GRID Polar Division News

Nærmere 80% av polarområdene vil være berørt av gruvedrift, leteboring etter olje-og gass, havner, veier og annen næringsaktivitet i år 2050, hvis industrialiseringen av en av verdens siste store villmarksområder fortsetter i samme fart som nå.

Up to 80 per cent of the Arctic will be affected by mining, oil and gas exploration, ports, roads and other developments by 2050 if the industrialization of one of the world's last wilderness areas continues at current rates.

Massive changes in the Arctic, which are likely to have dramatic impacts on the world's weather systems, fisheries, wildlife and people living in the far North, are today forecast by scientists studying global warming.

- The important links between science, public awareness and political action were made clear today as government ministers at the United Nations Environment Programme's (UNEP) headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya, spoke with yachtsman and adventurer Sir Peter Blake in Antarctica. At anchor among icebergs and sheltering from gale-force katabatic winds, Sir Peter reported anecdotal evidence of much reduced sea ice cover in the Antarctic Peninsula at latitude 69 degrees 15 mins South. "We are in an area that normally is solid ice at this time of year. Now it has many bergs in it, but is essentially a free waterway, an almost unheard of occurrence," Sir Peter said by satellite phone.

Global warming may be set to accelerate as rising temperatures in the Arctic melt the permafrost causing it to release greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, scientists warned today (WED).