubrication provided by water-saturated till , which some argue could help cause breakup of the ice sheet if global warming accelerates .

negative: AT-10 resin AT-10 is a synthetic resin , mainly used in the manufacture of ultra-thin condoms . It has a higher strength in thinner sheets than other materials such as natural latex .   AT-10 is not stretchable , but does cling to skin to form a `` wrap '' . It is well suited to condom manufacture as it :   can be made into very thin sheets , circa 15 micrometres thick  is hypoallergenic so does not have the potential to cause allergic reactions on contact with skin like natural latex  allows body heat to pass through quickly  is strong at relatively thin levels  is non-porous  does not degrade when exposed to common oils , such as oil based lubricants

negative: Greenland Ice Sheet Project The Greenland Ice Sheet Project ( GISP ) was a decade-long project to drill ice cores in Greenland that involved scientists and funding agencies from Denmark , Switzerland and the United States . Besides the U.S. National Science Foundation ( NSF ) , funding was provided by the Swiss National Science Foundation and the Danish Commission for Scientific Research in Greenland . The ice cores provide a proxy archive of temperature and atmospheric constituents that help to understand past climate variations .   The preliminary GISP field work started in 1971 at Dye 3 , where a 372 meter deep , 10.2 cm diameter core was recovered . After this , annual field expeditions were carried out to drill intermediate depth cores at various locations on the ice sheet . The first was a 398 m core at Milcent and another was a 405 m core at the Crete station in 1974 . After working out various logistical and engineering problems related to the development of a more sophisticated drilling rig , drilling to bedrock at Dye 3 began in the summer of 1979 using a new Danish electro-mechanical ice drill . In the first year , an 18 cm diameter hole was drilled and cased to a depth of 80 m. Coring continued for two more seasons , and on August 10 , 1981 , bedrock was reached at a depth of 2037 m . The Dye 3 site was a compromise : glaciologically , a higher site on the ice divide with smooth bedrock would have been better ; logistically , such a site would have been too remote .

negative: Dome A Dome A or Dome Argus is the loftiest ice dome on the Antarctic Plateau , located 1200 km inland . It is thought to be the coldest naturally occurring place on Earth ; scientists believe that temperatures can sometimes even drop below -102 ° C in the winter . It is the highest ice feature in Antarctica , consisting of an ice dome or eminence of 4093 m elevation above sea level . It is located near the center of East Antarctica , approximately midway between the enormous head of Lambert Glacier and the geographic South Pole , within the Australian claim .

negative: Geography of Norway Norway is a country located in Northern Europe on the western and northern part of the Scandinavian Peninsula , bordering the North Sea in southwest and the Skagerrak inlet to the south , the North Atlantic Ocean ( Norwegian Sea ) in the west and the Barents Sea to the northeast . Norway has a long land border with Sweden to the east , a shorter one with Finland in the northeast and a still shorter border with Russia in the far northeast .   Norway has a very elongated shape , one of the longest and most rugged coastlines in the world , and some 50,000 islands off the extremely indented coastline . The mainland covers 13 ° latitude , from 58 ° N to more than 71 ° N , ( Svalbard north to 81 ° N ) , and covers the longitude from 5 ° E in Solund to 31 ° E in Vardø ( Jan Mayen to 9 ° W , Kvitøya to 33 ° E ) .   Norway is one of the world 's most northerly countries , and one of Europe 's most mountainous countries with large areas dominated by the Scandinavian Mountains ; average elevation is 460 m and 32 % of the mainland is located above the tree line .   The country-length chain of peaks is geologically continuous with the mountains of Scotland , Ireland and , crossing the Atlantic Ocean , the Appalachian Mountains of North America . Geologists hold that all these formed a single range prior to the breakup of the ancient supercontinent Pangaea .   Virtually the entire country was covered with a thick ice sheet during the last ice age , as well as in many earlier ice ages . The movement of the ice carved out deep valleys , and when the ice melted , the sea filled many of these valleys , creating Norway 's famous fjords . The land is still rebounding from the enormous weight of the ice ( isostatic rebound ) , `` growing out of the sea '' several millimeters a year . Rebound is greatest in the eastern part of the country and the inner part of the long fjords , where the ice cover was thickest . This is a slow process , and for thousands of years following the end of the ice age , the sea covered substantial areas of what is today dry land . The sea reached what is today an elevation of 221 m in Oslo ( Aker ) , 25 m in Stavanger , 5 m near Stad , 180 m in Trondheim , 50 m in Tromsø and 75 m in Kirkenes . This old seabed is now among the best agricultural land in the country .   The glaciers in the higher mountain areas today are not remnants of the large ice sheet of the ice age , their origins are more recent . The regional climate was up to 1-3 ° C warmer in 7000 BC to 3000 BC in the Holocene climatic optimum , ( relative to the 1961-90 period ) , melting the remaining glaciers in the mountains almost completely during that period .   As a result of the ice carving , Sognefjorden is the world 's second deepest fjord and Hornindalsvatnet is the deepest lake in Europe .

