Arctic Sea Ice Reaches Seventh Lowest Extent on Record
in the satellite record.The overall, downward trend in the minimum extent from 1979 to 2024 is 12.4 percent per decade relative to the 1981 to 2010 average. From the linear trend, the loss of sea ice is about 77,000 square kilometers (30,000 square miles) per year, equivalent to losing the state of South Dakota or the country of Austria annually.“Every year brings something new for the Arctic Ocean,” said NSIDC senior research scientist Walt Meier. “This summer we saw very early ice loss in Hudson Bay, open water near the North Pole and a stubborn ice floe near the Bering Strait that
Submerged Pick-Up Truck Located Using Underwater Sonar
The James River is a tributary of the Missouri River. It is roughly 710 miles long and spans over 20,000 square miles of North and South Dakota with more than 70% of the river’s drainage occurring in South Dakota. River conditions during normal years include both still-water and flooding on both the James River and its tributaries. Water easily breaches the low banks, and these floods tend to cover a significant portion of the floodplain. When the river is still, water quality drops and it becomes quite difficult to see more than a few feet underwater.The Beadle County Office of Emergency
Future USS South Dakota Delivered to US Navy
The U.S. Navy accepted delivery of the 17th submarine of the Virginia class, the future USS South Dakota (SSN 790), on September 24.The next-generation attack submarine began construction in 2013 and is scheduled to be commissioned in early 2019.South Dakota is the seventh Virginia-class Block III submarine. Block III submarines feature a redesigned bow with enhanced payload capabilities, replacing 12 individual vertical launch tubes with two large-diameter Virginia Payload Tubes, each capable of launching six Tomahawk cruise missiles. This, among other design changes, reduced the submarines'
Finns Want to Carve Trump’s Face on a Glacier
President Donald Trump reportedly told South Dakota Representative Kristi Noem it is his dream to be added to Mount Rushmore.There might not be space for the 45th American president’s likeness alongside some of his most immortal predecessors on Mount Rushmore, but a group of Finnish environmentalists say they want to fulfill Trump’s dream in a different way.Members of a Finnish NGO say they want to commission Project Trumpmore, a 115-foot-tall ice sculpture of Donald Trump’s face onto an arctic glacier inspired by the iconic South Dakota monument and Trump’s rejection of
US Navy Christens Submarine Indiana
submarine is the third U.S. Navy ship to be christened with the name Indiana. The first Indiana (BB-1), the lead ship of her class of battleship, served in the North Atlantic and later participated in the blockade of Santiago de Cuba during the Spanish-American War. The second Indiana (BB-58) was a South Dakota-class battleship that earned nine battle stars for her service in the Pacific Theater in World War II. BB-58 fought in the Battle of the Philippine Sea and participated in the invasions of Tarawa, Kwajalein and Okinawa, and bombarded Saipan, the Palau Islands, the Philippines and Iwo Jima.
US Navy to Christen Submarine Indiana
the third U.S. Navy ship to be christened with the name Indiana. The first Indiana (BB-1), the lead ship of her class of battleship, served in the North Atlantic and later participated in the blockade of Santiago de Cuba during the Spanish-American War. The second Indiana (BB-58) was a South Dakota-class battleship that earned nine battle stars for her service in the Pacific Theater in World War II. BB-58 fought in the Battle of the Philippine Sea and participated in the invasions of Tarawa, Kwajalein and Okinawa, and bombarded Saipan, the Palau Islands, the Philippines and Iwo Jima.
Underwater Video Aids Scientists and Search Teams
for a number of years and Captain Dale Appel reports, “the TOV has helped us recover many drowning victims, locate evidence, find submerged vehicles, sunken vessels and many other things.” Sterling Fire Department in Massachusetts and Morton County Sheriff’s Department in South Dakota are also using the video system to assist in their underwater operations. Both departments have JW Fishers DV-1 drop video which is lowered from the boat on a Kevlar reinforced cable to within a few feet of the bottom. The underwater housing is equipped with two powerful 1,500 lumen LED lights
Police, Dive Companies Find Many Uses for Side Scan Sonars
Odion says he’s very happy with the new sonar and that it will be instrumental for pipeline surveys and salvage projects. A few of the many other search teams using Fishers side scans are South Survey and Mapping Co. in China, Beadle County Office of Emergency Management in South Dakota, commercial diving company Alldive in Malta, Fall River Police in Massachusetts, Suffolk County Sheriffs Marine Unit in New York, Union Fire Company in Pennsylvania, North Carolina Dept. of Transportation, Cape May Township Fire District 2 and Phoenix Marine in New Jersey, US Navy’s EOD
Exploring Protected Areas and Shipwrecks in the Pacific
poorly known areas in and around Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument. The Monument is one of the largest fully protected conservation areas in the United States, encompassing 139,797 square miles. If placed over the U.S. mainland, it would span the distance from Washington, D.C. to Sioux Falls, South Dakota. "Although the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument was established nearly 10 years ago, there is still much to be learned about the more than 7,000 species and geological features in this area," said Athline Clark, PMNM superintendent for NOAA's Office of National Marine
December 2025
