Science Talk with Jim Massa on Nature Bats Last

The January 2021 episode of Nature Bats Last featured a discussion with Arctic research scientist Jim Massa. The episode is embedded here:


From our pre-show emails:
“Natalia and Igor have done an enormous amount of work studying the methane issue. They have covered a lot of area between the Russian side of the arctic ocean as well as Siberia itself examining what is happening to not only the ESAS and Laptev but the permafrost in the tundra itself. Those who are quick to dismiss their work, say they are being hyperbolic about the methane time bomb are really missing the forest for the trees. If they wish to debate their estimated levels, okay, have that debate. That’s a legitimate scientific debate. But to be dismissive of the threat posed by methane is imo a grave error in judgment.” Jim Massa

“Research into tiny zooplankton at the centre of Arctic food web reveals changing habits that could impact the entire eco-system”.
“The tiny zooplankton at the centre of the Arctic food web are being forced to end their winter ocean hibernation early in areas where the sea ice is melting – throwing the entire local eco-system into disarray, a team of scientists has found.”
Climate change is disrupting the Arctic eco-system as parts of the sea aren’t freezing

“It turns out the dolphins died because their habitat became desalinated, according to the scientists.”

“Over a decade after the 2007 mortality event, the group published a paper in Nature Scientific Reports tying the fatal dolphin condition, dubbed freshwater skin disease, to climate change.” 

“Other research over the past decade has implicated freshwater as the cause of deadly skin ulcers in dolphins and whales. The new paper provides more evidence for this and suggests that an increase in extreme weather events due to climate change has exposed dolphin populations to more freshwater.”
Mysterious Dolphin Deaths Linked To Climate Change In New Study

We discussed the issue of pathogens being reintroduced to the environment after being dormant in the ice and permafrost for thousands of years. I’ve covered that previously at the blog embedded here: Pestilence: Another Consequence of Losing the Cryosphere and the Permafrost

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About Kevin Hester

I'm an anti-imperialist, environmental activist and blue ocean sailor, who is passionate about the earth and all it's inhabitants without favour. Brace for imminent impact as we bare witness to the non-linear unraveling of the biosphere and habitability disappearing for most if not all complex life on the only habitable planet we know of. To quote President Niinistö in North Russia: ‘If We Lose the Arctic, We Lose the World’. Folks we have lost the Arctic.