negative: Ice shelf An ice shelf is a thick floating platform of ice that forms where a glacier or ice sheet flows down to a coastline and onto the ocean surface . Ice shelves are only found in Antarctica , Greenland , Canada and the Russian Arctic . The boundary between the floating ice shelf and the grounded ( resting on bedrock ) ice that feeds it is called the grounding line . The thickness of ice shelves ranges from about 100 to 1000 meters .   In contrast , sea ice is formed on water , is much thinner ( typically less than 3m ) , and forms throughout the Arctic Ocean . It also is found in the Southern Ocean around the continent of Antarctica .   Ice shelves are principally driven by gravity-driven pressure from the grounded ice . That flow continually moves ice from the grounding line to the seaward front of the shelf . The primary mechanism of mass loss from ice shelves was thought to have been iceberg calving , in which a chunk of ice breaks off from the seaward front of the shelf . A study by NASA and university researchers - published in the June 14 , 2013 issue of Science - found however that ocean waters melting the undersides of Antarctic ice shelves are responsible for most of the continent 's ice shelf mass loss .   Typically , a shelf front will extend forward for years or decades between major calving events . Snow accumulation on the upper surface and melting from the lower surface are also important to the mass balance of an ice shelf . Ice may also accrete onto the underside of the shelf .   The density contrast between glacial ice , which is denser than normal ice , and liquid water means that only about 1/9 of the floating ice is above the ocean surface . The world 's largest ice shelves are the Ross Ice Shelf and the Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf in Antarctica .   The term captured ice shelf has been used for the ice over a subglacial lake , such as Lake Vostok .

negative: Pine Island Glacier Pine Island Glacier ( PIG ) is a large ice stream glacier , and the fastest melting glacier in Antarctica , responsible for about 25 % of Antarctica 's ice loss . The glacier ice streams flow west-northwest along the south side of the Hudson Mountains into Pine Island Bay , Amundsen Sea , Antarctica . It was mapped by the United States Geological Survey ( USGS ) from surveys and United States Navy ( USN ) air photos , 1960 -- 66 , and named by the Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names ( US-ACAN ) in association with Pine Island Bay .   The area drained by Pine Island Glacier comprises about 10 % of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet . Satellite measurements have shown that the Pine Island Glacier Basin has a greater net contribution of ice to the sea than any other ice drainage basin in the world and this has increased due to recent acceleration of the ice stream .   The ice stream is extremely remote , with the nearest continually occupied research station at Rothera , nearly 1300 km away . The area is not claimed by any nations and the Antarctic Treaty prohibits any new claims while it is in force .

negative: Polar forests of the Cretaceous Cretaceous polar forests were temperate forests that grew at polar latitudes during the final period of the Mesozoic Era , known as the Cretaceous Period 145 -- 66 Ma . During this period , global average temperature was about 10 C-change higher and carbon dioxide ( CO2 ) levels were approximately 1000 parts per million ( ppm ) , 2.5 times the current concentration in Earth 's atmosphere . The abundance of atmospheric carbon dioxide had a very significant impact on global climate and Earth 's natural systems as its concentration is considered one of the main factors in the development of a pronounced greenhouse Earth during the Cretaceous with a very low average global temperature gradient . As a consequence , high paleolatitudes in both hemispheres were much warmer than at present . This temperature gradient was partly responsible for the lack of continental ice sheets in polar regions .   As a response to elevated global temperatures , the Earth 's hydrologic cycle was significantly enhanced due to greater volume of moisture evaporation from the surface of the ocean . In turn , the absolute sea level during this time period stood at elevations much higher than the present level . Continental encroachment of seawater formed widespread shallow seas , including expanses of epeiric seas .   An increase in surface area between shallow , warm epeiric seawater and the atmosphere permits higher evaporation rates and more precipitation at various latitudes , producing a more temperate global climate . A widespread temperate climate also had significant effects on high latitude ecosystems .

