Changes in the Earth’s polar regions have broadscale environmental effects throughout the globe.
Change in the Arctic has been signaled by salmon moving further north, barn owls appearing and threats to the survival of polar bears. Southern ocean warming in the Antarctic could lead to the die off of sensitive species like the giant sea spiders, which would have repercussions on the entire food chain.
The change has also caused some international tensions. Northern ice melt has opened up the possibility for a northwest passage, and there’s a scramble to monitor shipping traffic as well as supply and profit from it.
Oil and mineral-rich territory both North and South is spurring the last large territorial land grab. Russia has laid claim to nearly half a million square miles of formerly neutral territory in the Arctic. Britain is planning to lay claim to seabed between the Falklands and the Antarctic.
This year marks the International Polar Year (March 2007 – March 2009), with scientific research focused on Arctic and Antarctic ice, land, oceans and people. This is teh fourth international polar year, with previous scientific programs occurring in 1882, 1932 and 1957. This collaborative international scientific effort to map, monitor and assess change at our poles should provide valuable data to help predict the future of these regions and to recommend appropriate actions.
