Arctic Climate Impact Assessment

The big melt is under way...

The Arctic is melting. By 2100 there may be no ice left in the Arctic in summer. That means no polar bears. Global warming, caused by burning fossil fuels, is to blame.

This is just one of the findings of the most comprehensive report on climate change impacts on the Arctic ever produced.

Arctic Climate Impact Assessment
The Arctic Climate Impact Assessment (ACIA), prepared by more than 250 scientists for the Arctic Council, provides proof that climate change is happening in the Arctic and that it will get worse more quickly unless emissions of carbon dioxide are cut.

A warmer Arctic will also have impacts around the world, contributing to global warming and a rise in sea levels. ACIA was published in November 2004. To read the full report go to http://www.amap.no/acia/index.html

WWF's Opinion

WWF welcomes the scientific report of the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment (ACIA) but is highly critical of the hypocrisy of the arctic governments which sponsored it, because they have failed to cut emissions of carbon dioxide.

The eight arctic countries - which include the US and Russia - emit more than 30% of global carbon dioxide emissions.

Jennifer Morgan, director of WWF's global climate change campaign, said: "The big melt has begun.

"Industrialised countries are carrying out an uncontrolled experiment to study the effects of climate change and the Arctic is their first guinea pig. This is unethical and wrong. They must cut emissions of CO2 now."

Find out more about WWF’s climate work

Background to the report

The Arctic Climate Impact Assessment (ACIA) was produced for the Arctic Council.

Two of the Arctic Council's working groups, the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP) and Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna (CAFF), in association with the International Arctic Science Committee (IASC), were given the task by the ministers to conduct the ACIA.

Goal of ACIA
The goal of ACIA is to "evaluate and synthesize knowledge on climate variability and change and increased ultraviolet radiation, and support policy-making processes and the work of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change."

The assessment is to address "environmental, human health, social, cultural and economic impacts and consequences, including policy recommendations."

More than 250 scientists and six circumpolar indigenous peoples' organisations have participated in the ACIA.

About the Arctic Council
The Arctic Council is an intergovernmental forum for addressing many of the common concerns and challenges faced by the arctic states: Canada , Denmark (including Greenland and the Faroe Islands ), Finland , Iceland , Norway , the Russian Federation , Sweden and the US.