negative: Salisbury Embayment The Salisbury Embayment was an arm of the Atlantic Ocean which covered what is now Delaware , southern and eastern Maryland , the Virginia Peninsula and parts of southern New Jersey during Paleogene and Neogene times , from about 65 million to 5 million years ago . Sea level throughout most of this period stood several hundred feet higher than at present , and deposition of sediments draining off the continent possibly caused the underlying rocks to sink down , creating the embayment . The shore of the embayment lay inland at the present-day fall line in the region .   When sea levels fell as the Pleistocene ice ages took hold , the thousands of feet of sediment layers in the Salisbury Embayment were exposed as the Coastal Plain terrains of Delaware , Maryland and eastern Virginia .


query: the first scientists to show that the thick icecap that once covered the Arctic ocean was beginning to thin and shrink.

positive: Arctic Ocean The Arctic Ocean is the smallest and shallowest of the world 's five major oceans . The International Hydrographic Organization ( IHO ) recognizes it as an ocean , although some oceanographers call it the Arctic Mediterranean Sea or simply the Arctic Sea , classifying it a mediterranean sea or an estuary of the Atlantic Ocean . Alternatively , the Arctic Ocean can be seen as the northernmost part of the all-encompassing World Ocean .   Located mostly in the Arctic north polar region in the middle of the Northern Hemisphere , the Arctic Ocean is almost completely surrounded by Eurasia and North America . It is partly covered by sea ice throughout the year and almost completely in winter . The Arctic Ocean 's surface temperature and salinity vary seasonally as the ice cover melts and freezes ; its salinity is the lowest on average of the five major oceans , due to low evaporation , heavy fresh water inflow from rivers and streams , and limited connection and outflow to surrounding oceanic waters with higher salinities . The summer shrinking of the ice has been quoted at 50 % . The US National Snow and Ice Data Center ( NSIDC ) uses satellite data to provide a daily record of Arctic sea ice cover and the rate of melting compared to an average period and specific past years .

positive: Retreat of glaciers since 1850 The retreat of glaciers since 1850 affects the availability of fresh water for irrigation and domestic use , mountain recreation , animals and plants that depend on glacier-melt , and , in the longer term , the level of the oceans . Studied by glaciologists , the temporal coincidence of glacier retreat with the measured increase of atmospheric greenhouse gases is often cited as an evidentiary underpinning of global warming . Mid-latitude mountain ranges such as the Himalayas , Alps , Rocky Mountains , Cascade Range , and the southern Andes , as well as isolated tropical summits such as Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa , are showing some of the largest proportionate glacial losses .   Glacier mass balance is the key determinant of the health of a glacier . If the amount of frozen precipitation in the accumulation zone exceeds the quantity of glacial ice lost due to melting or in the ablation zone a glacier will advance ; if the accumulation is less than the ablation , the glacier will retreat . Glaciers in retreat will have negative mass balances , and if they do not find an equilibrium between accumulation and ablation , will eventually disappear .   The Little Ice Age was a period from about 1550 to 1850 when the world experienced relatively cooler temperatures compared to the present . Subsequently , until about 1940 , glaciers around the world retreated as the climate warmed substantially . Glacial retreat slowed and even reversed temporarily , in many cases , between 1950 and 1980 as global temperatures cooled slightly . Since 1980 , a significant global warming has led to glacier retreat becoming increasingly rapid and ubiquitous , so much so that some glaciers have disappeared altogether , and the existences of many of the remaining glaciers are threatened . In locations such as the Andes of South America and Himalayas in Asia , the demise of glaciers in these regions has the potential to affect water supplies in those areas .   The retreat of mountain glaciers , notably in western North America , Asia , the Alps and tropical and subtropical regions of South America , Africa and Indonesia , provide evidence for the rise in global temperatures since the late 19th century . The acceleration of the rate of retreat since 1995 of key outlet glaciers of the Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheets may foreshadow a rise in sea level , which would affect coastal regions .

