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<ul class="summary-list"><li>Russia this week launched large-scale naval and air drills with China.</li><li>Military cooperation between the two powers is growing.</li></ul>China and Russia have long railed against what they claim is the malign influence of US power. Now, they're sending a signal to the West that they have the combined military strength to challenge <keyword id="22115694" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="US-dominance" source="keywords">US dominance</keyword>. On Tuesday, the Russian military launched large-scale naval and air drills in the <keyword id="21182587" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Sea-of-Japan" source="keywords">Sea of Japan</keyword> alongside China. Taking place in the Pacific and Arctic Oceans, the Mediterranean, Caspian, and Baltic Seas, the "Ocean-24" exercise is massive in scale. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, it involves more than 400 warships, submarines, and support vessels, more than 120 planes and helicopters, and more than 90,000 troops. "This exercise aims to deepen the <keyword id="20275236" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="strategic-cooperation" source="keywords">strategic cooperation</keyword> level between the Chinese and Russian militaries and enhance their ability to jointly deal with security threats," China's Defense Ministry said Monday, reported <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2024/09/09/china-to-hold-military-drills-with-russia-this-month-a86302">the AFP newswire.</a> It's the second time in only three months that the powers have held joint <keyword id="20252562" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="military-exercises" source="keywords">military exercises</keyword>, with drills held near the southern Chinese port of Guangdong in July. It's a sign of the growing military alignment of the powers, with the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://x.com/ChinaPowerCSIS/status/1821607307702108546">China Power Project finding</a> that of the 102 joint exercises held by the militaries since 2003, more than half took place in the last seven years. Graeme Thompson, an analyst with the Eurasia Group, told Business Insider that Russia and China were sending a message. "Russia's naval exercises are intended to signal that Moscow is still a global power that can operate in a range of blue-water theaters around the world," he said. "China's participation is part of a long-running trend of deeper Sino-Russian strategic cooperation and military integration." <h2>An <keyword id="23230129" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="anti-US" source="keywords">anti-US</keyword> axis</h2> <div type="image" title="Putin and Xi walking past a row of Chinese soldiers in full dress uniforms holding rifles and standing to attention" height="632" width="1024" msid="113295564" hostid="261"></div>On the eve of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, China's leader Xi Jinping and Russia's President Vladimir Putin declared a "no limits" partnership as part of their shared mission to challenge US global dominance. In the three years since, China has provided Russia with crucial diplomatic and economic support as it faced isolation over the Ukraine invasion, and, according to the US, is providing the Kremlin with increasing support for its weapons industry. In defiance of the West, both nations are flexing their power and showcasing their capacity to project military strength. The Pacific, where the US and its allies, including <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-aircraft-carrier-south-korea-north-korea-russia-putin-kim-2024-6">South Korea and Japan, have a major</a> naval presence, is a potential flash point. The joint exercises are taking place in the Sea of Japan and Sea of Japan and the Sea of Okhotsk. China and Russia both have territorial disputes with Japan, while China is menacing Taiwan with invasion, a move that could trigger conflict with the US. "There's clearly an intention on the part of Beijing and Moscow to show that they can jointly project power in the Indo-Pacific," Thompson said. China's continuing to strengthen its partnership with Russia despite increasingly stark criticism<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nato-accused-china-supplying-russia-arms-components-ukraine-war-2024-7"> from the West.</a> The July military exercises came after NATO accused China of being a "decisive enabler" of Russia's war in Ukraine. <h2>Great power competition intensifies</h2> <div type="image" title="A large explosion behind two US military armoured vehicles during a military show in Alaska" height="683" width="1024" msid="113295563" hostid="261"></div>Some experts are warning that joint Russian and Chinese military strength poses a serious challenge to the West. It's a potential threat on a scale the US hasn't faced in decades, with its military focused on fighting militant groups in the face of chaos in the Middle East. "A full-scale China-Russia alliance would present the United States with a threat unlike any it has confronted since the end of the Cold War," analyst Chels Michta wrote in an <a target="_blank" href="https://cepa.org/author/chels-michta/">article for the Center for European Policy Analysis last November.</a> The Congressional Commission on the Strategic Posture of the United<a target="_blank" href="https://www.ida.org/-/media/feature/publications/A/Am/Americas%20Strategic%20Posture/Strategic-Posture-Commission-Report.pdf"> States last October </a>urged the Pentagon to urgently revise its strategy so it could potentially fight both powers at the same time. Some analysts, though, are pointing to tensions between Russia and China that could weaken the alliance. Russia has become a junior partner to Xi's China, and it is increasingly reliant on it to keep its war machine and economy running. And China is likely using the war in Ukraine for its own purposes, to weaken and distract the West as it plans a possible attack on Taiwan, analysts at the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.rusi.org/explore-our-research/publications/commentary/russia-and-china-true-nature-their-cooperation">Royal United Services Institute in the UK wrote in July.</a> But for now, the alliance is growing closer, and Thompson said that the US would be watching the latest military exercises between Russia and China closely. "This is yet another signal that the geopolitical environment continues to deteriorate amid ongoing great power competition," he said. Correction: September 12, 2024 — An earlier version of this story misspelled the surname of an analyst with the Eurasia Group. It's Thompson, not Thomson.

