By KATHERINE HARDING
Thursday, September 29, 2005 Posted at 4:41 AM EDT
From Thursday's Globe and Mail![]()
Edmonton — Andy Carpenter has only to walk out his front door to see that
the Arctic's thick blanket of snow and ice is melting, drip by drip.
"It's impossible not to notice this," said the mayor of Sachs Harbour, a
remote hamlet of 120 on the shore of Banks Island in Canada's Western Arctic.
"What worries me is that people are starting to get used to it."
An alarming study released yesterday shows that the rapid decline of the
floating ice cap covering the Arctic Ocean is showing no signs of
reversing.
The U.S.-based National Snow and Ice Data Center presented data showing
that the dramatic decay has continued for the fourth consecutive year, with
2005 being a record year for sea-ice shrinkage.
- The researchers, who used satellite images and were assisted by NASA and
the University of Washington, also predicted that if the current rates of
decline in sea ice continue, the summertime Arctic could be ice-free before
the end of this century.
A thawed Arctic region would have massive implications for Canada's economy
and sovereignty claims.
Mark Serreze, a researcher at the Colorado-based centre, said it's been so
warm in the region this year that the legendary Northwest Passage was largely
open during the summer.
"It's certainly a rare event. . . . It's becoming easier to get through,"
he said. "Could this become one of the positive impacts of global warming? It
all depends on your perspective."
In recent years, some have predicted that the treacherous waterway, which
is normally clogged with ice, could become the much sought-after shortened
trade link between Europe and Asia.
Mr. Serreze said he is worried that the decline of sea ice can never be
reversed.
He said that historically, the ice cap recuperates during the winter, but
that isn't happening any more.
Instead, because large, dark sections of the Arctic Ocean are exposed, the
energy from the sun is being sucked into its waters instead of being bounced
back into space by the ice cap.
"That is warming the water up," Mr. Serreze explained.
The centre's study concluded that human-induced global warming is at least
partly to blame.
"It's still a controversial issue . . . but we've got to be considering
greenhouse gases as part of this whole event," Mr. Serreze said.
Many scientists argue that the Arctic is widely considered a regulator of
climate around the world. When its weather shifts dramatically, changes
elsewhere are bound to take place.
Last year, a landmark environmental study by the Arctic Council, which is
made up of representatives from several northern countries, found that
temperatures in the Canadian Arctic have risen by three to four degrees over
the past 50 years.
It also announced that sea-ice cover has declined 10 per cent over the past
30 years.
Federal Environment Minister Stéphane Dion told reporters in Ottawa that
the mounting research about the melting ice cap is a "terrible concern."
He said it could raise water levels in the world's oceans, causing massive
problems for countries such as Bangladesh.
He expects the topic to be discussed at a United Nations climate-change
conference in Montreal this fall.
Mr. Carpenter, who was born and raised in Sachs Harbour, just hopes the
"the rest of the world finally wakes up to what's going on."
As a boy during the 1950s, the large harbour in front of his home used to
freeze up every September.
"You used to have to break the ice just to get in," he said. "Now it's just
open water until winter hits.
"It's been gradual, but our world is definitely changing," he added.
With a report from Jeff Sallot in
Ottawa