positive: Global warming Global warming , also referred to as climate change , is the observed century-scale rise in the average temperature of the Earth 's climate system and its related effects . Multiple lines of scientific evidence show that the climate system is warming . Many of the observed changes since the 1950s are unprecedented in the instrumental temperature record which extends back to the mid 19th century , and in paleoclimate proxy records over thousands of years .   In 2013 , the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ( IPCC ) Fifth Assessment Report concluded that `` It is extremely likely that human influence has been the dominant cause of the observed warming since the mid-20th century . '' The largest human influence has been emission of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide , methane and nitrous oxide . Climate model projections summarized in the report indicated that during the 21st century the global surface temperature is likely to rise a further 0.3 to for their lowest emissions scenario and 2.6 to for the highest emissions scenario . These findings have been recognized by the national science academies of the major industrialized nations and are not disputed by any scientific body of national or international standing .   Future climate change and associated impacts will differ from region to region around the globe . Anticipated effects include warming global temperature , rising sea levels , changing precipitation , and expansion of deserts in the subtropics . Warming is expected to be greater over land than over the oceans and greatest in the Arctic , with the continuing retreat of glaciers , permafrost and sea ice . Other likely changes include more frequent extreme weather events including heat waves , droughts , heavy rainfall with floods and heavy snowfall ; ocean acidification ; and species extinctions due to shifting temperature regimes . Effects significant to humans include the threat to food security from decreasing crop yields and the abandonment of populated areas due to rising sea levels . Because the climate system has a large `` inertia '' and greenhouse gases will stay in the atmosphere for a long time , many of these effects will not only exist for decades or centuries , but will persist for tens of thousands of years .   Possible societal responses to global warming include mitigation by emissions reduction , adaptation to its effects , building systems resilient to its effects , and possible future climate engineering . Most countries are parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change ( UNFCCC ) ,  whose ultimate objective is to prevent dangerous anthropogenic climate change . Parties to the UNFCCC have agreed that deep cuts in emissions are required and that global warming should be limited to well below 2.0 C-change relative to pre-industrial levels , with efforts made to limit warming to 1.5 C-change .   Public reactions to global warming and concern about its effects are also increasing . A global 2015 Pew Research Center report showed a median of 54 % consider it `` a very serious problem '' . There are significant regional differences , with Americans and Chinese ( whose economies are responsible for the greatest annual CO2 emissions ) among the least concerned .

negative: Thick-skinned deformation Thick-skinned deformation is a geological term which refers to crustal shortening that involves basement rocks and deep-seated faults as opposed to only the upper units of cover rocks above the basement which is known as thin-skinned deformation . While thin-skinned deformation is common in many different localities , thick-skinned deformation requires much more strain to occur and is a rarer type of deformation .

negative: Thick and thin Colloquially , thick and thin means good times and bad times .   Thick and thin may refer to :   `` Thick and Thin '' , a song by Avenged Sevenfold on Sounding the Seventh Trumpet  `` Thick N ' Thin '' , a song by The Black Crowes on Shake Your Money Maker  `` Thick & Thin '' , a song by Ten City on No House Big Enough  Thick and thin , opposing philosophical concepts discussed by political theorist Michael Walzer  Thick and thin , forms of the rule of law present in Chinese law

negative: Russian-American Long-term Census of the Arctic July 23 , 2004 marked an historic day in Arctic research and exploration as well as Russian-U.S. relations . On this date the Russian research ship , the Professor Khromov , left Vladivostok , Russia packed with U.S.and Russian funded scientists to begin a 45-day collaborative journey of exploration and research in the Arctic .   Stemming from a 2003 Memorandum of Understanding for World Ocean and Polar Regions Studies between NOAA and the Russian Academy of Sciences , this cruise was the first activity under the Russian-American Long-term Census of the Arctic ( RUSALCA ) . RUSALCA means mermaid in the Russian language . In November 2003 , a RUSALCA planning workshop was held in Moscow , Russia to outline the biological , geological , chemical and physical oceanographic sampling strategies to be pursued in the Bering Strait and the Chukchi Sea .   The Initial Expedition to the Bering and Chukchi Seas ( Arctic Ocean ) , was conducted July 23 -- September 6 , 2004 . This initial cruise was a collaborative U.S -- Russian Federation oceanographic expedition to the Arctic seas regions shared by both countries : the Bering and Chukchi Seas . These seas and the life within are thought to be particularly sensitive to global climate change because they are centers where steep thermohaline and nutrient gradients in the ocean coincide with steep thermal gradients in the atmosphere . The Bering Strait acts as the only Pacific gateway into and out of the Arctic Ocean and as such is critical for the flux of heat between the Arctic and the rest of the world . Monitoring the flux of fresh and salt water as well as establishing benchmark information about the distribution and migration patterns of the life in these seas are also critical pieces of information needed prior to the placement of a climate-monitoring network in this region .

