Related News
Planet at risk as sea ice shrinks at fast pace
Source: AFP |
February 19, 2013, Tuesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
LAST year's record shrinkage of Arctic sea ice and a spell of catastrophic droughts, floods and storms highlight the risk to the planet from climate change, the UN Environment Program said yesterday.
In an annual review of the world's environment coinciding with ministerial-level talks in Nairobi, UNEP also warned of an alarming surge in elephant and rhino poaching.
In 2012, summer sea ice in the Arctic covered a record low area of 3.4 million square kilometers, which was 18 percent below the previous recorded minimum in 2007, and 50 percent below the average in the 1980s and 1990s, UNEP said.
Land ice in Greenland also showed signs of melting and permafrost in high latitudes was in retreat, it said.
"Changing environmental conditions in the Arctic, often considered a bellwether for global climate change, have been an issue of concern for some time, but as of yet this awareness has not translated into urgent action," UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner said.
He pointed to a rush to extract the oil and gas in the Arctic's seabed as the ice retreats and cautioned that the outcome could be even greater emissions of greenhouse gases.
'Global impacts'
"What we are seeing is that the melting of ice is prompting a rush for exactly the fossil-fuel resources that fueled the melt in the first place," said Steiner.
"The rush to exploit these vast untapped reserves has consequences that must be carefully thought through by countries everywhere, given the global impacts and issues at stake."
The report - the UNEP 2013 Year Book - also noted a string of weather disasters, of which the US bore the brunt, including its worst drought in decades as well as Hurricane Sandy, which flooded parts of New York City and New Jersey.
"Extreme weather events... in 2012 draw attention to the need to prepare for and make efforts to prevent heavy losses" as a result of climate change, it said.
The report also sounded the alarm over poaching.
"The number of elephants killed in 2011 likely ran into the tens of thousands, and early indications suggest that the same happened again in 2012," it said.
In an annual review of the world's environment coinciding with ministerial-level talks in Nairobi, UNEP also warned of an alarming surge in elephant and rhino poaching.
In 2012, summer sea ice in the Arctic covered a record low area of 3.4 million square kilometers, which was 18 percent below the previous recorded minimum in 2007, and 50 percent below the average in the 1980s and 1990s, UNEP said.
Land ice in Greenland also showed signs of melting and permafrost in high latitudes was in retreat, it said.
"Changing environmental conditions in the Arctic, often considered a bellwether for global climate change, have been an issue of concern for some time, but as of yet this awareness has not translated into urgent action," UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner said.
He pointed to a rush to extract the oil and gas in the Arctic's seabed as the ice retreats and cautioned that the outcome could be even greater emissions of greenhouse gases.
'Global impacts'
"What we are seeing is that the melting of ice is prompting a rush for exactly the fossil-fuel resources that fueled the melt in the first place," said Steiner.
"The rush to exploit these vast untapped reserves has consequences that must be carefully thought through by countries everywhere, given the global impacts and issues at stake."
The report - the UNEP 2013 Year Book - also noted a string of weather disasters, of which the US bore the brunt, including its worst drought in decades as well as Hurricane Sandy, which flooded parts of New York City and New Jersey.
"Extreme weather events... in 2012 draw attention to the need to prepare for and make efforts to prevent heavy losses" as a result of climate change, it said.
The report also sounded the alarm over poaching.
"The number of elephants killed in 2011 likely ran into the tens of thousands, and early indications suggest that the same happened again in 2012," it said.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
