TL: SEA ICE DECLINE AND THE WESTERN ARCTIC
SO: GREENPEACE CANADA, (GP)
DT: JUNE, 1997

The Arctic Ocean is dominated, both climatologically and
ecologically, by the vast polar ice pack. The white surface of
the pack ice efficiently reflects sunlight away from the Earth
and so cools off the entire planet. Many of the unique animals
of the Arctic, including polar bears, Arctic fox, walruses,
seals, and many species of fish and birds have evolved to take
advantage of the special characteristics of the pack ice and the
larger ring of thinner sea ice that surrounds it.

The Inuit peoples have adapted remarkably well to an environment
which makes it possible to hunt, fish and travel for weeks and
months at a time over ice just a few meters above the ocean
surface. 

Studies by the Nansen Environmental and Remote Sensing Centre in
Norway have shown that the total area of the Arctic Ocean
covered by sea ice has declined 5.5 percent since 1978.

In a speech prepared for a meeting of the signatories to the
Framework Convention on Climate Change in 1996, Rosemarie
Kuptana, from the Beaufort Sea community of Sachs Harbour and
then president of the Inuit Circumpolar Conference, noted:

"Climate change has not gone unnoticed at the community level in
the Arctic. Today, our hunters are noticing changes in our
homeland -- such as discolourations and thinning of sea ice,
changes in the leads and open water areas, and the presence of
animals not previously found in our region _ Highly experienced
and knowledgeable hunters have had experiences falling through
areas of sea ice they have previously known to be safe."

[MAPS NOT AVAILABLE MAP CAPTION: Maps illustrating current pack
ice (thicker than 0.5 meters) extent and extent under a carbon
dioxide doubling scenario. Light blue shows spring maximum pack
ice, white shows autumn minimum pack. (Based on Washington, W.
M. ; Meehl, G. A. 1996 High-latitude climate change in a global
coupled ocean-atmosphere-sea ice model with increased
atmospheric CO2 , J. Geophys. Res. Vol. 101 , No. D8 , 
p. 12,795-12,802)]

These changes in sea ice were dramatically illustrated in the
spring of 1997 when more than 100 experienced Inuit whalers had
to be rescued after they were stranded on a large section of
shorefast ice which broke off into the Chukchi Sea.

If carbon dioxide levels double, scientists project dramatic
changes in sea thickness and extent, with thick pack ice 
potentially disappearing even in winter at the shores of the
Beaufort and Chukchi seas, and being reduced to a tiny island
hundreds of kilometers from shore in the summer. If this
happens, Alaska biologist Vera Alexander warns "essentially all
the distinctive Arctic animals would disappear."

SEA LEVEL RISE AND THE WESTERN ARCTIC

Around the world, sea levels are rising. Scientists have long
predicted that climate warming would cause sea water to expand,
and melt glaciers and polar ice sheets. The Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change has concluded that doubling levels of
carbon dioxide would cause sea level to rise between 0.15 and
0.95 meters by the year 2100, with a "best guess" of about half
a meter.

[MAPS NOT AVAILABLE, MAP CAPTION: These maps, based on United
States Geological Survey Digital Elevation Model (DEM) files,
show as light blue regions that are on average one meter or less
above sea level. ]

What is less well known is that the Western Arctic is
particularly vulnerable to sea level rise. Rich with river
deltas and wetlands, the Western Arctic is among the most
important waterfowl breeding and molting areas in the world.
However, many of these low elevation areas, including the
Mackenzie, Colville, Kobuk and Yukon-Kuskokwim deltas, the
Tuktoyaktuk Peninsula, and the regions around Teshekpuk Lake and
the Selawik National Wildlife Refuge contain vast coastal areas
that are less than one meter above sea level. If carbon dioxide
levels double, scientific projections suggest that these areas
may be flooded.

Moreover, other factors, also driven by climate change, may be 
even more important in dramatically reshaping the coastline of
the Western Arctic. These include more frequent fall storms,
much larger storm surges because of greater areas of ice-free
water, and ground subsidence as permafrost melts.

These changes are already having significant impacts on Arctic
communities. Inuit peoples have a strong marine tradition, and
their communities are almost uniformly located in low lying
coastal and river delta regions. Buildings in Tuktoyaktuk have
washed out to sea, and the community has had to move a school
and police station away from the rapidly eroding coast. The
archaeological remains and gravesites of the former Beaufort Sea
communities of Imagaruk and Isuk have been drowned beneath the
Arctic Ocean. The community of Newtok in the Yukon-Kuskokwim is
currently in the process of being moved because of coastal
erosion.

Coastal flooding in the Arctic is not only of local concern,
because as the relatively warm ocean covers the colder land, the
decay of organic matter will be accelerated and vast amounts of
methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, will be released.