negative: Maritime Forces Atlantic In the Canadian Forces , Maritime Forces Atlantic ( MARLANT ) is responsible for the fleet training and operational readiness of the Royal Canadian Navy in the Atlantic Ocean and Arctic Ocean . It was once referred to as Canadian Atlantic Station .

negative: Shrinking space In mathematics , in the field of topology , a topological space is said to be a shrinking space if every open cover admits a shrinking . A shrinking of an open cover is another open cover indexed by the same indexing set , with the property that the closure of each open set in the shrinking lies inside the corresponding original open set .   The following facts are known about shrinking spaces :   Every shrinking space is normal .  Every shrinking space is countably paracompact .  In a normal space , every locally finite , and in fact , every point finite open cover admits a shrinking .  Thus , every normal metacompact space is a shrinking space . In particular , every paracompact space is a shrinking space .   These facts are particularly important because shrinking of open covers is a common technique in the theory of differential manifolds and while constructing functions using a partition of unity .

negative: Margin Margin may refer to :   Margin ( economics )  Margin ( finance ) , a type of financial collateral used to cover credit risk  Margin ( typography ) , the white space that surrounds the content of a page  Margin ( machine learning ) , the distance between a decision boundary and a data point  Margin , Iran , a village in Qazvin Province  Continental margin , the zone of the ocean floor that separates the thin oceanic crust from thick continental crust  Marginal frequency distribution in statistics  Leaf margin , the edge of a leaf blade  , also ID-2119 , a United States Navy patrol boat in commission from 1918 to 1919

negative: South Kara Depression The South Kara Depression is the central part of the South Kara Basin of the Arctic shelf of Russia . It is covered with up to 12 km thick of Neogene-Quaternary deposits .

negative: Kvitøyjøkulen Kvitøyjøkulen is a large icecap on the island of Kvitøya in the Svalbard archipelago . The icecap covers most of the island , which has an area between 600 and 700 square kilometers .

negative: Stone slab A stone slab is a big stone , flat and of little thickness , that are generally used for paving floors , for covering walls or as headstones .   Other definitions refine the meaning a bit more :  Flat big stone and of little thickness .  Flat stone , relatively thin , of rectangular form or almost rectangular ...

negative: Russian Arctic National Park Russian Arctic National Park is a national park of Russia , which was established in June 2009 . It was expanded in 2016 , and it covers a large and remote area of the Arctic Ocean , the northern part of Novaya Zemlya ( Severny Island ) , and Franz Josef Land .

negative: Through Thick and Thin Through Thick and Thin is the second full-length album by San Diego punk band Dogwood .

negative: Nuclear-powered icebreaker A nuclear-powered icebreaker is a nuclear-powered ship purpose-built for use in waters covered with ice . The only country constructing nuclear-powered icebreakers is Russia . Nuclear-powered icebreakers have been constructed by the USSR and later Russia primarily to aid shipping along the Northern Sea Route in the frozen Arctic waterways north of Siberia . Nuclear-powered icebreakers are much more powerful than their diesel-powered counterparts , and although nuclear propulsion is expensive to install and maintain , very heavy fuel demands and limitations on range can make diesel vessels less practical and economical overall for these ice-breaking duties .   During the winter , the ice along the Northern Sea Route varies in thickness from 1.2 to 2.0 metres ( 3.9 to 6.5 feet ) . The ice in central parts of the Arctic Ocean is on average 2.5 metres ( 8.2 ft ) thick . Nuclear-powered icebreakers can force through this ice at speeds up to 10 knots ( 19 km/h , 12 mph ) . In ice-free waters the maximum speed of the nuclear-powered icebreakers is as much as 21 knots ( 39 km/h , 24 mph ) .   In August 2012 Russia 's state-owned nuclear corporation , Rosatom , signed a contract to begin construction on what will be the world 's largest nuclear icebreaker , a `` universal '' vessel that could navigate both shallower rivers and the freezing depths of the Arctic .

