Arctic Climate Impact Assessment

www.acia.uaf.edu...
(for data about ACIA go to main page and this)


ACIA is study concerning fast warming of arctic areas observed in last fifty years which has caused retreat of sea ice and earlier melting of snow and later start of winter.

It also deals with its consequences to local people, environment and to global weather. (and yes, this would affect to even Bush's oil industry buddies because of partial melting of current permafrost)
Arctic areas can also cause acceleration in warming because of decrease in albedo means bigger absorption of heat coming from the sun.

There's so much information that telling it briefly is little hard without "writing novel".

Full report can be found from here. (in PDF form)
www.amap.no...
I would suggest looking at least graphics which are very good.



Here's some other pages concerning this study... I think this one says it well:
news.nationalgeographic.com...

The study concluded that in Alaska, western Canada, and eastern Russia, average temperatures have increased as much as 4 to 7 degrees Fahrenheit (3 to 4 degrees Celsius) in the past 50 years, nearly twice the global average. Temperatures are projected to rise 7 to 13 degrees Fahrenheit (4 to 7 degrees Celsius) over the next hundred years.

The rising temperatures are likely to cause the melting of at least half the Arctic sea ice by the end of the century. A significant portion of the Greenland ice sheet—which contains enough water to raise the worldwide sea level by about 23 feet (about 7 meters)—would also melt.

(so who wants to melt arctic area's ice?)

news.nationalgeographic.com...
www.ucsusa.org...

Polar Bears are facing extinction due to the warming.

The polar bear, whose natural habitat is sea-ice in the most
northern regions of the globe, is quickly losing its long-time terrain due
to global warming patterns.