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Climate Change Conference in Nairobi
Brussels, 10 November 2006. From 6 to 17 November 2006, the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Nairobi, Kenya, is focusing international attention on the fight against climate change. Knowledge about climate change has been growing and in many parts of the world its impacts can already be felt, particularly in the Arctic. In order to promote access to key reference information, GreenFacts and the International Polar Foundation (IPF) have joined forces to publish a web-based summary version of one of the leading scientific consensus reports in this area: the Arctic Council’s “Impacts of a warming Arctic: Arctic Climate Impact Assessment”. The summary is available on www.greenfacts.org/en/arctic-climate-change/. The Arctic region, home to almost four million people, is already undergoing major changes as a result of climate change. These changes, such as significantly increasing temperatures and melting ice, provide an advance warning for the rest of the world. “The severity of change in the Arctic highlights the reality of climate change and its vulnerable ecosystems face the toughest of challenges” says Alain Hubert, polar explorer and co-founder of the IPF. “What’s more, the implications and consequences of Arctic climate change stretch far beyond the limits of this region and affect the world as a whole. Thus, climate change in the Arctic requires urgent public attention.”Highlights of the ACIA report Arctic climate change not only affects local people and ecosystems but also the rest of the world, because the Arctic plays a vital role in global climate. As part of the broader global warming phenomenon, rapid changes are already taking place in the Arctic: permafrost is melting, glaciers are receding, and sea ice is disappearing. According to the report, the current increase in temperatures goes beyond natural climate variability. In the Arctic, average temperatures have risen almost twice as fast as in the rest of the world, and are projected to rise by 3 to 7°C (5.4 to 12.6°F) between 2000 and 2100. The melting of Arctic glaciers is also expected to contribute increasingly to global sea-level rise. Moreover, three major Arctic climate mechanisms directly feed back into further global warming: Due to the complexity of the Earth’s climatic system, major surprises are possible if climate change evolves more abruptly than the gradual scenarios assumed in the ACIA report. Records indicate that in the past very large shifts in Arctic climate patterns, and as a consequence in global climate, have occurred very quickly. The implications are particularly significant for future generations that will face the consequences of the current action or inaction. About GreenFacts asbl/vzw GreenFacts asbl/vzw is an independent non-profit organisation based in Brussels that publishes faithful on-line summaries of scientific consensus documents on environment and health matters in several languages on www.greenfacts.org. These summaries are presented as questions and answers in three levels of detail, making the scientific consensus easily accessible to non-specialists. GreenFacts was created in 2001 by individuals from scientific institutions, environment and health organisations, and businesses, who called for wider access to unbiased information on environment and health topics. About the International Polar Foundation The International Polar Foundation communicates and educates on Polar research as a way to understand key environmental and climate mechanisms. It also promotes innovative and multifaceted responses to the complex challenges raised by the need for action on sustainable development. The IPF is headquartered in Brussels (established as a "Fondation d'Utilité Publique" in Belgium since 2002) and has local antennae in France, Switzerland and in the United Kingdom. The development of Canadian and US antennae is currently in progress. www.polarfoundation.org
For further details visit www.greenfacts.org or contact Sandra Nebe
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