8 reasons to take action on climate change
We know that two degrees of warming is way too much for the poles. Already rapid change is damaging these beautiful and unique regions in the world.
Here are eight major areas of concern:
- RAPID WARMING: Some parts of the Arctic and Antarctic are warming two to five times faster than the average rate of global warming and are some of the areas that are warming the fastest on Earth.
- ENDANGERED SPECIES: The distressed state of polar bears and Emperor penguins. Polar bears are now on endangered lists directly as a result of climate change and Emperor penguin numbers in some colonies down 50% in the past 50 years.
- SEA LEVEL RISES: Uncertainty in the stability of ice sheets and the risk of catastrophic sea level rise - the Greenland and West Antarctic Ice Sheets hold enough ice to increase global sea levels by 15 metres.
- ACIDIFICATION: Rising carbon levels are acidifying oceans threatening key polar food chains.
- EXPLOITATION: Polar marine ecosystems damaged by exploitation (fishing and whaling) will be less able to adapt to climate change. The effects of climate change will also be more difficult to separate from impacts from exploitation in damaged ecosystems (this means we need keep some areas free from exploitation as scientific reference sites).
- THINNING ICE: The total loss of summer sea ice and overall reduction of Arctic sea ice potentially opening up the Arctic to the impacts of shipping and oil and gas exploitation.
- TURBO CHARGING CLIMATE CHANGE: The possibility of the Arctic becoming a major contributor both to greenhouse gas emissions and an overall increase and intensification of warming (because we lose the reflective quality of sea ice coverage as it disappears)
- INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES: Humans are also suffering significantly from climate change impacts in the Arctic regions
2009 is the year that the world decides the future of the earth, as governments of the world finally try to agree on a plan to massively reduce carbon emissions across the globe.
And, your voice can be heard through WWF, as we take our position at the forefront of advocating for change.
World Governments must know that 2 Poles + 2 Degrees = 2 Much.
And they must act to negotiate a fair, effective and science based global climate deal in Copenhagen in December 2009
