While the US administration is still on the fence about fighting global warming, the arctic countries met in Alaska to discuss the extensive environmental change in the arctic region.
Arctic temperatures are rising twice as fast as elsewhere, sea ice is hitting record lows and permafrost is thawing. A new study in early May 2017, suggested that Alaska’s vast tundra is now releasing more carbon dioxide than it stores, adding to the warming effect in the atmosphere.
The changes in the Arctic have the potential to lead to more economic development amid the region’s fragile ecosystems, and to new security concerns. Already, Russia has announced it will begin shipping natural gas from an Arctic port in Siberia from September 2017 using special icebreaking tankers, and the Russian military recently completed a base on Franz Josef Land in the northern Barents Sea.
Since it was founded two decades ago, the Arctic Council has focused extensively on environmental and sustainability issues. One of its working groups, the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme, released a report last month summarising conditions in the region, concluding that ”the Arctic will experience significant changes during this century even if greenhouse gas emissions are stabilised globally at a level lower than today’s”.
However, in the event that if the United States were to somehow reduce its commitment to the council and Arctic issues, the organisation’s work would continue. The focus will remain on climate change during Finland’s two-year chairmanship.
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Source: The Straits Times, 11 May 2017