Russia and China's anti-US alliance is growing even more threatening

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The US has increased its focus on readying a force to fight in the Arctic.</li><li>After over 20 years in the Middle East, the Army established a new strategy for cold-weather combat.</li></ul>In the last few years, the US has intensified its focus on the frozen north, preparing its forces to dominate, if necessary, in the Arctic.The move reflects growing concerns about activities by Russia and China, who want to expand their access to the Arctic for trade, resources, and power projection into this strategic area.At US Army Pacific's Joint Pacific Multinational Readiness Center training event near Fairbanks, Alaska, last month, soldiers told Business Insider about the importance of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-army-breeding-new-kind-of-arctic-warrior-freezing-alaska-2024-2">rebuilding a cold-weather fighting force</a> to deter American adversaries in the region."The mission in the Arctic, the mission in the extreme cold, it's important to our Army, it's important to our nation," Col. Sean Lucas said, "and it's important to our adversaries as well. So, our ability to operate here is required. How we operate here is what we're trying to figure out, and what we're trying to master."The two-week JPMRC Alaska training exercise involved over 8,000 troops from the 11th Airborne Division, as well as international allies and partners. JPMRC also does a rotation in Hawaii for jungle training.The event is among the Army's newer combat training exercises, only three years old, and is an opportunity, soldiers said, to innovate and experiment. But it doesn't come without its stresses.The US is entering a new era of tense strategic competition in the Arctic, and as more rivals are active in the region, the more potential there is for conflict.<div type="image" title="U.S. Soldiers assigned to 1st Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 11th Airborne Division, move to their objective outside of Utqiagvik, Alaska as part of Joint Pacific Multinational Readiness Training Center 24-02, Feb. 15, 2024." height="4048" width="7536" msid="108466629" hostid="261" sizebytes="1346072"></div>Back in 2021, the US Army released its new strategy on regaining Arctic dominance, leading to the reorganization of its Alaskan forces and priorities.It acknowledged that rapidly melting sea ice in the Arctic Circle, warming twice as fast as the rest of the world, was "opening up new opportunities for natural resource extraction, shipping routes, and commercial fishing," leading to a more navigable Arctic.With the melting ice comes increased access and greater unpredictability in the region. Extreme temperature variation, from repeated freezing and thawing cycles to reductions in the permafrost, raise questions about how to maintain infrastructure and consistently navigate water routes and land in the area.While the US has maintained a focus on its military presence in Alaska and ability to project power across the Arctic since World War II, the height of that focus came during the Cold War. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the later rise of counterinsurgency warfare in the Middle East, the Army became preoccupied, letting its Arctic skills deteriorate.Now, its forces are hoping to rebuild the Arctic muscles that atrophied over the last 20 years. Part of that process means building up a stronger military presence in the area to both strengthen relations with allies like Canada and Denmark. It also means using that presence to deter Russia and China.<div type="image" title="A U.S. Army Soldier from 3rd Battalion, 509th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 11th Airborne Division, leaves Donnelly Drop Zone after airborne operations as part of Joint Pacific Multinational Readiness Center 24-02 at Donnelly Training Area, Alaska, Feb 8, 2024." height="2709" width="4063" msid="108466631" hostid="261" sizebytes="830780"></div>The <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-army-lost-arctic-fighting-skills-training-regain-them-alaska-2024-2">ever-changing, challenging Arctic tundra</a> is increasingly becoming more of a hot bed for US adversaries than ever. In that 2021 strategy guide, US Army leaders said, "Russia seeks to consolidate sovereign claims" in the Arctic "and control access to the region," developing a strategy for the region that is contrary" to that of the US."Russian military developments in the region are by far the most advanced driver of great power competition," they wrote, pushing the US to find new ways to counter them. Moscow's further investment in the area is seen in its moves to refurbish Soviet-era airfields and military bases and deploy more air- and missile-defense units across the Arctic, as well as throw its weight around and claim more of the Arctic sea shelf.And then there's China, which sees the vast Arctic region <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-army-dilemma-china-missile-force-top-pacific-general-2024-2">"as a new strategic frontier,"</a> a place "where there is 'undetermined sovereignty,' suggesting a justification for access and presence in the high North.""Sovereign ambiguity allows China to justify access to the region and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-army-training-to-counter-aggressive-insidious-china-top-general-2024-2">potentially utilize military means to do so</a>," US Army leaders wrote in their strategy guide.All Arctic nations are keeping an eye on what could be seen as increased access to energy, minerals, and resources in the Arctic. The bounty there is critical for the survival of the Russian economy, US Army leaders said, and necessary for China.That could lead to increased competition in the region, and in turn, tension. In a 2024 Annual Threat Assessment from the US intelligence community, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence wrote: "Competition over access and economic resources in the Arctic, as sea ice recedes, increases the risk of miscalculation, particularly while there is military tension between Russia and the other seven countries with Arctic territory."In this situation, China also appears to be balancing its level of support for Russia in order to secure "favorable energy prices and greater access to the Arctic," the report added.<div type="image" title="U.S. Army Soldiers assigned to the 11th Airborne Division patrol on snow machines during the Joint Pacific Multinational Readiness Center 24-02 exercise at Donnelly Training Area, Alaska, Feb. 17, 2024." height="4119" width="6179" msid="108466633" hostid="261" sizebytes="1219100"></div>With China's increasing presence in the region, and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/war-ukraine-showing-us-army-soldiers-threats-of-future-fight-2024-2">Russia's growing ambitions</a>, Army leaders say the US must adapt like its rivals. The US is reinvesting in its cold-weather forces, focusing on building up enough presence and power to effectively deter conflict and training them to fight in unpredictable conditions should deterrence fail.At the recent JPMRC training event, USARPAC leaders said the strategy was part of a larger push by the Department of Defense <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/top-general-us-army-would-be-key-player-war-pacific-2024-2">to counter Russia and China</a> — particularly the latter, which has been identified as the US' "pacing challenge."For the Army, fighting in the Arctic would be mobile, innovative, and unpredictable. At JPMRC, troops trained to adjust in real-time to changes in the environment and weather.<a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/army-paratroopers-jump-out-of-c17s-into-freezing-arctic-assaults-2024-3">Army paratroopers practiced jumps into enemy territory</a>, while <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-the-army-conducts-high-stress-artillery-ops-in-arctic-2024-3">artillery focused on how to navigate various ground conditions</a>. <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-army-attack-helicopters-deep-strike-runs-arctic-freezing-whiteout-2024-3">Attack helicopters conducted simulated deep-strike attack runs</a>, navigating air defenses and electronic warfare to reach and destroy their targets.Medics, too, were busy during JPMRC, figuring out solutions for caring for patients in this challenging region."I've practiced as a medic for 13 years and this is definitely the hardest environment that I've worked in," Sgt. First Class Zachary Burns told BI, noting the difficulty it takes to house medical supplies, reach or retrieve injured soldiers on the battlefield, and care for patients in extremely cold temperatures.While also taking care of various injuries, the medics also have to worry about soldiers suffering from hypothermia.The intense cold can completely change how they conduct wound care, as affected areas have to be protected from exposure to the elements. And blood transfusions are also complicated by the cold temperatures, leading to experiments with soldiers serving as a "walking blood bank." Medics would have a living person serve as a donor for injured troops.<div type="image" title="U.S. Army Spc. Sammantha Ohm assigned to 5th Squadron, 1st Calvary Regiment, Delta Co, 1st Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 11th Airborne Division pulls security on the M2HB .50-caliber machine gun during the Joint Pacific Multinational Readiness Center 24-02 exercise at Donnelly Training Area, Alaska, Feb. 17, 2024." height="4219" width="6329" msid="108466634" hostid="261" sizebytes="885108"></div>In their 2021 strategy, Army leaders said the priority was also to "employ calibrated force posture and multi-domain formations," on land, in the sky, and in other areas, which "creates new options for joint force commanders to achieve their missions."The problem, they added, was that the Arctic had its own set of problems — "significant distances, lack of commercial and military infrastructure, and harsh climates" — that had made Arctic campaigns relatively small and decided mainly by the quality of troops.For that reason, the Army appears to be encouraging its Arctic soldiers to be creative and able to adapt to whatever conditions or situations they might encounter.At JPMRC, soldiers told BI they were being encouraged to find solutions in the moment to a variety of problems, whether that be keeping warm in subzero temperatures, pulling off a "whiteout" landing in an attack helicopter, or navigating snowy forests and frozen open fields."Our soldiers here are encouraged to innovate," Command Sgt. Maj. Joseph Gaskin said. "We don't have all the answers for this environment," he added, and while conducting war games, troops are figuring it out in real time."They have the answers to a lot of these problems that we have," he said.

The US Army has its eyes on the Arctic and is readying soldiers for the cold, unforgiving wastes that could be their next battlefield

