China and five other countries were added to the Arctic council as official observers recently, helping to expand the focus the world has on the arctic due to climate change. The council consists of eight Arctic countries and has recently granted observer status to South Korea, Singapore, Italy, Japan and India, as well as China. The biodiversity assessment states that climate change is the biggest threat to the Arctic, driving many migrations of trees, mammals and fish northward. The council signed a second legally binding pact which was negotiated under its auspices and released assessments of ocean acidification and biodiversity, which could be issues that need to be in the forefront of national leaders’ minds. Experts have stated that the temperatures in the Arctic are increasing more than twice as fast as elsewhere in the world, meaning that many habitats and species are under threat. Last year, Arctic ice reached record lows, with some scientists predicting an ice-free summer by mid-century unless major global changes occur.
Environmentalists are frustrated, however, by the council’s pace which is not fast enough, considering such issues including ecosystem-based management and control of the short-lived climate warmers like black carbon. This pollutant is the result of incomplete combustion of fossil fuels, biomass and biofuels. While there are efforts being made for such issues, they don’t go far enough to make an impact. An agreement on black carbon has been under consideration previously, but it was shelved due to concern from countries with older industrial systems. Global warming is an issue which is becoming increasingly pressing, as the impact it has on the planet could be devastating. Though small efforts, if made by enough people, could help, it’s vital that countries make more of an effort on a larger scale to improve the prospects for areas of the world such as the Arctic.