The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has officially listed the polar bear as a 'threatened' species, due to the meltdown of its sea-ice habitat caused by global warming.
The poles are
indicators of the planet's health and provide early warning that we
are compromising the Earth´s ability to sustain life as we know it.
It is already too late to avoid profound negative changes at the
poles, but we can limit the damage by establishing boundaries that
stop the commercial fishing fleets and the oil and gas industries
from plundering and polluting these already damaged ecosystems.
The snow covered
lands and icy waters of the Arctic and the Antarctic are for many
people the purest examples of true wilderness left on this planet
that we share. The Arctic has been home to indigenous peoples for
millennia, whilst Antarctica is home only to visiting scientists.
Both polar oceans are also home to distinctive wildlife that has
adapted to the extreme environmental conditions, such as the
Arctic's polar bears and the Antarctic's penguins. Polar waters
provide rich feeding grounds that sustain large populations of
seabirds and marine mammals including the majority of the world's
great whales.
While in the past
both Poles have drawn the attention of those who saw the wildlife
--and in particular the seals and the whales --only as rich
pickings that could be exploited for immediate profit, the 21st
century sees both regions under threat from industrial exploitation
on a scale that was previously unimaginable.
Oil, gas and fishing
interests are all encroaching on these once out-of-reach regions
while simultaneously their fragile ecologies are under massive
pressure from the effects of rapidly increasing climate change.
The poles are in
grave danger.
Only by
establishing large scale marine reserves at both poles as part of a
global network, can we ensure the future of these regions and their
astounding array of wildlife.
Greenpeace has set up bases at both ends
of the world to stop oil and gas exploration in the fragile
environments of the Arctic and the
Antarctic.Photo:Greenpeace/Newman
Protecting Polar Oceans
By establishing a moratorium on industrial activities in the
part of the Arctic Ocean historically covered by ice, and
establishing a marine reserve in the Ross Sea in Antarctica, we can
ensure the future of these regions and their astounding array of
wildlife.
There is a compelling body of scientific evidence which
demonstrates that setting aside large areas of the ocean from
industrial activities such as fishing and oil and gas extraction
provides protection for valuable species and habitats, maintains
important ecosystem functions and allows degraded areas to recover.
This is even more important for the Polar Oceans since the Arctic
and Antarctic are warming faster than the rest of the globe and so
are under increased stress.
A moratorium on industrial activities in the north and a marine
reserve in the south will make both Polar Oceans more resilient to
the impacts of climate change and will help prevent further,
catastrophic, climate change.
Solutions
Greenpeace calls upon the United Nations and governments around
the world to commit to the following course of action to save the
Arctic and Antarctic:
- Establish an immediate moratorium on industrial development in
the area of the Arctic Ocean that has historically been covered by
sea ice year-round. This "line in the ice" is the average minimum
sea ice extent averaged from 1979-2000, the period before
significant sea ice loss due to climate change was recorded.
- Create a long term solution by agreeing a permanent, equitable
and overarching treaty or multi-lateral agreement that protects the
Arctic Ocean environment and ecosystems and the peoples who depend
on them.
- Antarctic Treaty member states must honour their commitment to
dedicate the continent to 'peace and science' and implement their
obligations to establish a comprehensive and representative network
of marine reserves in the Southern Ocean. To be effective this
network should be of sufficient scale, covering at least 40 percent
of the Southern Ocean.