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The US Navy's 2nd Fleet surged ships to the <keyword id="13878593" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="north-atlantic" source="Orion">North Atlantic</keyword> this spring to support forces in Europe.</li><li>The deployment comes amid heightened tensions with <keyword id="11894337" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="russia" source="Orion">Russia</keyword>, which has grown more active in the Atlantic.</li></ul>The US Navy's 2nd Fleet surged forces to the North Atlantic between January and April, responding to a request from the top US commander in the region amid heightened tensions with Russia.The short-notice deployment was the first time 2nd Fleet has had command-and-control of forces in Europe outside of an exercise and it demonstrated the fleet's flexibility and responsiveness, fleet commander Vice Adm. Daniel Dwyer told reporters on April 29.<keyword id="13878592" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="second-fleet" source="Orion">Second Fleet</keyword> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-navy-reactivating-2nd-fleet-for-atlantic-amid-tensions-with-russia-2018-5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">was reestablished in 2018</a> in response to increasing Russian naval activity in the North Atlantic, but Dwyer avoided linking the deployment to Russia's attack on Ukraine.Asked whether the surge was connected to Russian military activity, Dwyer would only say that it demonstrated the US's ability to "surge certified, ready naval forces" — as in, deploying ships whose crews are fully trained ahead of an anticipated departure date — and its commitment to the defense of European allies and partners.<div type="image" title="USS The Sullivans Copenhagen Denmark" height="1333" width="2000" msid="91453174" hostid="261"></div>During the deployment, 2nd Fleet, which is based in Virginia, had command and control of the destroyers USS Forrest Sherman, USS The Sullivans, USS Donald Cook, and USS Mitscher.A fifth destroyer, USS Gonzalez, deployed from the US in January as part of the surge but was later redirected to the Mediterranean and then to the Middle East.Dwyer also embarked Destroyer Squadron 22 as a forward command element aboard a destroyer and later on USS Mount Whitney, the flagship of the Navy's Italy-based 6th Fleet, which 2nd Fleet had tactical command of and used to direct ships in the North Atlantic.Second Fleet is officially responsible for the western Atlantic from the Caribbean to the North Pole, but it can also act as "a maneuver arm" for a four-star headquarters — in this case US Naval Forces Europe and Africa."At time of need I can surge forward and support a four-star naval headquarters with my maritime operations center commanding-and-controlling ships that are outside of my normal area of responsibilities," Dwyer said. "This operation was the first time that we actually put it in practice, and we showed and proved that unique, agile, mobile capability."<div type="image" title="US German navy ships Forrest Sherman Donald Cook Sachsen" height="1233" width="1644" msid="91453175" hostid="261"></div>The US Navy has been trying <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/navy-destroyer-thomas-hudner-sailed-into-arctic-with-canadian-ships-2020-9" target="_blank" rel="noopener">to reacclimate crews to the high north and the Arctic</a>, which are increasingly accessible but remain tough environments for sailors and ships.Upon arriving in the region in February, "those crews did encounter weather they're not accustomed to," and the fleet took precautions so they could be safe and effective, Dwyer said. "But again, that builds that experience of those ships being able to operate in areas that they're unfamiliar with."Over the following weeks, the US ships trained with the Italian, British, Danish, Polish, German, and Swedish navies in the <keyword id="13878594" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="north-sea" source="Orion">North Sea</keyword> and the <keyword id="12728957" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="baltic-sea" source="Orion">Baltic Sea</keyword>, conducting what Dwyer called "a full range of maritime missions, from maneuvering, from communicating, from establishing networks and links."US Navy ships do extensive training on the East Coast, Dwyer said, "but to actually sail alongside a naval vessel from one of our NATO allies or one of our partners, you just can't do that in training.""That live interaction — actually coming up on bridge-to-bridge and having that communication and then discussing how they're going to execute the assigned mission together — is something you can't replicate," Dwyer added.<h2>Avenues of approach</h2><div type="image" title="Navy sailors destroyer Forrest Sherman" height="1333" width="2000" msid="91453178" hostid="261"></div>As head of both US 2nd Fleet and NATO's Joint Forces Command Norfolk, Dwyer is responsible for keeping open the ocean between North America and Europe.While Dwyer did not link 2nd Fleet's recent activity directly to Russia, NATO leaders have warned repeatedly about Russian naval activity and the risk it poses on both sides of the Atlantic. Dwyer's predecessor led <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/navy-military-sealift-command-practice-convoy-operations-in-atlantic-2020-2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">several exercises</a> to simulate a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/navy-training-for-all-domain-fight-atlantic-during-nato-exercise-2021-5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">contested transatlantic crossing</a>.Since reaching full operational capability in July, "JFC Norfolk has been actively monitoring the North Atlantic through to the <keyword id="11905238" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="arctic" source="Orion">Arctic</keyword> to ensure NATO's strategic transatlantic lines of communication remain open in order to support the sustainment of Europe," Dwyer <a href="https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/news_195074.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> NATO commanders this month.NATO leaders have <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nato-trains-for-anti-submarine-warfare-amid-russia-ukraine-attack-2022-3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">warned specifically</a> about Russia's submarines, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/navy-2nd-fleet-relearn-antisub-warfare-amid-russian-sub-activity-2020-2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">which are more active</a> and have <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/russian-submarine-ability-to-hit-targets-in-europe-us-with-missiles-2018-10" target="_blank" rel="noopener">new, longer-range weapons</a>. US officials have said those subs' presence in the Atlantic means the US mainland is "<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-navy-nato-train-to-counter-russian-submarines-missile-threat-2020-9" target="_blank" rel="noopener">no longer a sanctuary</a>.""In the past few years Russian submarine activity in the high north has already increased noticeably. This is a worrying development," Iceland's foreign minister, Thórdís Kolbrún R. Gylfadóttir, <a href="https://www.wilsoncenter.org/event/arctic-cooperation-shadow-russian-aggression-armchair-discussion-icelandic-foreign-minister" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in April.<div type="image" title="Norwegian French German navy ships in North Atlantic" height="1333" width="1777" msid="91453180" hostid="261"></div>Iceland sits in the middle of <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-nato-do-quite-well-against-russian-subs-admiral-says-2021-2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the Greenland-Iceland-UK Gap</a> linking the Atlantic and the Arctic, where the ships and subs of Russia's powerful Northern Fleet are based. NATO militaries <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/norway-agreement-allows-us-to-build-on-bases-near-russia-2021-4" target="_blank" rel="noopener">have put renewed emphasis</a> on that strategically important waterway."Iceland will do its utmost to facilitate the ongoing monitoring of such activities and any response that may be required," Gylfadóttir <a href="https://www.wilsoncenter.org/event/arctic-cooperation-shadow-russian-aggression-armchair-discussion-icelandic-foreign-minister" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> of Russian submarine activity.That emphasis was reflected in Northern Viking 22, an exercise held in Iceland in April. Its focus on anti-submarine warfare was of "specific relevance," according to German Navy Cmdr. Arne Pfingst, who <a href="https://www.eucom.mil/article/42019/us-iceland-wrap-up-exercise-northern-viking-2022" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> the GIUK Gap is of "great interest" to Germany's Navy.Second Fleet did not command forces involved in Northern Viking, but Dwyer, speaking to reporters in April, said the North Atlantic is "without a doubt" becoming "a more dynamic environment."Second Fleet's mission is "to deter and defeat potential adversaries in our area of responsibility, wherever that happens to be," Dwyer added. "At its core, it's to defend the avenues of approach between Europe and North America."

The US Navy's newest fleet is keeping an eye on the North Atlantic with a first-of-its-kind deployment

