In March 2026, the Arctic’s winter sea ice reached one of the lowest levels ever recorded, at 5.52 million square miles, about 10% below the 30-year average. This was 10,000 square miles less than the 5.53 million square miles measured in 2025. The Arctic winter sea ice covered 5.56 million square miles in 2017 and 5.79 million square miles in 2020, and has been declining since then.

Less white ice means more dark ocean water, and dark water absorbs heat rather than reflecting it, speeding up warming, or so we are told. Yet, any helmsman will attest that the ocean is never truly black, except on a moonless night. Light reflects off the sea as brightly as the sky. A cloud-covered sky lowers the reflection, turning the ocean gunmetal gray.

Science is a cycle of observing, questioning, recording, and sharing. Imagine practicing science with a pair of pint glasses on a sunny day. Fill one glass with cold black coffee and the other with cold white milk. Place a thermometer in each and observe what happens over time.

Both the pint of coffee and the pint of milk will reach the same temperature as the air. The heating occurs through conduction, with the glass in contact with the air. Unlike a black car seat, water molecules are free to move. The chaotic motion of warming water molecules makes it impossible to heat water in a glass or coffee in a mug above room temperature with a hair dryer. Dark waters are not warmed by sunlight and so are not responsible for melting sea ice. Waters are warmed by contact with warmer surfaces, like when a coffee pot is placed on the stove.

The Arctic Ocean connects to the Atlantic Ocean via the Greenland Sea, which is part of the Atlantic. The Svalbard Archipelago is on the threshold between the two oceans. To the east of Svalbard is the Barents Sea. Covering about 540,000 square miles, the Barents Sea is north of Norway and Russia and west of Franz Josef Land. On the continental shelf, it is relatively shallow, with an average depth of about 750 feet.  The average depth of the Arctic Sea to the North is about 3,900 feet.

The Arctic isn’t melting uniformly like a spring pond. Melting starts with warm Atlantic Gulf Stream water. Nearly all the Arctic Sea ice loss, totaling 525,000 square miles, happens in the Barents Sea, a part of the Arctic Ocean. This occurs because of the Coriolis Effect, a phenomenon caused by the Earth’s eastward rotation. The equator moves faster through space than the North Pole. As a result, water flowing north curves to the right. When it enters the Arctic, warm Atlantic water flows directly into the Barents Sea.

In April 1810, the whaler William Scoresby lowered a ten-gallon wooden cask made of fir into the deep after overwintering in the Greenland Sea west of Svalbard. This design was by Joseph Banks, the scientist on Cook’s expedition. Fir was the preferred wood because it is a softwood that insulates better than harder woods. Scoresby was surprised to find that the Gulf Stream water at 100 to 200 fathoms deep was six to eight degrees warmer than the Arctic water above. He didn’t believe it at first and modified the cask to record the temperature more quickly. However, the results were consistent. The Gulf Stream was flowing into the Arctic Ocean, separated from the sea ice by a layer of less salty, denser Arctic water.

Besides discovering changes occurring in the Greenland Sea, Scoresby observed, “changes of climate to a certain extent, have occurred, …, considered as the effects of human industry, in draining marshes and lakes, felling woods, and cultivating the earth” (Scoresby 1821, page 263).

Over time, the loss of vegetation and soils, replaced by hard surfaces that have become heat islands, has resulted in more and warmer stormwater runoff into the Atlantic. This happened without a change in annual rainfall. More water strengthens the Gulf Stream, and as temperatures rise, the expanded water has moved closer to the surface in the Arctic.

In 2007, the Gulf Stream surfaced in Svalbard, and warm water began melting glaciers on land.

During the winter of 2010-2011, the Gulf Stream was observed to have a more pronounced meander onto the Continental Shelf closer to Rhode Island than ever before. This indicates a need for a strengthened Gulf Stream to dissipate more energy.

The Gulf Stream flows past New Jersey at 30 to 40 Sverdrups, or 30 to 40 million cubic meters per second, with a seasonal variation of 5-15%. Maximum flow usually occurs in late summer to early fall. It gathers water as it barrels northward. The Gulf Stream transports more than 100 Sverdrups east of the Grand Banks off Newfoundland,

Only 2-3% of the total Gulf Stream flow is carried by the Norway Current into the Barents Sea, but it punches far above its weight in terms of climate impact in the Arctic Ocean.

Atlantification is the process by which warm Atlantic water melts Arctic sea ice. This leads to thinner winter sea ice that melts faster in summer. NASA imagery shows the Siberian coast from Norway to Alaska opening nearly simultaneously. The counter-clockwise gyre created by Atlantic water entering the Arctic pushes ice against Canada and Northern Greenland.

