A call to action on climate change

An amazing new study was published this week in the journal Nature provides yet more evidence that the dramatic losses we are seeing with Arctic sea ice today are unprecedented in the past 1,450 years and not explained by natural processes – again pointing the finger directly towards human generated green house gas emissions.

(c) Pete Ewins/WWF-Canada
The new study is the second in a series that uses a variety of data sources (over 69 unique streams) to reconstruct historic sea ice extent and patterns. The research not only shows the current ice loss to be unprecedented, but that it also appears to be accelerating. Not good news for the Arctic, or the wildlife and communities that depend on the sea ice ecosystem.

The study is particularly timely, as it comes at a moment when states are meeting in Durban, South Africa, to establish meaningful international action on climate change.  This research is yet another red flag on climate warming, its impacts, and its causes. It clearly shows that we are indeed affecting the global climate system and risk fundamentally altering vast ecosystems like the Arctic. And as distant as this may seem from our everyday lives, we all rely on these ecosystems to keep our planet and climate stable.

While you and I might like to wish these changes were only happening in faraway places – when the Arctic warms, the entire planet will get a lot warmer as well. Changes in sea ice cover have already been linked to a shift in continental weather patterns across North America. Changes in the north will not just affect polar bears and the Arctic, but all of us.
Ultimately it is also a call to action- a call to each and every one of us to get informed and get engaged on the climate issues facing us today. From individual to corporate to government actions- we can all do our part to reduce green house gas emissions, live more efficiently, and live better, starting right now.  For ideas to get you started, visit WWF’s Living Planet Community.