<ul class="summary-list"><li>In May 1943, US soldiers launched a brutal fight to retake the islands of <keyword id="12020242" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="attu" source="Orion">Attu</keyword> and <keyword id="12020243" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="kiska" source="Orion">Kiska</keyword> from the Japanese.</li><li>The remote islands, part of <keyword id="12020240" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="alaska" source="Orion">Alaska</keyword>'s Aleutian chain, were important for operations in the Pacific.</li></ul>On May 11, 1943, American soldiers began landing on the island of Attu, which, along with the neighboring island of Kiska, had been seized by Japanese troops a year earlier.Attu is the westernmost point in Alaska's Aleutian Island chain, some 1,500 miles from Anchorage. Its occupation by Japan was the first time since the War of 1812 that US territory had been seized by a foreign power.The Japanese troops who landed on the islands were the northernmost arm of a larger operation that included the forces sent to attack and occupy Midway Island in the Central Pacific. Having turned back the Japanese advance, the US sent a massive force to retake the islands in mid-1943.Instead of the three days of fighting that the Americans expected, the battle for Attu turned into a three-week slog.Now, 79 years later, the <keyword id="12020241" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="aleutian-islands" source="Orion">Aleutian Islands</keyword> and Alaska have renewed importance for the US, as the increasing accessibility of the <keyword id="11905238" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="arctic" source="Orion">Arctic</keyword> is making the region a venue for competition with Russia and China.<h2>Aleutian Islands campaign</h2><div type="image" title="Aleutian island" height="418" width="1040" msid="92324489" hostid="261"></div>Japan seized Kiska and Attu in June 1942, exactly six months attacking Pearl Harbor. Their landings were preceded by air raids on nearby Dutch Harbor, which killed 43 US personnel and destroyed 11 planes.Japan's goals in the Aleutians were twofold: distract the Americans before the planned invasion of Midway and prevent them from using the sparsely populated islands as forward outposts.Within months of arriving, the Japanese had deployed thousands of troops to the islands and built fortifications and critical infrastructure, including bunkers and tunnels. Harbor facilities and an airstrip were also built on Kiska.The US military increased its footprint in Alaska when it realized the importance of the area and its lack of defenses there. When Kiska and Attu were seized, Alaska Defense Command had just 24,000 troops at its disposal. By January 1943, it had 94,000.By the end of February 1943, US troops had landed on nearby islands and built airfields from which to conduct bombing raids on Attu and Kiska. By mid-March, a US Navy blockade had cut the Japanese garrisons off from resupply and reinforcement.On April 1, US commanders authorized the invasion of Attu. Dubbed "Operation Landcrab," the objective was to defeat the smaller Japanese garrison on Attu before turning to Kiska.<h2>'Attacking a pillbox by way of a tightrope'</h2><div type="image" title="Attu Aleutian Alaska Japan invasion World War II" height="2248" width="2998" msid="92324492" hostid="261"></div>The first landings on May 11, which were preceded by air and naval bombardment, were unopposed, leading many to believe victory was imminent.In fact, the garrison of more than 2,500 Japanese troops had prepared defenses farther inland and waited for the Americans to advance before ambushing them in small groups — a preview of what American troops would face on <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/battles-of-iwo-jima-okinawa-made-us-reconsider-japan-invasion-2021-3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Iwo Jima</a> and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wwii-battle-of-okinawa-may-have-prevented-invasion-of-japan-2020-6" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Okinawa</a> a year later.Making matters worse, the Americans soon found that they were fighting two enemies, the Japanese and the weather. Attu is covered in fog, rain, or snow for about 250 days of the year, with winds up to 120 mph.Many US troops were without appropriate winter gear and suffered frostbite, gangrene, and trench foot. "It was rugged," Lt. Donald E. Dwinnell <a href="https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/battle-of-attu-60-years.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. "The whole damned deal was rugged, like attacking a pillbox by way of a tightrope … in winter."The Americans pressed on, seizing the high ground and pushing the Japanese into a few areas along the shore.<div type="image" title="Attu Aleutian Alaska Japan invasion world war ii" height="2300" width="3000" msid="92324493" hostid="261"></div>On May 29, with defeat looming, the last Japanese troops able to fight conducted a massive banzai charge with the goal of seizing high ground, using captured artillery against American troops, and retreating back to their own fortifications with captured food and supplies.In what one American soldier described as "a madness of noise and confusion and deadliness," some 800 Japanese soldiers penetrated the main American line and reached rear areas. The fighting was intense and included hand-to-hand combat, but the Americans rallied and pushed the Japanese back.By May 30, the Island was secure. At least 2,351 Japanese bodies were recovered and buried by the Americans. As on other islands recaptured from the Japanese, many defenders killed themselves rather than accept defeat. Only 28 Japanese soldiers surrendered.The fighting was so intense that the Japanese secretly withdrew from Kiska under the cover of fog and darkness at the end of July. Despite the Japanese departure, US and Canadian troops <a href="https://taskandpurpose.com/history/wwii-battle-empty-island-left-300-dead-wounded/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">still took casualties</a> from booby traps, friendly fire, and the harsh environment when they landed on Kiska in mid-August.In total, 549 US soldiers were killed and 1,148 wounded during the Aleutian Campaign.<h2>Newfound importance</h2><div type="image" title="During a routine maritime patrol in the Bering Sea and Arctic region, U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Bertholf spotted and established radio contact with Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) task force in international waters within the U.S. exclusive economic zone, Aug. 30, 2021" height="666" width="1000" msid="92324494" hostid="261"></div>Given its proximity to the Soviet Union, Alaska remained important during the Cold War, especially for air and missile defense, but memories of the <keyword id="11938566" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="world-war-ii" source="Orion">World War II</keyword> campaign largely faded over the following decades.Today, with the US reorienting toward great-power competition, and with the region growing more accessible, Alaska's significance for military operations is getting renewed attention, which has been reflected in recent activity there.In 2007, Russia restarted long-range bomber patrols that sometimes enter the Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone, which surrounds the state but is not US territorial airspace. In 2020, US officials said intercepts of those flights <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/intercepting-russian-military-flights-around-alaska-are-a-strain-2021-4" target="_blank" rel="noopener">were at the highest level</a> since the Cold War.Russian naval activity around Alaska has also increased. A <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/12/us/russia-military-alaska-arctic-fishing.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">massive drill</a> in 2020 saw 50 Russian warships operating in the US exclusive economic zone, which stretches some 200 miles from the US coast, where they had run-ins with US fishing vessels.China has also <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-parliament-polar/china-pledges-to-build-polar-silk-road-over-2021-2025-idUSKBN2AX09F" target="_blank" rel="noopener">expressed interest in the Arctic</a>. It has declared itself a "near-Arctic state" and is <a href="https://thebarentsobserver.com/en/arctic/2021/12/china-build-its-third-arctic-icebreaker" target="_blank" rel="noopener">growing its icebreaker fleet</a>. Chinese warships operated off Alaska for the first time in 2015, and four Chinese warships <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-coast-guard-shadowed-chinese-warships-near-alaska-2021-9" target="_blank" rel="noopener">appeared off the Aleutian Islands</a> again in August 2021.<div type="image" title="US special operations with Stinger on Shemya" height="1125" width="2000" msid="92324496" hostid="261"></div>The US military is <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/alaska-is-growing-more-valuable-amid-competition-with-russia-china-2021-9" target="_top">bolstering its posture in Alaska</a>. The Army has revamped its forces there, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/new-alaska-army-unit-extends-reach-in-arctic-and-beyond-2022-6" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reestablishing the 11th Airborne Division</a> and investing in new equipment and expanded training.The Air Force, which has long had the largest Arctic presence of any US service branch, has added dozens of fifth-generation fighter jets to bases there. The Marine Corps has expressed interest in increasing its training in Alaska, and the Navy is looking to build out its operations there with a new deep-water port in Nome.Alaska's renewed importance extends to the Aleutians. In 2019, US sailors and Marines <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/navy-eod-training-adak-alaska-bering-amid-russia-tensions-2019-9" target="_blank" rel="noopener">trained on Adak Island</a>, which is south of <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/bering-strait-importance-grows-amid-us-russia-tension-arctic-activity-2020-11" target="_top">the increasingly busy Bering Strait</a> and once housed a major US Navy base.In late 2020, US special operators deployed to Shemya Island — which is closer to Russia than to the mainland US — to practice "<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-special-operations-drills-in-alaska-sweden-show-chokepoint-concern-2021-11" target="_blank" rel="noopener">securing key terrain and critical infrastructure</a>."With Arctic ice receding and Russian and Chinese activity increasing, Alaska's importance for the US military will only grow in the years ahead.

79 years after a brutal battle to oust the Japanese, a remote piece of US territory is the center of attention again

<ul class="summary-list"><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/scientists-estimate-9000-tree-species-are-still-unknown-to-them-2022-1">Scientists</a> discovered a huge colony of sea <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sea-sponges-first-animal-life-2016-2">sponges</a> atop a deep-sea <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/real-estate-rocky-mountains-ski-towns-aspen-jackson-hole-vail-2021-02">mountain</a> in the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/norway-agreement-allows-us-to-build-on-bases-near-russia-2021-4">Arctic Ocean</a>.</li><li>The <keyword id="13131689" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="sponges" source="Orion">sponges</keyword>, which average 300 years old, are thriving by digesting <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/human-fossils-in-east-africa-older-than-scientists-thought-2022-1">fossilized</a> <keyword id="12161791" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="worms" source="Orion">worms</keyword>.</li></ul>Deep beneath the ice-encrusted <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/soot-wildfires-travels-siberia-california-arctic-melts-ice-2021-11">Arctic</a> seas near the <keyword id="13131692" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="north-pole" source="Orion">North Pole</keyword>, atop an inactive deep-sea <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/space-lava-from-moon-volcanoes-creates-jupiters-powerful-aurora-lights-2022-2">volcano</a>, a community of sea sponges has survived for centuries by eating the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/fossils-reveal-ecology-of-australia-prehistoric-rainforest-2022-1">fossils</a> of ancient extinct worms.Researchers discovered the underwater mountain in 2011, while mapping uncharted <keyword id="11905238" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="arctic" source="Orion">Arctic</keyword> waters along the ocean-bottom Gakkel Ridge. When they sent a camera-laden sled through the ice and down to the mountaintop, the scientists were surprised to find it crawling with thousands of large, round, squishy, featureless animals covered in hair-like bristles."We saw no <keyword id="13131691" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="sea-floor" source="Orion">sea floor</keyword>. We only saw life. There was one sponge on top of the other, and they were huge," Antje Boetius, a deep-sea biologist at the Helmholtz Center for Polar and Marine Research, who led the research, told Insider.As Boetius's team studied the sponges, they learned strange details about them. On average, the sponges on this mountain are 300 years old. Some of them are slowly moving, which surprised the scientists because nobody had ever documented wild sponges traveling. Boetius and her colleagues could see the tracks where the creatures had crawled uphill.But one question remained: What were the sponges eating?<div type="image" title="sea sponges and starfish on arctic ocean floor" height="1112" width="1482" msid="89436595" hostid="261"></div>On many deep-sea mountains, ocean currents carry nutrients that rain down on the mountaintop and feed the organisms living there. But on this mountain, the scientists' measurements turned up no such nutrients, and no other food sources.It was a mystery, Boetius said: "In the middle of nowhere, close to North Pole, in the most nutrient-poor environment on Earth, why do we have the largest accumulation of sponges that was ever recorded in the deep sea?"After about five years of expeditions to Gakkel Ridge, the researchers determined that these sponges are thriving in inhospitable waters by digesting the fossilized remains of a vast community of extinct worms. Their findings were <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-28129-7">published</a> in the journal Nature Communications on Tuesday.The study follows another polar-ocean discovery that Boetius's colleagues at the Helmholtz Center announced in January: a nest of <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/13/science/icefish-antarctica-eggs-colony.html">60 million icefish</a> breeding in an Antarctic sea."To me, this just means we just don't know enough about the oceans," Boetius said, adding, "I sometimes call it a foreign planet on planet Earth, because it's so full of unknown life."<h2>Clues on the ocean floor helped solve a Sherlock Holmes-style riddle</h2><div type="image" title="sea sponge on deep sea robot" height="2880" width="5120" msid="89436597" hostid="261"></div>As the scientists scanned the mountaintop for signs of sponge food, they saw crispy black strings everywhere. The material formed thick mats in some places.Boetius remembered that deep-sea volcanoes often vent gasses like methane and sulfur, which can be converted into energy — a crucial resource in a place devoid of sunlight. She had previously studied deep-sea methane vents, and among the most common forms of life around those vents were tube worms.With further testing, the researchers determined that the black strings covering the mountaintop were the remnants of ancient tube worms — and many of the tubes were emptied out.<div type="image" title="worm tubes brown and white inside" height="1132" width="2477" msid="89436598" hostid="261"></div>Perhaps the mysteries of the disappearing worm <keyword id="11954588" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="fossils" source="Orion">fossils</keyword> and the missing food source were related. The researchers turned to the sponges they'd captured and analyzed the microbes that filled their bodies, since sponges are often more bacteria than sponge.They discovered the sponges "have enzymes and tools to digest detritus — very old fossilized detritus," Boetius said, adding, "It was all about old, degraded material."The smoking gun was that the sponges carried the same nitrogen and carbon isotopes as the worm tubes they sat upon."It was just a huge, Sherlock Holmes-like detective private-eye project," Boetius said, adding, "We had a riddle to solve, and it took a very long to have all the data together."The researchers found no signs of methane venting, nor a single living worm.The volcano is inactive, and the worms died out thousands of years ago, but their remains now feed a thriving community of otherworldly creatures.<h2>Biologists are racing to study ocean ecosystems before they're gone</h2><div type="image" title="sea sponges on arctic ocean floor" height="1866" width="2489" msid="89436600" hostid="261"></div>It's not clear when the sponges will run out of dead worms to eat, but Boetius thinks their numbers will drop drastically once the fossils are gone. A few sponges may survive by eating the occasional algae falling from above or crustacean poop floating past.Boetius, however, is thinking about more fast-approaching upheavals to ocean ecosystems. She fears that climate change, plastics, and pollution are changing the seas faster than researchers can survey them.Oceans cover 70% of Earth's surface, and an estimated 80% of those waters remain unmapped and unexplored, according to the <a href="https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/exploration.html">National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration</a>. The temperature and acidity of the oceans are rising, and their ecosystems are especially threatened at the Earth's poles, which are warming faster than anywhere else on the planet and rapidly losing sea-ice cover.Boetius hopes more deep-sea <keyword id="11896083" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="science" source="Orion">science</keyword> expeditions like hers will study hard-to-reach ecosystems before they change with the climate."I think it is important that the diversity of life on Earth has at least a record, an image, a sample, a name, because they are maybe vanishing or changing," Boetius said.

