Arctic Powers Account For 40 Percent Of CO2 Releases

CLIMATE SCIENCE

File photo: Eastern ice sheet, Antarctica.

by Staff Writers
Fairbanks, Alaska (UPI) Aug 09, 2006
A U.S. ecology professor says arctic nations have the wealth and scientific understanding to alter the course of global climate change. "Nations that govern arctic lands account for about 40 percent of global CO2 emissions and, therefore, have a substantial capacity to reduce the rates of Arctic change," said F.S. "Terry" Chapin III of the Institute of Arctic Biology at the University of Alaska-Fairbanks.

"A lot of the recommendations for policy change deal with enhancing the capacity of northern regions to be flexible and adaptable to cope with changes, some of which we can predict, and others of which will be surprises," Chapin added.

He said an increasingly ice-free Arctic Ocean could be zoned to include marine protected areas, designated shipping lanes, and fishing areas co-managed by local residents and government managers.

"There is a long, perhaps 50-year, time lag between implementation of reduced greenhouse gas emissions and a large change in greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere, so reducing greenhouse gas emissions is important, but insufficient. We will also need to deal with the consequences of the warming that is already under way," Chapin said.

The recommendations appear in the journal Ambio.

Source: United Press International

CLIMATE SCIENCE

Microscopic Geochemical Processes Point to Potential Problems If the Arctic Warms

Los Angeles (SPX) Aug 10, 2006
A little-known valley in northern Sweden holds evidence that warming temperatures may lead to significant changes in nutrient availability for plants and increasing amounts of greenhouse gases, a University of Arkansas researcher and his colleagues say.

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