EGU Blogs

Photo of the Week

Photo of the Week

This amazing picture above was taken by Mikhail Varentsov, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia. It can be found here. Mikhail writes “Melting summer sea ice is separated to pieces by the net of cracks, and their edges have amazing light-blue color, which is in contrast with white ice surface and deep blue sea water. Photo made during NABOS-2015 expedition.”

What this photo really reminds me of is the recent records relating to Arctic sea ice that have been broken. And, sadly, I don’t mean record highs. For a full discussion on Arctic sea ice status check out the Arctic Sea Ice blog. Long story short though this winter has broken all records for loss of Arctic sea ice, following last years record lows. These past two record breaking years are extremely alarming and the repercussions of such low levels of sea ice will be felt throughout the North and will affect the people and animals that rely on the sea ice.

Matt Herod is a Ph.D Candidate in the Department of Earth Sciences at the University of Ottawa in Ontario, Canada. His research focuses on the geochemistry of iodine and the radioactive isotope iodine-129. His work involves characterizing the cycle and sources of 129I in the Canadian Arctic and applying this to long term radioactive waste disposal and the effect of Fukushima fallout. His project includes field work and lab work at the André E. Lalonde 3MV AMS Laboratory. Matt blogs about any topic in geology that interests him, and attempts to make these topics understandable to everyone. Tweets as @GeoHerod.