A thriving colony of 300-year-old Arctic sea sponges survives by eating the fossils of extinct worms

<ul class="summary-list"><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/antarctic-flowering-plant-growth-signals-climate-crisis-impact-study-2022-2">Antarctica</a> and the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ancient-arctic-sea-sponges-survive-by-eating-worm-fossils-2022-2">Arctic</a> suffered <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/4-ways-extreme-heat-negatively-impacts-economy-2021-8">heat waves</a> in the past week, reaching 70 and 50 degrees Fahrenheit above normal.</li><li>The <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/antarctica-thwaites-glacier-ice-shelf-will-shatter-scientists-say-2021-12">poles</a> are in opposite seasons, but atmospheric rivers carried moisture and warm air to them.</li></ul>Heat waves blanketed the planet's poles in unseasonably warm temperatures over the past week.In parts of the <keyword id="11905238" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="arctic" source="Orion">Arctic</keyword>, temperatures soared to about 50 degrees Fahrenheit (30 degrees Celsius) above average on Friday, according to <a href="https://apnews.com/article/climate-science-colorado-arctic-antarctica-eda9ea8704108bdab2480fa2cd4b6e34?utm_source=Nature+Briefing&amp;utm_campaign=9faf4287e9-briefing-dy-20220321&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_term=0_c9dfd39373-9faf4287e9-45928806">The Associated Press</a>. The same day, on the other end of the planet, <keyword id="12266096" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="antarctica" source="Orion">Antarctica</keyword>'s Dome C research station registered a record <keyword id="11930978" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="temperature" source="Orion">temperature</keyword> of 13.8 degrees, about 70 degrees above average. Vostok station, sitting 2 miles high on the Antarctic plateau, registered a similarly extreme temperature of 0.1 degrees.As of Tuesday, the Antarctic <keyword id="11947988" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="heat-wave" source="Orion">heat wave</keyword> was subsiding, but temperatures remained about 50 degrees above normal, according to Robert Rodhe, lead scientist at the environmental data nonprofit Berkeley Earth."This event is rewriting record books and our expectations about what is possible in Antarctica," Rodhe <a href="https://twitter.com/RARohde/status/1505867257104187403">said</a> on Twitter. "Is this simply a freakishly improbable event, or is it a sign of more to come? Right now, no one knows."<div type="image" title="two penguins stand on melting iceberg on rocky shelf" height="1648" width="2199" msid="90404839" hostid="261"></div>The poles are in opposite seasons — it's fall in Antarctica, just starting to chill, while the Arctic is emerging from the dark depths of winter. But the mechanisms driving their respective heat records are the same. Atmospheric rivers — long, flowing columns of water vapor, like rivers in the sky — carried large amounts of moisture and warm air to both poles, causing the double-whammy polar heat wave. In Antarctica, a high-pressure system called a "heat dome" also moved in and sat over the eastern side of the continent, trapping heat and moisture there, according to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2022/03/18/antarctica-heat-wave-climate-change/?utm_campaign=Daily%20Briefing&amp;utm_content=20220321&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_source=Revue%20newsletter">The Washington Post</a>."Are these two heat waves linked? We don't know yet, and it's most likely a coincidence," Antarctica researchers Dana Bergstrom, Sharon Robinson, and Simon Alexander <a href="https://theconversation.com/record-smashing-heatwaves-are-hitting-antarctica-and-the-arctic-simultaneously-heres-whats-driving-them-and-how-theyll-impact-wildlife-179659">wrote</a> in The Conversation on Tuesday.Still, they added: "Modeling suggests large-scale climate patterns are [becoming] more variable. This means this seemingly one-off heat wave may be a harbinger for the future under <keyword id="11896311" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="climate-change" source="Orion">climate change</keyword>."<h2>The poles are warming faster than the rest of the planet</h2><div type="image" title="penguin stands on iceberg in ocean" height="1666" width="2222" msid="90404841" hostid="261"></div>While scientists can't directly attribute these warming events to climate change, it's possible that later studies will allow them to do so. Just a week after a record heat wave killed hundreds of people across the Pacific Northwest last June, World Weather Attribution published a <a href="https://www.worldweatherattribution.org/wp-content/uploads/NW-US-extreme-heat-2021-scientific-report-WWA.pdf">study</a> that concluded the event would have been "virtually impossible" without human-caused climate change.Global temperatures are rising as humans add more heat-trapping gases like carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, and the poles are warming faster than the rest of the planet.Periods of warmth during the winter are a natural part of the Arctic climate, but <a href="https://climate.nasa.gov/news/2605/arctic-winter-warming-events-becoming-more-frequent-longer-lasting/">research</a> shows they're happening more frequently and lasting longer as the planet warms. In Antarctica, a lack of historical records makes it difficult to contextualize this weather.<div type="image" title="water drips from iceberg" height="1651" width="2201" msid="90404843" hostid="261"></div>"The first of the precise temperature records start in the late 1950s, so it's really hard to work out what's remarkable and what's not," Matt King, director of the Australian Centre for Excellence in Antarctic <keyword id="11896083" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="science" source="Orion">Science</keyword>, told <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/mar/21/extremes-of-40c-above-normal-whats-causing-extraordinary-heating-in-polar-regions">The Guardian</a>. "Sometime down the track, depending on what we do with our carbon emissions, we might see these types of temperatures much more regularly."Alongside the heat wave, and possibly because of it, Arctic <keyword id="13451070" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="sea-ice" source="Orion">sea ice</keyword> coverage dropped suddenly this month, according to data from the <a href="https://cryo.met.no/en/sea-ice-index-sval">Norwegian Meteorological Institute</a>.At the other pole, even before the heat wave, Antarctica was at its lowest sea ice coverage since records began, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/feb/23/antarctic-sea-ice-falls-to-lowest-level-since-measurements-began-in-1979">The Guardian</a> reported in February.