Rounding Greenland, the Arctic Ocean current flows south along Greenland and into the Denmark Strait between Iceland and Greenland.  Here, the cold, nutrient-rich Arctic water meets warm, nutrient-poor Atlantic water and plunges 11,500 feet down.  The Earth’s largest waterfall, three times taller than Angel Falls, is underwater.

The East Greenland Current will become the Labrador Current after rounding Greenland, carrying oxygen-rich and nutrient-rich waters into the Atlantic. The Grand Banks off Newfoundland will force Arctic waters to mix with warm, salty water, creating arguably the world’s most productive fishing region.

The Northeast Passage, the Arctic Ocean sea route from the Atlantic along the coast of Siberia to the Pacific, opened in the early 2000s.  In 2007, the Northwest Passage through the Canadian Arctic Archipelago opened to shipping.  The close timing of the two passages’ openings was a surprise, given our understanding of oceanography.  However, solar radiation off the granites and gneiss (igneous and metamorphic) rocks of the Canadian Shield made the difference for a region where warm Atlantic water could not reach.

We need to reduce surface runoff by increasing vegetation cover and soil depth to help water stay on the land where it falls, while restoring the Arctic’s winter sea ice and cooling the climate. Additionally, we should naturally lessen the heat island effects of our structures by providing more shade and transpiration cooling from plants. Slowing down water flow during times of abundance to ensure it is available where and when nature needs it will lower seasonal ocean warming.

There are immediate benefits to having more water on land, such as more greenery, less warming, and decreased ocean swelling. The advantages for land, water, and sky are vast and difficult to fully understand. Still, the benefits of restoring Arctic sea ice are clear and serve as a clarion call for responsible local actions by all property owners, no matter where they are in the watershed we call Earth.

About the Author

Dr. Rob Moir is a nationally recognized and award-winning environmentalist. He is the president and executive director of the Ocean River Institute, a nonprofit based in Cambridge, MA, that provides expertise, services, resources, and information not readily available locally to support the efforts of environmental organizations. Please visit www.oceanriver.org for more information.

The post Guest Idea: Stormwater Runoff into the Atlantic and the Atlantification of the Arctic appeared first on Earth911.

If you love fried rice but not the extra sodium and fat in takeout versions, this recipe is for you. Packed with vegetables and lean protein, it’s a great way to use leftover brown rice. Baking everything on a preheated sheet pan in a hot oven creates crispy bits of rice while streamlining the process. Feel free to switch up the vegetables or use other quick-cooking proteins, like diced chicken breast or tofu, in place of shrimp. A generous amount of fresh ginger adds bold flavor and provides antioxidants that may support overall health (1).

 Active time: 10 minutes | Total time: 30 minutes

Sheet Pan Shrimp Fried Rice

Ingredients 

• 2 tbsp (30g) safflower oil
• 2 tbsp black bean garlic sauce
• 3 medium garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp fresh ginger, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp low-sodium soy sauce
• 3 cups (585g) cold cooked brown rice
• 3 cups (170g) shiitake mushrooms, caps sliced, stems discarded
• 2 celery stalks, thinly sliced
• 1 large carrot, finely diced
• 1 lb (454g) shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 3/4 cup (115g) frozen peas
• 2 green onions, thinly sliced
• 1 large egg, beaten

Directions

Place a large, rimmed baking sheet in the center of the oven and preheat to 450°F (246°C).

In a large bowl, whisk together the oil, black bean garlic sauce, garlic, ginger, and soy sauce. Crumble the rice into the bowl. Add the mushrooms, celery, and carrots, and toss to combine. Carefully spread the mixture onto the preheated baking sheet in an even layer. Bake until the rice begins to brown in the corners of the pan, about 10 minutes.

Add the shrimp and peas to the rice mixture and stir with a spatula to loosen any stuck-on bits. Spread the mixture back into an even layer and continue baking until the shrimp are opaque and cooked through, about 5–6 minutes more (the shrimp should reach an internal temperature of 145°F/63°C).

Meanwhile, scramble the egg in a small nonstick skillet over medium heat until just set. Remove from heat. Stir the cooked egg into the rice mixture along with the green onions before serving.

Serves: 4 | Serving Size: 1 1/4 cups

Nutrition (per serving): Calories: 444; Total Fat: 11g; Saturated Fat: 1g; Monounsaturated Fat: 6g; Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g; Cholesterol: 229mg; Sodium: 698mg; Carbohydrate: 55g; Dietary Fiber: 7g; Sugar: 7g; Protein: 32g

Nutrition Bonus: Potassium: 916mg; Iron: 12%; Vitamin A: 312%; Vitamin C: 23%; Calcium: 7%

Originally published October 2020; Updated April 2026

The post Sheet Pan Shrimp Fried Rice appeared first on MyFitnessPal Blog.

