In last 30 years, we’ve lost as much as three-quarters of the floating sea ice cover at the top of the world. Satellite images reveal that the volume of that summer sea ice in the Arctic has shrunk so fast that scientists say it’s now in a ‘death spiral’. Due to human activities, primarily the burning of fossil fuels, the Arctic may soon be ice free in the summer for the first time in over 800,000 years.
This will be devastating for polar bears, narwhals, walruses and other species that live there. It will also have profoundly destructive consequences for people all around the world as the Arctic helps to regulate global weather patterns and as a consequence has a powerful impact on global agriculture.
It is a tragic irony that the dirty energy companies that are causing the Arctic to warm at twice the rate of the rest of the world, are also looking to plunder oil and other resources that lie underneath the disappearing ice.
Arctic ecosystems are among the most fragile on Earth and according to recently declassified government documents, dealing with oil spills in the freezing waters is “almost impossible.” If there is one thing we have learned it is that spills are unavoidable and in the Arctic this will be far more destructive than anywhere else on the planet.
We cannot allow the Arctic to be exploited for its natural resources. We cannot allow the loss of the indiginous people’s way of life by giant fishing companies. They have fished sustainably in the Arctic for thousands of years.
As part of its efforts to defend the Arctic, Greenpeace is asking people
to sign a petition to create a global sanctuary around the North Pole,
ban offshore drilling and other destructive industries in the Arctic. Thirty years ago they launched a similar campaign to protect the Antarctic. They were instrumental in helping to create a world park around the South Pole, now they are asking for people to come together to do the same for the Arctic Ocean.
Help Greenpeace to ban destructive industries in the Arctic and create a global sanctuary around the North Pole dedicated to peace and science. Join millions of people around the world and sign the petition to protect the Arctic.
Click here for more information.
© 2014, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.
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