Bizarre heat waves strike Arctic and Antarctic poles, raising them 50 and 70 degrees Fahrenheit above normal

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Four Chinese warships were recently spotted conducting military operations near <keyword id="12020240" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="alaska" source="Orion">Alaska</keyword>'s <keyword id="12020241" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="aleutian-islands" source="Orion">Aleutian Islands</keyword>.</li><li>The ships were tracked by <keyword id="12094618" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="us-coast-guard" source="Orion">US Coast Guard</keyword> cutters and did not enter US territorial waters.</li><li>News of <keyword id="11892748" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="china" source="Orion">China</keyword>'s activity near Alaska follows Chinese complaints about US Navy activity in the <keyword id="12063094" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="south-china-sea" source="Orion">South China Sea</keyword>.</li></ul>Four Chinese navy vessels were recently spotted operating in waters near Alaska's Aleutian Islands, <a href="https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/USDHSCG/bulletins/2f100cd">the US Coast Guard said in a statement Monday</a>.The People's Liberation Army Navy task force, comprising a guided-missile cruiser, a guided-missile destroyer, a general intelligence vessel, and an auxiliary vessel, was conducting military and surveillance operations in the <keyword id="12094619" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="bering-sea" source="Orion">Bering Sea</keyword> and North Pacific Ocean.The Chinese vessels entered the US exclusive economic zone but remained in <keyword id="6356001" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="international" source="Orion">international</keyword> waters. The ships were in the EEZ from August 29 to September 1, a Coast Guard official told Insider Monday evening.<div type="image" title="During a routine maritime patrol in the Bering Sea and Arctic region, U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Bertholf spotted and established radio contact with Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) task force in international waters within the U.S. exclusive economic zone, Aug. 30, 2021" height="667" width="1000" msid="86201517" hostid="261"></div>The closest the vessels came to US territory was when they sailed within about 46 miles of one of the Aleutian Islands. (Territorial waters extend 12 miles from the coast; the EEZ extends roughly 230 miles.)The four Chinese warships were shadowed and monitored by the US Coast Guard cutters Bertholf and Kimball and are visible in Coast Guard images. The crew of the Bertholf made radio contact with the the Chinese ships, and the service said all interactions were consistent with international standards."Security in the Bering Sea and the <keyword id="11905238" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="arctic" source="Orion">Arctic</keyword> is homeland security," Coast Guard Pacific Area commander Vice Adm. Michael McAllister said in a statement, adding that "the US Coast Guard is continuously present in this important region to uphold American interests and protect US economic prosperity."In a <a href="https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202109/1234184.shtml" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> published Monday, state-affiliated tabloid Global Times cited Chinese analysts as saying the activity could be seen as a "countermeasure against US military provocations on China's doorsteps in the name of freedom of navigation."<h2>Sensitive waters</h2>Last week, the USS Carl Vinson, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-navy-carrier-deploying-with-f-35c-for-first-time-2021-8">the first aircraft carrier to deploy with F-35C stealth fighters</a>, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/first-us-aircraft-carrier-deploy-f-35cs-south-china-sea-2021-9">sailed into the South China Sea</a>. The destroyer USS Benfold also conducted a freedom-of-navigation operation in the Spratly Islands, contested territories claimed by China.China frequently protests foreign naval operations in those waters, and Chinese media <a href="https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202109/1233724.shtml">characterized those activities as</a> a "provocative deployment," and the <a href="https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202109/1233668.shtml">Chinese military accused the US</a> of trespassing and violating its sovereignty.The US Navy's 7th Fleet <a href="https://www.cpf.navy.mil/news.aspx/130914" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> US forces would "continue to fly, sail, and operate wherever international law allows" and that "nothing" China "says otherwise will deter us."News of Chinese naval activity near Alaska follows a call by Hu Xijin, the editor-in-chief of the state-affiliated Global Times, for Chinese warships to sail near US territory in response to recent US Navy activity in the South China Sea, though the activity observed by the Coast Guard recently predates Hu's tweets.US Navy Chief of Information Rear Adm. Charles Brown responded to Hu's tweets, writing that the US Navy "has upheld the standards of freedom of navigation longer than the PLA navy has existed." <a href="https://twitter.com/chinfo/status/1435579827407372298"></a>Brown then <a href="https://twitter.com/chinfo/status/1435579827407372298">provided past examples of Chinese warships sailing near Alaska, Guam, and Hawaii</a>.Chinese warships first operated off Alaska's coast in 2015, when they entered US territorial waters while sailing through the Aleutian Islands. The US Navy at the time <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/reviews/out?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.wsj.com%2Farticles%2Fchinese-navy-ships-off-alaska-passed-through-u-s-territorial-waters-1441350488" target="_blank" rel="noopener">acknowledged</a> that the Chinese ships conducted a legal transit.The Aleutians stretch from mainland Alaska west across the North Pacific. The remote and rugged islands sit on the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/bering-strait-importance-grows-amid-us-russia-tension-arctic-activity-2020-11" target="_blank" rel="noopener">approaches to the Bering Strait</a>, where naval activity is set to increase as the Arctic becomes more accessible.The US military has <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/alaska-is-growing-more-valuable-amid-competition-with-russia-china-2021-9" target="_blank" rel="noopener">increased its activity in Alaska</a> - officials have even suggested <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/navy-eod-training-adak-alaska-bering-amid-russia-tensions-2019-9" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reopening a base in the Aleutians</a> - reflecting what Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has said is "how strategically important Alaska is to our national security and to homeland defense."

US Coast Guard cutters shadowed Chinese warships sailing near remote US territory in Alaska