negative: Thin-wall injection molding Thin wall injection molding is a specialized form of conventional injection molding that focuses on mass-producing plastic parts that are thin and light so that material cost savings can be made and cycle times can be as short as possible . Shorter cycle times means higher productivity and lower costs per part .   The definition of thin wall is really about the size of the part compared to its wall thickness . For any particular plastic part , as the wall thickness reduces the harder it is to manufacture using the injection molding process . The size of a part puts a limit on how thin the wall thickness can be . For packaging containers thin wall means wall thicknesses that are less than 0.025 inch ( 0.62 mm ) with a flow length to wall thickness greater than 200 .

negative: Koukdjuak River The Koukdjuak River begins at the outlet of Nettilling Lake and empties into the Arctic Ocean . It is the namesake of the Great Plain of the Koukdjuak located in the Foxe Basin on western Baffin Island , Nunavut ( formerly Northwest Territories ) , northern Canada .   The first non-Inuit who specifically explored the river was the Canadian Arctic explorer/ornithologist , J. Dewey Soper . The northern boundary of the Dewey Soper Migratory Bird Sanctuary is the middle thread of the Koukdjuak River . The river is also notable as a Barren-ground caribou migration crossing and for Arctic charr fishing .

negative: Holochroal eye Holochroal eyes are compound eyes with many tiny lenses ( sometimes more than 15,000 , each 30-100μm , rarely larger ) . They are the oldest and most common type of trilobite eye , and found in all orders of trilobite from the Cambrian to the Permian periods . Lenses ( composed of calcite ) covered a curved , kidney-shaped visual surface in a hexagonal close packing system , with a single corneal membrane covering all lenses . Unlike in schizochroal eyes , adjacent lenses were in direct contact with one another . Lens shape generally depended on cuticle thickness . The lenses of trilobites with thin cuticles were thin and biconvex , whereas those with thick cuticles had thick lenses , which in extreme cases , could be thick columns with the outer surface flattened and the inner surface hemispherical . Regardless of lens thickness , however , the point at which light was focused was roughly the same distance below the lens .

negative: Polycarpa fibrosa Polycarpa fibrosa is a species of tunicate in the family Styelidae . It is brown and globular and its outer surface is covered with a mat of fibrils . It normally lies buried in soft sediment on the seabed with only its two siphons protruding . It occurs in the Arctic Ocean and northern Atlantic Ocean . P. fibrosa was first identified and described by the American malacologist William Stimpson in 1852 .

negative: Wolf River (Nunavut) The Wolf River is a river on Axel Heiberg Island in Qikiqtaaluk Region , Nunavut , Canada . It flows to the Arctic Ocean .   The river begins at Black Crown Glacier on the slopes of Wolf Mountain , flows south , then turns southwest to reach its mouth at Expedition Fjord , adjacent to the mouth of the Expedition River . Expedition Fjord connects via Strand Bay and the Sverdrup Channel to the Arctic Ocean .

negative: Thin layers (oceanography) Thin layers are congregations of phytoplankton and zooplankton in the water column which were discovered with advances in instrumentation and deployment technologies allowed samples at the temporal and spatial scales where patterns were revealed . Although they may extend for kilometers , thin layers are only a few tens of centimeters in vertical thickness . They have distinct physical , biological , chemical , optical and acoustical signatures . Thin layers of phytoplankton or zooplankton may contain densities of organisms ranging up to 1000 times those found just above , or below the structure .  These extraordinary concentrations of living material must have important implications for many aspects of marine ecology ( e.g. , phytoplankton growth dynamics , micro - and macrozooplankton grazing , behaviour , life histories , predation , harmful algal blooms ) , as well as for ocean optics and acoustics . Thin layers occur in a wide variety of ocean environments , including estuaries , fjords , bays , and the open ocean , and they are often associated with some form of vertical structure in the water column , such as a pycnocline , and in zones of reduced flow .

negative: Phil Torres Phil Torres ( born March 17 , 1986 ) is an American scientist , journalist , television host , photographer , and explorer . After leading conservation projects in the Amazon rainforest for two years , he is now the lead host of the television show TechKnow on Al Jazeera America . His science research and reporting have sent him around the world , including a submarine to the bottom of the ocean , a USCG ice breaker into the Arctic , and an expedition into Mongolia .

