Posted on February 7th, 2023

Apollo News Snippets – February 2023

The NOAA extreme weather map for 2022 shows below average sea ice extents in both the Arctic and Antarctic Seas. The Arctic maximum and minimum ice extents were both the 10th smallest on record, and the Antarctic Sea ice extent has its fourth-smallest annual maximum and smallest minimum extents on record. Overall, the world saw near- or below-average tropical storm activity during 2022, with 88 storms including 40 hurricanes/cyclones/typhoons. (Credit: NOAA’s State of the Climate Reports)
  • The 2022 Yearly NOAA Global Climate Report has been released, and there were some marked trends. The 2022 average global surface temperature was above average on all continents, with all of them ranking within the top 20 for warmest year experienced since 1880. It was also the 6th warmest since recording started in 1880. Both Pakistan and South Africa experienced record-breaking amounts of rain this year, in July/August and April, respectively.
  • Did you know that February 27th is International Polar Bear Day? Our Google search of the month was “Polar Bears and GIS”. And we found this article by George M. Durner, Steven C. Amstrup and Ken J. Ambrosius, titled Remote Identification of Polar Bear Maternal Den Habitat in Northern Alaska. The article was written for the ARCTIC Journal and published in June 2001; and discusses how Polar bears create dens of ice and snow to give birth to their young. It also looks at how GIS could be used to help protect the dens and overall polar bear welfare. Using aerial photography and GIS analysis, the study shows how to identify suitable areas for polar bear denning and to make this information widely available. This information could help prevent the dens from disruption during active petroleum exploration. If you’re curious about polar bear denning, check out this Youtube video. Bonus – you’ll get to see super cute, fuzzy polar bear cubs! 😉

Brock Adam McCarty
Map Wizard
(720) 470-7988
brock@apollomapping.com

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