The Arctic is warming at a rate of almost twice the global average. If self-government means control of one's fate this project clearly chips away at the ability to control. The Arctic Frontiers conference is now a key event in the polar calendar. Snow cover over land in the Arctic has decreased, notably in spring, and glaciers in Alaska, Greenland, and northern Canada are retreating. The initial results were presented in Tromsø, Norway in January and have been cause for alarm. From the physical perspective, this paper examines the impact of climate change on sea ice and marine weather and considers the resultant consequences for Arctic shipping accessibility. Doug Saunders: The crucial factor in the future of the North is the melting of the polar ice cap, already well underway. They moved from being a backwater ex-naval base at the end of the Second World War to becoming a central maritime hub. 1/4 to 1/3 of undiscovered oil and gas in Arctic Global Perspective Canada’s greenhouse gas But as Antarctic sea ice grows, the sea ice of the Arctic is shrinking dramatically. To its credit, the government has reinvigorated interest in the Arctic and is taking part in the debate about its future. It's not a promising beginning. We try to bring the message about what’s happening in the Arctic to the world. He is the author of International Law and the Arctic. The icebergs of Ilulissat are the main tourist attraction. "We do not know enough about the marine environment to be able to avoid serious impacts. DW's half-hour radio show and podcast brings you environment stories from around the globe. The floating sea ice cover of the Arctic Ocean is shrinking, especially during summer. An innovative approach to livestock farming in the La Sepultura biosphere reserve in Mexico helps protect local forests. It is set to come into effect in 2016. Contact Tourism in the region is also growing. Arctic multiple, inter-reinforcing amplifying carbon feedback, rapid warming and runaway climate change would be a planetary catastrophe to all life. John English: Climate change will profoundly influence Arctic governance, resource extraction and sustainable human development in the Arctic. Those who will gain the most benefit will be large corporations, their suppliers of material goods and services, contractors, engineers, industrial architects, shippers, along with whichever government acquires revenue from exploratory licenses, royalties and taxes. There were great open leads in the ice, and we were obliged to hunt by boat. These are the United States, Canada, Greenland, Iceland, Norway and Russia. By Gwynne Dyer – Historically, the Arctic Ocean would freeze right out to its edges (the northern coasts of Canada, Greenland, Russia, and Alaska) each … It will, as Michael Byers says, eventually create new difficulties with weather extremes, melting permafrost and rising sea levels and, without doubt, social disruption. The likelihood that extreme events will cause disasters is exacerbated in the Arctic by extreme … The more we prepare for this with services placed in the communities along the routes the more they will be used to the benefit of these communities: Build it and they will use it. | Mobile version, OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries). He is a member of the University of British Columbia's anthropology department. Alberta, Canada's bankrupt province of the 1930s, became its wealthiest after the postwar oil boom. While not neglecting the scientifically established challenges associated with climate change and other (potentially) disastrous processes in the north, this book calls for a paradigm shift from perceiving the ‘Arctic of disasters’ to an ‘Arctic of triumph’. The decline of Arctic sea ice also has profound global climatic effects, or feedbacks, that are already intensifying global warming and have the potential to destabilize the climate system. Northern peoples have not caused climate change, but they are suffering its consequences. What does it mean that most observers completely missed the fact that gas fracking technology was successfully used by small independent companies to turn North Dakota into an oil powerhouse? Beginning in the 1960s, weekly maps of snow extent in the Northern Hemisphere were prepared from satellite imagery. We will need to deal with these new interests to ensure that our security is best protected. In this interview, Dr Colin Summerhayes talks about how the world’s climate is changing and the expected consequences on health. This is a space where subscribers can engage with each other and Globe staff. - … If a cruise ship carrying 3,000 people were to collide with an iceberg near the popular tourist town Ilulissat, the existing search and rescue capacity would not be sufficient to cope. I believe this view to be wrong. Arctic warming: Rapidly increasing temperatures are 'possibly catastrophic' for planet, climate scientist warns. With just 4,500 residents, Ilulissat would be unable to provide adequate medical treatment or shelter for people affected by the crash. In any event, the melting of Arctic icebergs will increasingly open up commercial routes from Russia’s northern shores to East Asia, with vast implications for global trade. The rich endowment of public goods created long ago are an implicit "subsidy" for Ontarians, not to mention the access to first-class schools, hospitals and social agencies. They’re talking about a trans-Arctic passage cutting straight across the North