Polar bears walking on thin ice
- the big melt has begun
A new comprehensive report on the devastating impact of
climate change urges Arctic governments to immediately cut their emissions of
carbon dioxide.
WWF-The Arctic Climate Impact Assessment (ACIA), produced by more than 250
scientists and six circumpolar indigenous peoples’ organisations, provides
incontrovertible proof that climate change is happening in the Arctic and that
it will get worse unless emissions of carbon dioxide are cut.
The report also warns that a warmer Arctic will have impacts around the
world, contributing to global warming and sea level rise.
“The big melt has begun,” said Jennifer Morgan, Director of WWF’s
global Climate Change Campaign.
“Industrialised countries are carrying out an uncontrolled experiment to
study the effects of climate change and the Arctic is their first guinea pig.
This is unethical and wrong. They must cut emissions of CO2 now.”
WWF welcomes the report, but highlights the hypocrisy of those governments
which sponsored it because they have failed to cut emissions of carbon dioxide.
The eight Arctic countries emit more than 30 per cent of global carbon dioxide
emissions.
Key findings in the report are:
• Human-induced changes in arctic climate are among the largest on earth.
Warming in the Arctic will be around two or three times greater than the rest of
the world.
• Polar bears could become extinct by the end of this century. They are
very unlikely to survive as a species if there is an almost complete loss of
summer sea ice cover, which is projected to occur before the end of this century
by some climate models.
• Some arctic fisheries will disappear
• New health hazards for both animals and humans are set to appear as the
climate warms.
• A warmer climate is likely to see more forest fires and storm damage to
coastal communities in the Arctic.
• Glaciers, sea ice and tundra will melt, contributing to global sea level
rise.
According to the report, sea levels could rise by nearly one meter by the end
of the century. A warmer Arctic will contribute up to 15 per cent of this rise.
Today, there are 17 million people living less than one meter above sea level in
Bangladesh, while places like Florida and Louisiana in the US, Bangkok,
Calcutta, Dhaka and Manila are also are risk from sea level rise.
The area of the Greenland Ice Sheet that experiences some melting has
increased by about 16 per cent from 1979 to 2002. The area of melting in 2002
broke all previous records. Global warming could eventually lead to a complete
melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet, and a resulting sea-level rise globally of
seven meters although this will take several hundred years.
A melting Arctic will also accelerate the rate of global climate change. As
arctic snow and ice melt, the ability of the Arctic to reflect heat back to
space is reduced, accelerating the overall rate of global warming.
A warmer Arctic could possibly halt the Gulf Stream, which brings warmer
water and weather to north-western Europe.
“Polar bears are walking on thin ice,” said Samantha Smith, Director of
WWF's International Arctic Programme. “If we can secure their future by
cutting carbon dioxide emissions, we can secure the future of thousands of other
species around the world.”
More information:
For more information:
Samantha Smith, Director
WWF Arctic Programme
Tel: +47 45 02 21 49
WWF - www.panda.org
Reproduced with permission from WWF. © 2002 WWF-- World Wide Fund For Nature.
(Formerly World Wildlife Fund). All rights reserved.
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