Two weeks ago, the Supreme Court dealt a severe blow to Black and Latino minorities in Louisiana, issuing a ruling that weakens the protections of the Voting Rights Act. The decision also legitimizes an aggressive redistricting effort in favor of the Republican Party that will dilute Black electoral power across the South, and by its broad reach, it strikes Latino voters equally. Days later, in Virginia, the state Supreme Court struck down a redistricting plan approved just weeks earlier by referendum, nullifying an electoral map redesign that would have allowed Democrats to gain seats through multiracial coalitions. Until then, recapturing the House of Representatives in November’s midterms had seemed almost certain. Now, no one is so sure.

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When Justo Betancourt, 55, was released from Alligator Alcatraz on May 14, after nearly six months in detention, he had lost 22 kilograms (48.5 lb) and could barely walk. Two days later he was admitted to hospital, on the verge of a diabetic coma. While in detention, he did not receive the insulin doses he needed, suffered strokes, and during one episode, he fell and lost a tooth. He has been left with neurological after-effects: his right hand trembles, and to climb a step, he lifts his leg from behind the thigh. “Sometimes I have to grab it and push, because it doesn’t respond,” he says on the ground floor of the apartment building where he lives, in Miami’s Little Havana. This week, President Donald Trump dedicated a message to him on Truth Social: “Welcome home to Justo Betancourt, whose Daughter, Arianne, fought very hard to free her father from Alligator Alcatraz. Enjoy your Freedom together!!!”

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Fujifilm 400 35mm film
Venezia, Italy

The Supreme Court announced on Thursday that it will not decide Hamm v. Smith, a case involving a genuinely difficult constitutional question about whether an Alabama inmate may lawfully be executed.

The immediate upshot of this decision is that Joseph Clifton Smith, who’s at the heart of this case, will not be killed. Smith prevailed in the federal appeals court that previously heard his case. And the fact that the justices decided not to decide Hamm — they dismissed it “as improvidently granted,” to use the Court’s precise legal terminology — means that Smith’s victory in the lower court stands.

Though the full Court issued no opinion in Hamm, six justices joined at least one of three concurring or dissenting opinions revealing how they thought the case should have been decided. Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s concurring opinion offers a likely explanation for why her Court chose to make this case go away. Meanwhile, Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito’s dissenting opinions reveal some riffs among the Court’s Republicans.

In Atkins v. Virginia (2002), the Supreme Court held that it is unconstitutional to execute someone with an intellectual disability. The Hamm case largely turned on whether Smith’s IQ is low enough that he qualifies as intellectually disabled. But most of the justices appear to have thrown up their hands and determined that they are not well-positioned to determine Smith’s IQ.

Sotomayor’s opinion suggests that Alabama may have lost this case because of inept lawyering. Among other things, she points out that none of the expert witnesses that testified in a lower court, including Alabama’s own expert, used the same methods to determine Smith’s IQ “that Alabama now claims is necessary.” 

Because the Supreme Court has the final word on questions of constitutional law, the justices are supposed to be reluctant to decide questions that are not fully vetted by lower courts, due to the risk that the Court could hand down an uncorrectable error if it decides a case too hastily. Thus, Sotomayor argues that her Court was right to “exercise caution” by not handing down the definitive word on a constitutional question that was not fully aired in other forums.

Meanwhile, at least some of the Republican justices appear to have backed away from more hardline positions that they took in the past. That means that at least some constitutional protections against capital punishment are probably safe, for now.

Most of the Republican justices appear to have made peace with Atkins

The Court’s right flank has historically opposed Atkins altogether. The late Justice Antonin Scalia, for example, claimed in Atkins that only “severely or profoundly” disabled people — perhaps those with an IQ of 25 or lower — are protected from execution. But, under the Atkins framework, people with an IQ of 70 or below are often ineligible for the death penalty. And people who test slightly higher than 70, such as Smith himself, may also sometimes show that they are intellectually disabled by pointing to other factors besides IQ.

But only Thomas, who wrote a dissenting opinion in Hamm that was joined by no one else, called for Atkins to be overruled.

It’s particularly surprising that Justice Neil Gorsuch, who previously has expressed very hardline views in death penalty cases, appeared to chart a more moderate course in Hamm. Gorsuch seemed to suggest in Bucklew v. Precythe (2019) that his Court should toss out the entirety of its past 60 years worth of cases interpreting the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishments, and instead adopt a new rule that would allow the government to impose very high penalties for minor crimes. 

But, of the three Hamm opinions, only Thomas cited Bucklew. And Gorsuch neither joined Thomas’s opinion nor did he join some parts of Alito’s opinion, which called for harsher rules in Atkins cases. So it appears that Gorsuch’s Bucklew opinion may be an orphan.