Pole. He stared out the plane window in disbelief. Leona Aglukkaq, an Inuk from Nunavut and Canada's Minister of the Environment. Without urgent action to cut greenhouse gas emissions, the world will continue to feel the effects of a warming Arctic: rising sea levels, changes in climate and precipitation patterns, increasing severe weather events, and loss of fish stocks, birds and marine mammals. The heat, accompanied by moist air, is entering the Arctic not only through the sector of the North Atlantic Ocean that lies between Greenland and Europe, as it has done in previous years, but … Climate change is increasingly opening up the Northwest Passage, an Arctic sea route north of the Canadian mainland. We do not have adequate regulations in place, and there is no sufficient oil spill preparedness," she added. This year it didn't come in until February. On the other hand, as a scientist, it makes me want to understand its processes even better. Almost immediately as the plane crossed over Baffin Island we could see from the expression on Theo's face that something was wrong. In the company of these two remarkable individuals, Jens and Theo, our plan was to spend a fortnight on the ice, establishing a hunting camp beyond the western shore of Qeqertarsuaq Island, roughly two days from Qaanaaq. Ocean collapse from heating, acidification and de-oxygenation, also a catastrophe to all life Scientists in general avoid using the term climate catastrophe or even dangerous climate change. All parts of the cryosphere are sensitive to climate change, and they all play important roles in the global climate system. There were only 250 people on the vessel used in the mock accident. The possibility of a disaster in the Arctic. The sea ice was not there. Involving northern peoples offers another benefit, in the form of centuries of acquired wisdom. When this begins, how much Canada can gain will depend on how well we prepare. Will the lives of Northern peoples be disrupted and their traditional ways damaged by climate change, or will they benefit from autonomy and development that may flow from ownership of natural resources? The Nunavut government wanted 85 per cent of the jobs to be reserved for Inuit, but only 30 per cent are -- even though the project is much smaller than originally planned. I really hope Canada will make something of their time as Chair of the Arctic Council. The same warming that is opening summertime Arctic waters is also eating away at the ice sheets covering Arctic lands in Canada and Greenland. Legal notice | In an interview with DW, he stressed the importance of ongoing negotiations aimed at introducing a 'Polar Code' to regulate Arctic shipping. The opening of the Northwest Passage will most certainly create security challenges, but so will the increased destination traffic of cargo ships and tankers moving in and out of the Arctic. The warming of the Arctic, according to UAF, has proceeded in recent years at twice the rate of global warming. In September 2013, the Nordic Orion demonstrated the potential for international cargo shipping through the Northwest Passage -- if the Canadian government invests in services and infrastructure, as the Russian government is doing along its coastline. Measuring snow extent. The creation of this process is occurring far away from the North, but the impacts it creates are felt acutely in the North. While there is much to criticize in the social, fiscal and economic approaches of successive Alberta governments, no one can deny that residents of Alberta and Canadians in general have benefited from the boom. Related impacts include ocean circulation changes, increased input of freshwater, and ocean acidification. If the corporation is Canadian-owned, it stands to reason that more economic benefits will be retained in Canada than if foreign-owned. A tear grew in his eye as he said to no one in particular, "The ice should be frozen by October. Jens told me of a trip he had made the previous summer. In Qaanaaq we introduced Theo to Jens Danielsen. We try to explain to people that the Arctic is the first sign of climate change. There were robins in Igloolik. Some information in it may no longer be current. There is a large amount of variability in climate across the Arctic, but all regions experience extremes of solar radiation in both summer and winter. Norilsk was an environmental disaster zone long before the ground under it began to thaw. “It really is quite an unprecedented time,” says Wilkinson. The Arctic Council has declared 'Acting on Climate Change' as one of its concrete actions for this next term. The effects of global warming in the Arctic, or climate change in the Arctic include rising air and water temperatures, loss of sea ice, and melting of the Greenland ice sheet with a related cold temperature anomaly, observed since the 1970s. US objections to wording on climate change prevented Arctic nations signing a joint statement at a summit in Finland, delegates said. The Arctic is a dangerous place, especially for southerners. "The attention to the economic potential of the Arctic is growing fast. Climate change has made offshore oil and gas drilling possible in the Arctic. As it turned out he did, all descendants of legendary shaman Qitdlarssuaq and a small band of six families who had migrated north in the 1850s, taking two full years to reach Greenland. Multiple observational studies suggest that the concurrent changes in the Arctic and Northern Hemisphere large-scale