negative: Thin lens In optics , a thin lens is a lens with a thickness ( distance along the optical axis between the two surfaces of the lens ) that is negligible compared to the radii of curvature of the lens surfaces . Lenses whose thickness is not negligible are sometimes called thick lenses .   The thin lens approximation ignores optical effects due to the thickness of lenses and simplifies ray tracing calculations . It is often combined with the paraxial approximation in techniques such as ray transfer matrix analysis .

negative: Heishanoolithus Heishanoolithus is an oogenus of Elongatoolithid fossil egg from the Shahai Formation in Liaoning . It is known only from seven eggshell fragments . It is most notable for having a very thin eggshell ( 1.2-1 .3 mm thick ) , the dense covering of nodes on the eggshell surface , and for its relatively thin mammilary layer ( making up only one eighth of the eggshell thickness ) . While no remains of Heishanoolithus have been associated with skeletal remains , strong evidence links Elongatoolithid eggs to Oviraptorosaurs .

negative: West Northwall Firn The West Northwall Firn is a glacial body near the peak of Puncak Jaya ( sometimes called Mount Carstensz or the Carstensz Pyramid ) which is a mountain in the Sudirman Range , western central highlands of Papua province , Indonesia . The glacier is situated at an elevation of approximately 4750 m and is 3 km north of the summit tower of Puncak Jaya .   The Northwall Firn split into several separate glaciers since 1936 , the largest two remnants being the West Northwall Firm and the East Northwall Firn . Research presented in 2004 of IKONOS satellite imagery of the New Guinean glaciers indicated that in the two years from 2000 to 2002 , the West Northwall Firn had lost a further 19.4 % of its surface area . An expedition to the remaining glaciers on Puncak Jaya in 2010 discovered that the ice on the glaciers there is about 32 m thick and thinning at a rate of 7 m annually . At that rate , the remaining glaciers in the immediate region near Puncak Jaya are expected to last only to the year 2015 .   The West Northwall Firn is a remnant glacier that was once part of an icecap that developed approximately 5,000 years ago . At least one previous icecap also existed in the region between 15,000 and 7,000 years ago , when it also apparently melted away and disappeared .

negative: The Shrinking of Treehorn The Shrinking of Treehorn is a book by Florence Parry Heide , illustrated by Edward Gorey and first published in 1971 . The main character in the book is Treehorn , a young boy who begins shrinking in height after playing a strange board game . Treehorn 's parents fail to notice .   The sequel to this book is Treehorn 's Treasure .

negative: Arctic Ocean Highway Arctic Ocean Highway ( Jäämerentie , Ishavsvägen , Eismeerstraße ) was a 531 kilometre-long highway in Lapland , Finland connecting the town of Rovaniemi to the port of Liinakhamari by the Pechenga Bay of the Barents Sea . It was opened in 1931 as the first highway in the world reaching the Arctic Ocean .   Arctic Ocean Highway and the Liinakhamari port became vital during the World War II in 1940 -- 1941 as the only export route for Finland and Sweden not controlled by Nazi Germany or the Soviet Union . After the war , Finland ceded the area of the former Petsamo Province to the Soviet Union and thereby lost its connection to the Arctic Ocean . The highway was rerouted and today it is a part of the Finnish national road 4 leading to Norway .

negative: List of ports and harbors of the Arctic Ocean This is a list of ports and harbors connecting to the Arctic Ocean .

negative: Dalton Highway The James W. Dalton Highway , usually referred to as the Dalton Highway ( and signed as Alaska Route 11 ) , is a 414 mi road in Alaska . It begins at the Elliott Highway , north of Fairbanks , and ends at Deadhorse near the Arctic Ocean and the Prudhoe Bay oil fields . Once called the North Slope Haul Road ( a name by which it is still sometimes known ) , it was built as a supply road to support the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System in 1974 . It is named after James Dalton , a lifelong Alaskan and an engineer who supervised construction of the Distant Early Warning Line in Alaska and , as an expert in Arctic engineering , served as a consultant in early oil exploration in northern Alaska . It is also the subject of the second episode of America 's Toughest Jobs and the first episode of the BBC 's World 's Most Dangerous Roads .

negative: List of islands in the Arctic Ocean This is a list of islands in the Arctic Ocean , classified by country .