<ul class="summary-list"><li>US and Russian officials underscored the importance of cooperation at a recent <keyword id="996345" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="Arctic-Council">Arctic Council</keyword> meeting.</li><li>Their comments came as their countries' militaries increase activity in the more accessible <keyword id="59606" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="arctic">Arctic</keyword>.</li><li>That hasn't precluded other ways to solve disputes, but without dialogue, they may run out of options.</li></ul><keyword id="6358826" type="LOCATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="Russia">Russia</keyword> assumed the Arctic Council chairmanship on May 20, and while the council's mandate "<a href="https://arctic-council.org/en/about/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">explicitly excludes</a> military security", growing military activity in the increasingly accessible region loomed over the summit.Russia has the world's longest Arctic coastline and has <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/russia-nato-increasing-military-activity-in-the-arctic-2020-7" target="_blank" rel="noopener">spent years been refurbishing military bases</a> and deploying more forces there - including to its <a href="https://apnews.com/article/arctic-europe-russia-business-technology-b67c5b28d917f03f9340d4a7b4642790" target="_blank" rel="noopener">northernmost base.</a>While a thawing Arctic means Russia is losing its northern buffer, it also means economic opportunity, particularly <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/russia-ship-stuck-suez-canal-good-for-northern-sea-route-2021-3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the Northern Sea Route</a>, which Russia says runs through its waters but the US and others say is in international waters.The US and its <keyword id="6371298" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="NATO">NATO</keyword> allies have also increased their Arctic presence. Their surface ships, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-nato-navies-in-arctic-circle-in-harsh-weather-for-trident-juncture-2018-11" target="_blank" rel="noopener">including a US aircraft carrier</a>, have <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-navy-surface-ships-sail-into-barents-sea-near-russia-2020-5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">returned to the region</a>, and in recent months US submarines have made <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/norway-agreement-allows-us-to-build-on-bases-near-russia-2021-4" target="_blank" rel="noopener">unusually public appearances</a> in Norway, which has granted the US expanded use of its naval and air bases.<div type="image" title="Russia Arctic military base Nagurskoye Il-76" height="1334" width="2000" msid="83061546" hostid="261"></div>Adm. Michael Gilday, chief of US naval operations, told a House Appropriations subcommittee in April that the Navy had done "about 20 different exercises and operations in the high north and the Arctic" over the previous 18 months.Russia has bristled at that activity, as senior officials made clear in the days before the summit.Adm. Alexander Moiseyev, head of Russia's Arctic-based Northern Fleet, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/arctic-europe-russia-business-technology-b67c5b28d917f03f9340d4a7b4642790" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told reporters</a> in mid-May that US military assets in Norway have led to an "increase of the conflict potential in the Arctic."At May 17 <a href="https://www.mid.ru/en/press_service/minister_speeches/-/asset_publisher/7OvQR5KJWVmR/content/id/4736245" target="_blank" rel="noopener">press conference</a>, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov rejected criticism of Russian military activity in the Arctic, calling it "our territory, our land.""We are in charge of keeping the Arctic coast safe," Lavrov said. "Everything Russia is doing there is absolutely legal. When NATO tries to justify its 'offensive' in the Arctic, it's a slightly different situation."Marine Corps Lt. Col. Anton Semelroth, a US Defense Department spokesman, told Insider that the US "does not seek conflict or escalatory actions in the Arctic" and that Russia "is continuing to strengthen" its military presence there."Russia claims the right to regulate Arctic waters in excess of the authority permitted under international law," he said. "The US does not recognize this overstep of authority."<h2>'We are starting to press our luck'</h2><div type="image" title="Arctic Council leaders" height="1321" width="2000" msid="83061548" hostid="261"></div>The summit itself passed without the fireworks of the 2019 meeting, where then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo <a href="https://ee.usembassy.gov/americas-arctic-focus/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> the region had become "an arena for power and for competition" and referred to a "pattern" of "aggressive behavior" from both Russia and China.The council, <a href="https://arctic-council.org/en/about/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">established</a> in 1996, is meant to promote cooperation on issues affecting Arctic countries and communities, and Pompeo's sharp language shook the meeting.Speaking <a href="https://www.state.gov/secretary-antony-j-blinken-and-russian-foreign-minister-sergey-lavrov-before-their-meeting" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ahead of their meeting</a> on the sidelines of the summit, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the US sought "a predictable, stable relationship with Russia," while Lavrov said, "Our task is to make the best of the diplomatic opportunities we have" - sentiments both <a href="https://www.state.gov/secretary-antony-j-blinken-intervention-at-arctic-council-ministerial/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">echoed</a> in <a href="https://www.mid.ru/en/press_service/minister_speeches/-/asset_publisher/7OvQR5KJWVmR/content/id/4738773" target="_blank" rel="noopener">speeches</a> during the summit.Nonetheless, both officials were repeatedly asked about military tensions in the region.<div type="image" title="Russia Arctic military base Nagurskoye Bastion" height="1334" width="2000" msid="83061550" hostid="261"></div>At a press conference <a href="https://www.state.gov/secretary-antony-j-blinken-and-icelandic-foreign-minister-gudlaugur-thor-thordarson-at-a-joint-press-availability/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">with</a> his Icelandic counterpart, Blinken said their countries had "concerns" about "increased military activities" in the Arctic that have also increased the danger of "accidents" and "miscalculations."Lavrov <a href="https://www.mid.ru/en/press_service/minister_speeches/-/asset_publisher/7OvQR5KJWVmR/content/id/4739617" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> more than once during the summit that meetings of Arctic countries' military staffs, halted after Russia's 2014 seizure of Crimea, should resume so those militaries' capabilities can "tackle day-to-day matters" such as disaster relief and search-and-rescue operations.US officials, including Blinken, have rejected that resumption."The Arctic meetings with Russia were halted for a reason," Semelroth told Insider, saying there could be "no return to business as usual in our defense relationship" until Moscow adhered to agreements to end fighting in Ukraine and returned Crimea to Kyiv.In the days since the council meeting, military activity in and around the Arctic has continued.<div type="image" title="Air Force B-1B bomber Norway Arctic" height="1271" width="2000" msid="83061551" hostid="261"></div>On May 20, NATO forces <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/navy-training-for-all-domain-fight-atlantic-during-nato-exercise-2021-5">began the first phase of Steadfast Defender</a>, an exercise focused on transatlantic reinforcement. It is taking place off of Portugal but is influenced by events farther north."My interest is ... throughout the Atlantic but also up into the Arctic, and if you understand the geography through <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nato-exercise-dynamic-mongoose-practices-anti-submarine-warfare-2020-7" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the [Greenland, Iceland, UK] Gap</a> ... into the Arctic and all the changes that are going forward with the Arctic, there is quite a sense of urgency," Vice Adm. Andrew Lewis, commander of the exercise and of the US Navy's 2nd Fleet, told Insider during a briefing for the exercise.NATO exercise Formidable Shield also began last week, taking place off of Scotland before moving to Andoya Space Defense Range in the Norwegian Arctic.Officials involved in Formidable Shield described it as "the most complex" air- and missile-defense exercise "ever conducted at sea" but stressed that it wasn't directed at an individual threat.Russia has a longstanding <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-bombers-navy-ships-learning-how-to-fight-in-arctic-2021-2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">concern about aerospace defense</a> but is likely less concerned about Formidable Shield than about "manpower intensive" exercises like Trident Juncture, which involved a US aircraft carrier strike group operating off of Norway's coast in 2018, or "the much larger sorties" by NATO navies into its "near sea zone" in the <keyword id="1340675" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Barents-Sea">Barents Sea</keyword>, said Michael Kofman, senior research scientist in the Russia Studies Program at the CNA think tank.<div type="image" title="Navy sailors USS Ross Barents Sea Arctic" height="1367" width="2000" msid="83061552" hostid="261"></div>Speaking to lawmakers last month, Gilday said the Navy had just concluded "a four-month anti-submarine-warfare operation" with "key partners in the north" and has more planned."We are on the cusp of two more exercises, one in the high north and the Norwegian Sea with an amphibious ready group ... along with a carrier strike group, if we can get it up there," Gilday said.Russia's military presence in the Arctic hasn't risen to Soviet-era levels but it is increasing.Moiseyev <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/22/world/russia-us-arctic-military.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> last week that the Northern Fleet will conduct sea trials on 13 new ships this year, which will join the roughly 50 it has in service. The fleet recently <a href="https://tass.com/defense/1292973" target="_blank" rel="noopener">practiced</a> hunting submarines and "underwater saboteurs" in the Barents Sea.Russian President Vladimir Putin <a href="https://tass.com/defense/1293701" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> Tuesday that threats around the world, "including in the immediate vicinity of our borders," continue to demand "constant high combat readiness" by Russia's military.US and <a href="https://thebarentsobserver.com/en/2021/05/russia-will-not-address-militarization-during-its-chairmanship-arctic-council" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Russian</a> officials <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/russia-us-tout-cooperation-ahead-arctic-council-meeting-2021-05-18/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">say</a> their countries can cooperate on issues of mutual concern in the Arctic, and the current military dimension there "does not limit the ability to productively work towards solutions to other challenges the region faces," such as climate change, said Marisol Maddox, an Arctic analyst at the Woodrow Wilson Center think tank."However, we are starting to press our luck by increasing military operations without having sufficient dialogue with Russia about military matters so as to reduce risk in the event of a misinterpretation or accident," Maddox said.

As militaries get busier in the Arctic, the US and Russia are running out of ways to solve problems there

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The highest point of <keyword id="11905240" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="greenland" source="Orion">Greenland</keyword> saw rain instead of snow for the first time on record.</li><li>A climate scientist told Insider rain at the summit could amplify Greenland's contribution to rising sea levels.</li><li>One study found rising sea levels threaten hundreds of millions of people on coastlines worldwide.</li></ul>It rained, rather than snowed, at the summit of Greenland on Saturday for the first time on record, according to the <a href="https://nsidc.org/greenland-today/2021/08/rain-at-the-summit-of-greenland/">National Snow &amp; Ice Data Center</a> at the University of Colorado at Boulder.The summit, which is about two miles above sea level, marks the highest point on Greenland's ice sheet. NSIDC said rain was observed at the summit for several hours on August 14, and that above-freezing temperatures were also recorded, lasting for about nine hours.It was the third time in less than a decade that above-freezing temperatures and wet snow were recorded there. In total, about 7 billion tons of rainfall dropped onto Greenland's ice sheet, according to the NSIDC.Read more: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/media-frames-climate-change-hopeless-hiding-the-solutions-2021-8">Feel like the climate crisis is hopeless? That's because the powerful are trying to bury the solutions.</a>Laurence C. Smith, a climate scientist and professor at Brown University, called the rainfall at the summit "stunning" in an email to Insider. He said "it portends a future of greater meltwater runoff" that will "amplify Greenland's melting and contribution to global <keyword id="11905239" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="sea-level-rise" source="Orion">sea level rise</keyword>."Greenland, which contains the largest ice mass in the northern hemisphere, lost more than 530 billion tons of ice in 2019. Over a two-day period last month, enough ice melted in Greenland alone to <a href="https://www.insider.com/greenland-ice-melt-day-cover-florida-2-inches-of-water-2021-7">cover the entire surface area of Florida</a> in 4 inches of water. The National <keyword id="11896083" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="science" source="Orion">Science</keyword> Foundation's Summit Station on Greenland was established in 1989 and is staffed year-round to observe conditions in the <keyword id="11905238" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="arctic" source="Orion">Arctic</keyword>, including variables related to <keyword id="11896311" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="climate-change" source="Orion">climate change</keyword>.<div type="image" title="A building on stilts in the snow is surrounded by white snowy conditions on Greenland's summit." height="3240" width="4320" msid="85482714" hostid="261"></div>Julienne Stroeve, a research scientist at the NSIDC, told Insider that rain at the summit station could be an indication of what's to come in other places, noting that the Arctic is melting three times faster than the rest of the planet.Stroeve said recent models published in a long-awaited <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/climate-change-impacts-to-last-millennia-ipcc-report-2021-8">climate report from the United Nations</a> indicated greenhouse gas emissions will not only increase the amount of precipitation in the Arctic, but that more of it will fall as rain."The transition from a snow- to rain-dominated Arctic [is] predicted to happen a couple decades earlier than previous forecasts," she said.Increased precipitation and meltwater, flowing from ice and glaciers that melt as the climate warms, contribute to rising sea levels.One 2019 study estimated that hundreds of millions of people on coastlines around the world were <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sea-levl-rise-flooding-risk-higher-estimates-2019-10">threatened by rising sea levels</a>. According to some estimates, a number of US cities, including New Orleans and Miami, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/american-cities-disappear-sea-level-rise-2100-2019-3#in-miami-florida-sea-levels-arerising-fasterthan-those-in-other-areas-of-the-world-2">could be underwater by 2100</a>.On top of rising sea levels, incidences where rainfall replaces snow as precipitation can also pose a problem for wildlife, according to Stroeve. She said animals like caribou and muskoxen are unable to break through the layers of ice that form as a result, making it more difficult for them to forage for food.Have a news tip? Contact this reporter at <a href="mailto:kvlamis@insider.com?inline-read-more">kvlamis@insider.com</a>.