circulation since the 1990s did not occur by chance, but were caused by arctic amplification. In the Paris climate accords, countries agreed to limit global warming to 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit. Shipping has also increased dramatically in Arctic waters in the last few years. is the new chair of the Arctic Council so there is an unprecedented opportunity for Canada to show real leadership on climate change initiatives. Is Climate Change a Northern Catastrophe or an Arctic Opening? The Northern Sea Route along the coast of Siberia has begun experiencing summertime sea ice declines that may transform it into a reliable shipping route. He says the icebreaker fleet is not big enough to support the growing number of vessels sailing through Arctic regions. READ MORE: Japan dials back climate change … It appears that the age-old shipping lane along Russia’s Arctic coast, the Northeast Passage, is wide open, as is one route through the Northwest Passage over Canada, according to a map of sea ice on Sept. 2, created by German scientists using NASA satellite data. "Where does it come from? Is overpopulation the main threat to the planet? Climate change: Huge block breaks away from Arctic's largest remaining ice shelf. We aim to create a safe and valuable space for discussion and debate. The North’s resource boom: Is it prosperity or exploitation? Privacy Policy | Finally, the rise of the Asian powers means that in the future I suspect you will see Indian, Chinese and Japanese navies coming to Arctic waters and acting in a way very similar to the way Soviet and U.S. navies acted in the Indian Ocean in the 1980s and 1990s. In my article over the weekend about the climate risks from buried Arctic carbon, I omitted any discussion of one issue that sometimes appears in the news: methane deposits under relatively shallow seawater near the coasts of Siberia, Canada and Alaska. On the contrary, humans have about three generations’ time to push for cleaner and more sustainable energy sources. Northern communities and indigenous people are some of the most exposed to the impacts of climate change, which impacts infrastructure, resources such as food and water, and physical and mental health. Times have changed and we must now update and expand the multiple marine highways or sea routes throughout the Arctic and sub-Arctic to complete the nation-building goals begun by John A. Macdonald and continued by Wilfrid Laurier. The increase in the number of cruise boats, especially near the Norwegian Spitsbergen archipelago and off the west coast of Greenland, presents risks. Johannesson also referred to the SAREX exercises conducted in 2013. How many workers should come from the South? We have a unique opportunity to become known for our investments in the technologies needed to adapt to the changing conditions, to gather knowledge and monitoring data from the Inuit in the communities hardest hit by climate change and to be the hub for international scientific effort to understand the dramatic changes that are occurring. Ultimately the supporters of this view have come to the conclusion that the Canadian route will always be too expensive and dangerous. There remain many uncertainties as to its future effects, but northerners seem unanimous in stressing the need to adapt to it. As climate change warms the Arctic, oil rigs are opening, ships are making use of new shipping routes and tourists are flocking to see the icebergs. But this does not mean that a portion of that revenue should not be transferred to the Nunavut government for urgent infrastructure needs, improved educational opportunities and medical services. Michael Byers holds the Canada Research Chair in Global Politics and International Law at UBC. The possible links between climate change and health form one of the most controversial topics of our time. In 2016, the U.S. This graph (source data) shows average area covered by snow in the Northern Hemisphere during March and April as the difference from the 1981-2010 average. The … Across northern Canada, a prospecting boom shows the mining potential that comes with a vast geography, though again, investments in services and infrastructure are needed. This article was published more than 6 years ago. Have we yet figured out how North Dakota and Saudi Arabia are connected to reshape the future for oil development in the Arctic? Icebreakers are able to cut paths through Arctic ice. Environment Program about … Rob Huebert is associate director of the Centre for Military and Strategic Studies at the University of Calgary. Climate change is, however, already altering the situation in drastic ways: temperatures are rising faster in the Arctic than anywhere else on the planet, melting parts of the polar ice cap and exposing once-inaccessible waters and islands to commercial development. This paper assesses the value and environmental feasibility of Arctic shipping by reviewing the relevant scientific and economic peer‐reviewed literature. The waterways may be opening, but the roads and airports are being compromised in ways that negate all of the advantages that an open maritime corridor may provide. Oil and other toxic chemicals dumped by the damaged vessel would be very difficult to clean-up. When the Costa Concordia cruise ship hit rocks off the Tuscan island of Giglio in January 2012 and tipped onto its side, it became clear that this type of tourism is risky. 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