negative: Arctic Report Card The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 's Arctic Report Card presents annually updated , peer-reviewed information on recent observations of environmental conditions in the Arctic relative to historical records . The annual updates are released during a press conference at the December American Geophysical Society meeting .   Key highlights are featured on the current report card home page , previous report cards are available online , and each report card is summarized in a short YouTube video   The audience for the Arctic Report Card is wide , including scientists , students , teachers , decision makers and the general public interested in Arctic environment and science .

negative: ICEX: US Navy Mission in Arctic Ice Exercise was a United States Navy mission in the Arctic Ocean .   On March 2 , 2016 , the United States Navy set course bound for the Arctic region . Roughly two weeks later two Los Angeles-Class Submarines arrived at US Navy Ice Camp Sargo , which is a temporary camp stationed on top of a floating ice sheet . Their objective was to carry out the US Navy 's Ice X exercise to evaluate the readiness of the Navy 's submarine force and pursue further interest into scientific fields of the Arctic region . The 2016 ICE X took place over a five-week period and included over 200 participants from the four nations : the United States , Canada , United Kingdom , and Norway . The Arctic Submarine Laboratory will also be participating . The Arctic Submarine Laboratory is responsible for the construction of Camp SARGO , conducting tests and evaluations under Arctic operations , and acts as a liaison between the civilian science community and submarine operations .   The submarines will conduct Arctic transits in which they will surface and break the ice ( usually 60-90 cm or 2 -- 3 feet thick ) , collect data , and run other training exercise to gain experience working in this region . The United States ' first ICE X exercise in which a submarine surfaced and broke the ice was in 1958 . Since then , the United States has conducted more than 26 Arctic exercises , including the Ice Exercise 2009 . The importance of this exercise is that `` the submarine operations to the North Pole provides the required training broaden our knowledge of an extremely challenging region that is very different than any other ocean in the world , '' said Cmdr. Scott Luers . Other than collecting data and training in this region the ICE X exercise also shows the US Navy 's Arctic defense capabilities and readiness for roles in this region , increases the experience of sailing and working in the area , and gathering broader knowledge about this region .

negative: Furtwängler Glacier Furtwangler Glacier is located near the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania . The glacier is named after Walter Furtwängler who , along with Siegfried König , were the fourth party to ascend to the summit of Kilimanjaro in 1912 .   The glacier is a small remnant of an ice cap that once crowned the summit of Kilimanjaro . Almost 85 percent of the ice cover disappeared from October 1912 to June 2011 . At the current rate , most of the ice will disappear by 2040 and `` it is highly unlikely that any ice body will remain after 2060 '' .   Furtwängler Glacier is ephemeral , existing continuously since only about 1650 CE , which corresponds with very high levels in Kenya 's Lake Naivasha and the beginning of the Maunder Minimum . Between measurements in 1976 and 2000 , the area of this glacier was cut almost in half , from 113,000 m2 to 60,000 m2 . Based on the rate of thinning observed between 2000 and 2009 , this glacier is expected to disappear by 2018 .   During fieldwork conducted early in 2006 , scientists discovered a large hole near the center of the glacier . This hole , extending through the 6 m remaining thickness of the glacier to the underlying rock , was expected to grow and split the glacier in two by 2007 .

negative: Shrink bands Shrink bands are thin packaging strips that protect products from tampering . Bands are applied with heat or water depending on the style . PVC bands are bound with heat and cellulosic bands use water .   Shrink bands serve two purposes in the marketplace . Tamper evident shrink bands indicate if a product has been altered during fabrication , distribution or sale . Tamper resistant shrink bands make products difficult to open . This feature limits access to unintended audiences . Medicines and some retail products use shrink bands for both reasons .   The Tylenol scare in 1982 led to a greater adoption of shrink bands to combat tampering and protect consumers .

negative: Lead (sea ice) A lead ( -LSB- ˈliːd -RSB- ) is a large fracture within an expanse of sea ice , defining a linear area of open water that can be used for navigation purposes . Leads vary in width from meters to hundreds of meters . As is the case for polynyas ( another sea ice feature involving open water ) , leads allow the direct interaction between the atmosphere and the ocean , and are important for Arctic sea ice ecology . Additionally it has been lately found that ice leads contribute significantly to the amount of mercury deposited onto surface and leaked into the ocean . If the air is cold enough ( typically in the winter ) , the water within a lead quickly refreezes , such that in many cases , leads are partly or entirely covered by a thin layer of new ice .