Meltdown!
New research reveals that the Arctic is warming up even faster than scientists feared. That could spell extinction for the polar bear
By MICHAEL D. LEMONICK
If global warming is real, experts have been saying for decades, then basic climate science dictates that it should show up earliest and proceed most rapidly in the Arctic. But even the experts were stunned at the results of a study released in November. After four years of intensive research by more than 250 scientists, a prestigious multinational body called the Arctic Council reported that the region has warmed twice as fast as the rest of the globe over the past 50 years. Arctic Ocean ice has shrunk by as much as 20%, snow cover has diminished on land, and the permafrost underlying the tundra has become less stable. And it's getting worse. By 2100, the report predicts, temperatures could rise further still, endangering indigenous Arctic ways of life, destabilizing roads that support mining and oil drilling, disrupting ecosystems, shrinking the ranges of many animals and threatening the very existence of some species, including the polar bear.
The Impact Will Be Felt in Many Ways
COASTAL AREAS
As protective sea ice disappears and permafrost underlying the land's surface softens, coastal erosion is expected to speed up dramatically. Floods will inundate marshes and estuaries, causing extensive damage for human habitats as well as for animal environments.
ARCTIC POPULATIONS
Indigenous people from Alaska to Canada to Siberia rely on fish, polar bears, seals and caribou for food, clothing and trade. As warming imperils these animals, it also threatens a way of life that has been unchanged for centuries.
VEGETATION
Rising temperatures will let forests expand north into areas that now support only scrubby flora. Loss of tundra will also rob many animals of breeding and feeding grounds.
WILDLIFE
Seals rest and give birth on sea ice; polar bears use it to stalk seals. Loss of ice will threaten both. On land, disruption of nesting areas could reduce populations of some migratory birds by as much as 50% by the year 2100.
But Is It All Bad?
UNEXPECTED BENEFITS OF GLOBAL WARMING
Some species may actually benefit from global warming. Cod and arctic char, both commercially important fish, could expand their range. Some crops, including barley and alfalfa, could be grown in areas that are too cold today. —from TIME, November 22, 2004
Questions
1. What are the key findings of the new study conducted by the Arctic Council?
2. Between now and 2100, how is sea level expected to change? What are the main reasons for this change?
3. What possible benefits could emerge as a result of a reduction in polar ice?
Source: Arctic Climate Impact Assessment