Alito, meanwhile, wrote a bifurcated opinion, major parts of which were joined by a total of four justices — Alito, Chief Justice John Roberts, Thomas, and Gorsuch. But only Thomas joined the part of Alito’s opinion which called for the most limits on Atkins.

The parts of Alito’s opinion that were joined by four justices largely concern the unusual facts present in Hamm. 

It’s safe to say that Smith’s claim that he is intellectually disabled is marginal. While courts consider whether a capital defendant’s IQ is below 70 in order to determine if that defendant is intellectually disabled, Smith took several tests that measured his IQ somewhere in the 70s — and none of them showed that he has an IQ of 70 or below.

Under the Court’s previous death penalty cases, the fact that a death row inmate tests slightly above 70 is not fatal to his Atkins case — in part because IQ tests have a margin of error and may overestimate a test subject’s IQ. But Alito essentially argues that someone like Smith, who took multiple tests that showed him with an IQ above 70, may be executed.

In the part of his opinion joined only by Thomas, meanwhile, Alito claims that “‘higher scores are likely to be more indicative’ of a person’s intelligence than the lower scores,” a rule that would potentially doom capital defendants with a wide range of scores, some of which are below 70.

Still, it’s notable that Alito focused his opinion so closely on the minutiae of the Hamm case, without making broader attacks on Atkins or on the general rule that intellectually disabled people may not be executed. It is tough to evaluate where the full Court stands on Atkins, as three justices — Elena Kagan, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett — were silent in Hamm. But it now appears likely that the Court’s current majority does not plan a wholesale assault on Atkins, or on the Court’s broader framework for determining which punishments are impermissible. That’s good news for inmates whose lives could be spared by Atkins and similar cases.

The Court’s Republican majority is often hostile to past precedents that were decided by more liberal justices. Indeed, at times, they appear to have been going through a checklist, overruling decisions where the Court’s right flank lost and transforming dissents by justices like Scalia or Thomas into majority opinions. But, for now, at least, it appears that Atkins is not on this Court’s checklist.

A new model of urban community collaboration in Shinjuku’s Kabukicho area connects the generations using mint as a bridge.

Senior citizens probably aren’t the first demographic that comes to mind when you think of Shinjuku’s Kabukicho neighborhood, which is much more commonly associated with younger crowds, nightlife, and bars. Yet, the area is home to a sizeable population of older folks who depend on facilities such as Shinjuku Day Service for lifestyle support and social activities.

“Day service” is a Japanese term that describes a place akin to a senior center where outpatient services are offered to senior citizens who are still capable of living independently but could use help with certain tasks or socialization activities. Shinjuku Day Service has recently partnered with Smappa! Group, which operates a large number of restaurants, bars, host clubs, and other entertainment facilities throughout Shinjuku, to bring a refreshingly new partnership to Kabukicho tables called the Shinjuku Day Service Mojito.

This initiative, which is one of the first of its kind in a major metropolitan area, connects farms, day service facilities, and restaurants/bars together in a community chain of compassion. Senior citizen volunteers grow mint plants organically using seedlings provided by Pipichan Farm in Ome, Tokyo Prefecture, which are then harvested and distributed to several Kabukicho restaurants, bars, and host clubs. Each of these participating locations has designed its own unique cocktail using the mint and is committed to sharing the story of its cultivation with customers.

The beauty of Shinjuku Day Service Mojito is that it creates a sense of purpose for many of the seniors so that they can feel their impact not only within their own community but in the larger Kabukicho community as well. Project organizers have commented that cultivating plants also has important physical and mental benefits for the seniors such as keeping their senses and cognitive abilities sharp. Best of all, involvement in the project is completely voluntary, participants can grow the herbs at their own pace, and they can be involved in other parts of the distribution process if they so choose.

▼ It’s fitting that mint means “virtue” or “warmth of emotions” in Japan’s language of flowers (hanakotoba).

If you’d like to support seniors by purchasing one or more of the collaborative mint cocktails, please see the list of participating businesses below. We think this is an excellent way for seniors to stay active and connected to the community–tied right up there with having their own line of collective trading cards.

Participating restaurants and bars (all located within Kabukicho)
● 人間レストラン (Ningen Restaurant)
● 麦ノ音 (Mugi no Oto)
● MISO SOUP
● BRIAN BAR
● red.
● 世阿弥 (Zeami)
● ありんす (Arinsu)
● デカメロン ギャルバー (Decameron Gyaru Bar)
● PEGASUS
● BAR CACCO
● クラブ春 (Club Haru)

Participating host clubs (all located within Kabukicho)
● APiTS
● AWAKE
● CURE
● SMAPPA! HANS AXEL VON FERSEN
● OPUST

Source, images: PR Times
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