The summit of Greenland got rain, rather than snow, for the first time on record

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Sea ice levels in Antarctica are at an all-time low, the National Snow and Ice Data Center reports.</li><li>A researcher from the NSIDC told the BBC these levels are "mind-blowing."</li></ul>Sea-ice levels in <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/biggest-surprises-living-working-antarctica-worlds-most-remote-post-office-2023-5">Antarctica</a> reached a record low in mid-September, satellite imagery from the National Snow and Ice Data Center shows.Sea ice, the water that freezes on the surface of the sea in the Arctic and Antarctic hemispheres, has been <a href="https://www.climate.gov/news-features/understanding-climate/climate-change-arctic-sea-ice-summer-minimum">decreasing</a> in both regions. In Antarctica, sea ice levels reached record lows at least <a href="https://weather.com/news/climate/video/antarctic-sea-ice-reaches-new-record-low">twice</a> in 2023 after <a href="https://news.un.org/en/story/2023/06/1137787">record minimums</a> were detected in 2017 and 2022."It's so far outside anything we've seen, it's almost mind-blowing," Walter Meier, senior research scientist at the National Snow and Ice Data Center, told the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-66724246" target="_blank" rel="noopener">BBC</a>.An unstable Antarctica could have far-reaching consequences for Earth's climate, forcing <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/americans-new-climate-normal-is-hotter-wetter-and-more-extreme-2021-5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">global temperatures to rise</a> with potentially devastating consequences for humanity, scientists warn.<div type="image" title="Chart showing the level of sea ice in Antarctica from 1981 to 2023" height="787" width="1050" msid="103732989" hostid="261" sizebytes="33866"></div>Understanding the extent of climate crisis in Antarctica has been challenging for scientists. The region is 1.5 times the size of the US, and there's a lack of historical information."When I started studying the Antarctic 30 years ago, we never thought extreme weather events could happen there," Prof Martin Siegert, a glaciologist at the University of Exeter, told the BBC. But scientists seem to be changing their mind.Antarctica has been affected by global warming in many ways — it's seen record temperature increases of <a href="https://www.bas.ac.uk/data/our-data/publication/antarctica-and-climate-change/" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">3.2°C (37.76°F)</a> since the 1950s, over three times more than the global average. Its ocean is also <a href="https://www.asoc.org/learn/climate-crisis-in-antarctica/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">heating more rapidly than the rest of the world</a>, and its ice shelves are melting six times faster than in the 1980s, according to the Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition.The behavior of sea ice in the region has shifted widely since the beginning of the 20th century. After a decline in the early 1900s, it began increasing again, and in recent years, both record highs and record lows have been detected, the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-64649596">BBC</a> reported in February. In 2018, for example, a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=10153178100249071">NASA report</a> said some parts of the region were gaining ice.But recent record lows are a cause for concern.A <a href="https://affiliate.insider.com?h=fbfdddfefa9514d48e21ae35ec00d34542727c088f2af034e3d11febe739423c&amp;postID=6506ba0b74fcf693ad393290&amp;postSlug=sea-ice-levels-in-antarctica-reached-a-new-historic-low-2023-9&amp;site=bi&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nature.com%2Farticles%2Fs43247-023-00961-9" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> published in Nature links the recent record lows in sea-ice levels to the rise in the ocean's temperature, saying that the ice is essentially melting from below. Report co-authors Ed Doddridge and Ariaan Purich told Australia's <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-09-13/climate-scientists-issue-warning-over-antarctic-sea-ice-levels/102849334">ABC</a> News that this year's level in sea ice is about 930,000 square miles less than the maximum coverage usually seen in September and that these changes may be irreversible.

Sea-ice levels in Antarctica at a 'mind-blowing' historic low

<ul class="summary-list"><li>When polar bears and grizzly bears mate, the hybrid is called a pizzly bear, or a grolar bear.</li><li>Pizzlies are becoming more common in the <keyword id="59606" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="arctic">Arctic</keyword> and the <keyword id="1484485" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="climate-crisis">climate crisis</keyword> is likely playing a role.</li><li>As grizzly bears move further north with warmer temperatures, they're more likely to meet polar bears.</li></ul>Pizzly bears, sometimes called grolar bears, are a bear hybrid that could become more common in the Arctic as a result of the climate crisis.The pizzly bear is the result of polar bears and grizzly bears breeding, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0D0SC-32Zs">according to Larisa DeSantis</a>, a biology professor at Vanderbilt University."We've known about pizzlies for quite some time, but their occurrence may be more common with ongoing Arctic warming," DeSantis said.Read more: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/e-commerce-hinders-emissions-goals-ups-fedex-amazon-sustainability-2021-4">Amazon, FedEx, and UPS have grand goals to slash emissions. Cashing in on the pandemic e-commerce boom suddenly made them much harder to reach.</a>A pizzly was first discovered in the wild in 2006, when a hunter in Canada's far north killed a bear with white fur and brown patches as well as the humped back and long claws characteristic of a <keyword id="1613069" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="60" keywordseo="Grizzly-Bear">grizzly bear</keyword>. DNA testing confirmed the bear was a hybrid, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/a48d3967d653e5a081e071ad73c7526f">The Associated Press</a> reported at the time.<div type="image" title="pizzly bear polar grizzly hybrid" height="2552" width="3403" msid="82340421" hostid="261"></div>Since then, sightings of pizzlies in the wild have become more common. A <a href="https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/arctic/article/view/67681">2017 study</a> published in the journal Arctic documented eight pizzlies who were the offspring of one female <keyword id="69504" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="polar-bear">polar bear</keyword> that had mated with two separate grizzly bears.According to DeSantis, grizzly bears are moving further north as temperatures rise. Meanwhile, "polar bears are increasingly having to search for other food sources, when hunting seals from <keyword id="1237709" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="sea-ice">sea ice</keyword> become untenable," she said.Polar bears typically rely on sea ice to hunt for seals, which make up the vast majority of their diet. A <a href="https://science.sciencemag.org/content/359/6375/568">2018 study</a> published in <keyword id="41551" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="100" keywordseo="science">Science</keyword> found as sea ice continues to decline, "polar bears are likely to experience increasingly stressful conditions and higher mortality rates." And arctic sea ice is declining rapidly, as the Arctic experiences higher rates of warming than the rest of the globe, according to the <a href="https://www.climate.gov/news-features/understanding-climate/climate-change-minimum-arctic-sea-ice-extent">National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration</a>.<div type="image" title="pizzly bear grolar polar grizzly hybrid animal" height="3315" width="4420" msid="82340423" hostid="261"></div>DeSantis said polar bears and grizzly bears have been observed near whale carcasses, prompting them to "engage in opportunistic mating." Since polar bears and grizzlies only diverged about 500,000 to 600,000 years ago, she said, their offspring are able to produce offspring as well.But it will take time and additional research to know how well suited these hybrids are to survival."Most of the time, hybrids are not more vigorous than either of the two species," DeSantis said, adding that individual species generally have adaptations best suited for their habitat. But she said there have been some instances where hybrids are more vigorous, "particularly if that environment is deviating from what it once was."Have a news tip? Contact this reporter at <a href="mailto:kvlamis@insider.com?inline-read-more">kvlamis@insider.com</a>.

You Searched For "arctic sea" and got 11 results

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As militaries get busier in the Arctic, the US and Russia are running out of ways to solve problems there

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