Global Warming Thaws Arctic, Divides Governments

[Guest guest]

The changes in global warming will bring about major

problems. Wiping out of whole ecological systems.

Problems with crop failure and food suppies, diseases

and public health, etc. F.

 

 

http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsArticle.jhtml?type=scienceNews & storyID=6147236 & sect\

ion=news

 

Global Warming Thaws Arctic, Divides Governments

Fri 3 September, 2004 16:01

 

By Alister Doyle

 

OSLO (Reuters) - Global warming is set to accelerate

in the Arctic and bring drastic change for people and

wildlife in coming decades, according to a draft

report that has opened cracks among nations in the

region about how to slow the thaw.

 

" (The) Arctic climate is warming rapidly now and much

larger changes are projected, " according to the

conclusions of the international study, compiled by

600 experts and due for release at a conference in

Iceland in November.

 

Rising temperatures will disrupt life for people,

bringing more storms and destabilizing everything from

homes to oil pipelines. Melting glaciers could raise

global sea levels and spoil habitats for creatures

like polar bears, it says.

 

The Arctic is warming faster than the rest of the

world partly because sea water and dark ground, once

exposed, trap far more heat than ice and snow which

reflect the sun's rays.

 

The report's draft summary, a copy of which was

obtained by Reuters on Friday, says the rise in

temperatures is being stoked by human emissions of

greenhouse gases, mainly from burning fossil fuels in

cars, factories and power plants.

 

Arctic temperatures could surge by 8 degrees to 14

degrees Fahrenheit -- or roughly double the rate

predicted by U.N. studies for the planet as a whole by

2100, it says.

 

But nations in the Arctic region -- the United States,

Russia, Canada and Nordic countries -- are sharply

divided about how to act on the scientists'

conclusions, with Washington opposed to any major

initiatives, diplomatic sources say.

 

U.S. OPPOSES CAPPING EMISSIONS

 

Nordic countries see the study as alarming evidence

that the world should act to cap emissions of

greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide from fossil

fuels.

 

But President Bush is an opponent of caps and pulled

out of the U.N.'s stalled Kyoto protocol in 2001, the

main global plan for limiting emissions. He said Kyoto

would be too costly and wrongly excluded developing

nations.

 

Ministers from Arctic nations are to meet in Iceland

in November, after the report is issued, to agree

recommendations.

 

Among conclusions, the Arctic Climate Impact

Assessment (ACIA) says the warming in the Arctic will

" have worldwide implications. "

 

Run-off from melting glaciers and the Greenland icecap

could raise global sea levels and disrupt ocean

circulation, it says. And biodiversity elsewhere could

be affected because some migratory species breed in

the Arctic.

 

The report also says " Arctic vegetation zones are

projected to shift, bringing wide-ranging impacts " and

that " Animal species' diversity, ranges and

distributions will change, some dramatically. "

 

Meanwhile, it says, many coastal communities and

facilities face increasing exposure to storms.

 

And indigenous peoples would face major economic and

cultural impacts, it says. Ultraviolet radiation --

known to cause skin cancer and immune system disorders

in humans -- would also rise sharply.

 

The report also concludes that " reduced sea ice is

very likely to increase marine transport and access to

resources. " The thaw could open short-cut shipping

routes between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

 

But on land, buildings, oil pipelines, industrial

facilities, roads and airports could need substantial

rebuilding if permafrost thaws, it says.