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December
10, 2004
New book looks at
home rule
The Right to National Determination
is the title of a book recently-released by the North Atlantic Group.
The North Atlantic Group
was formed in 2002 by the two Greenlandic and one of the two Faroese members
of the Danish parliament to examine the legal right to home rule possessed by
the two semi-independent Danish colonies, Greenland and the Faroe Islands.
Their book asks if the
Faroese and the Greenlanders - are "peoples" in their own right, "indigenous
peoples" or "Danish minorities," and what their status is under
international law.
These issues have been
discussed in Denmark, Greenland and the Faroe Islands for a long while as the
two Danish colonies seek greater self-rule.
The book concludes neither
Greenland nor the Faroes have always stood on solid ground when they have referred
to international law while negotiating with the Danish government. At the same
time, Denmark has often rejected Faroese and Greenlandic claims to international
law, with just cause.
October
15, 2004
U.S. officials in Nuuk
SIKU CIRCUMPOLAR NEWS
Last weekend, the joint committee for cooperation between the U.S., Denmark
and Greenland met in Nuuk, two months after U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell,
Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Møller, and Greenland Home Rule Deputy
Premier Josef Motzfeldt signed a three-deal package of agreements on economic
and environmental cooperation.
The National Science Foundation, Danish Polar Center and Greenland also recently
signed a memorandum of understanding, which is to lead to more collaboration
in the fields of science and technology.
The committee struck working groups to kick-start cooperation in research,
technology and environmental issues, education, culture, health, development,
tourism and trade.
The possibility of an air link between Greenland and the U.S. was also discussed.
During the meeting, the U.S. opened its new "American Corner" resource
center at the teacher training institute in Nuuk and announced the creation
of a virtual U.S. consulate for Greenland (www.usembassy.gl).
The joint committee will meet again in Washington, D.C. in early 2005 and,
from then on, meet at least annually.
October
15, 2004
Greenhouse gas increases sharply
SIKU CIRCUMPOLAR NEWS
A jump in greenhouse gases since 2002 could bring on a catastrophic acceleration
of global warming if it becomes a trend, scientists warned earlier this week.
But they also said the increase might be linked, for instance, to forest fires
in Siberia or the hot summer in Europe in 2003 rather than to human activity.
Carbon dioxide levels have risen by more than two parts per million (ppm) in
the past two years.
Scientists said the figures were confirmed at sites including Mauna Loa, Hawaii,
western Ireland and the Norwegian Arctic island of Svalbard. The rise was less
significant in the southern hemisphere.
The United Nations' Kyoto protocol, which could come into effect next year,
says developed nations must cut their carbon dioxide emissions by 5.2 per cent
below 1990 levels by 2008-12.
October
15, 2004
Teachers' strike continues in Iceland
SIKU CIRCUMPOLAR NEWS
About 4,000 teachers have been on strike in Iceland since Sept. 20, affecting
more than 45,000 students.
Meetings between representatives of the teachers' union and officials have
failed to produce a settlement in the on-going strike.
Last weekend, the head of the teachers' union said teachers were not prepared
to lower their demands for salary increases.
October
8, 2004
Mussels moving north
SIKU CIRCUMPOLAR NEWS
Mussels have been found growing on the seabed just 1,000 kilometres from the
North Pole, a likely sign of global warming, scientists told Reuters news service
last week.
The blue mussels, normally found in warmer waters off France or the eastern
U.S., were discovered last month off Norway's Svalbard Islands in waters that
are covered with ice most of the year.
"The climate is changing fast," Geir Johnsen, a professor at the
Norwegian University for Science and Technology, told Reuters. The mussels are
a "very good indicator that the climate is warming," he said.
"It seems like the mussels we found are two to three years old,"
he said.
Mussels have not been recorded off the islands since Viking times 1,000 years
ago, during another warm period.
Scientists monitoring Svalbard say the ice-free limit this summer near the
islands hasn't been so far north since 1751.
October
8, 2004
Iceberg draws a crowd in Paris
Last week, Iceland was the focus of several scientific and cultural exhibits
in Paris, but the real attention grabber, according to Iceland's Frettabladid
newspaper, was a 1000-year-old iceberg plucked from Jökulsárlón,
the glacial lagoon in east Iceland.
The iceberg, made of rainwater frozen 1,000 years ago, was on display in front
of the French Museum of Natural History. Originally 22 tonnes, the iceberg lost
seven tonnes in transit.
October
8, 2004
Disappearing glacier?
A Nuuk newspaper, AG, recently reported that the Sermeq Kujalleq glacier in
Ilulissat, one of the most active glaciers in the world, had receded by more
than five kilometres in the past two years.
"There is a risk that the glacier will stop calving into the ice fiord,"
AG said.
The news came just two months after UNESCO placed the Ilulissat fiord on the
World Heritage List.
"The combination of a huge ice sheet and the dramatic sounds of a fast-moving
glacial ice stream calving into a fiord covered by icebergs makes for a dramatic
and awe-inspiring natural phenomenon," the United Nations' cultural body
said.
The Ilulissat ice fiord "is an outstanding example of a stage in the earth's
history: the last ice age of the quaternary period." The glacier is one
of only a few whose ice cap reaches all the way down to the sea, with more than
35 cubic kilometres of ice moving down the ice sheet into the fiord each year.
Ilulissat, population 5,000, draws visits from half of the 15,000 tourists
who visit Greenland every year.
"The glacier has receded a lot since 2002, which is very surprising and
new since it had been relatively stable, almost unchanged since the 1950s,"
glacier expert Henrik Hoejmark Thomsen of the Geological Survey of Denmark and
Greenland told AFP news service.
Satellite photos from 2003 show that the glacier has regressed by five to seven
kilometres, a shrinkage that has continued, according to hunters and helicopter
pilots who have flown over the region recently.
"However, there is no danger that the glacier will stop producing ice
slides, even if it recedes," Thomsen said. "The regression and expansion
of the glacier is not an exceptional phenomenon. In 1860, it reached the middle
of the Ilulissat fiord, and 5,000 years before that it had receded by 20 kilometers."
October
8, 2004
Greenland tackles suicide
Greenland has launched a new suicide prevention program called "Parisa,"
to bring down its suicide rate, which is six times higher than on mainland Denmark.
Every year, there are about 50 suicides in Greenland, with more than 1,250
since the arrival of Home Rule in 1979.
Greenland's minister for family and health, Asii Chemnitz Narup, said the prevention
plan will include local projects in every community that are designed to "improve
the well-being of families."
Alcoholism and violence in the home are thought to contribute to Greenland's
high suicide rate.
To focus on the issue of suicide prevention, a call-in radio show for youth
in Greenland called "Innuusuttut Akisunnert" or "youths emerge
from the shadows," will devote a show to the problem of youth suicide and
offer listeners the chance to call and consult psychologists and counselors
for help.
October
8, 2004
Arctic sea ice declines again
SIKU CIRCUMPOLAR NEWS
Researchers at the University of Colorado at Boulder have found that the extent
of Arctic sea ice, the floating mass of ice covering the Arctic Ocean, is continuing
its rapid decline.
The latest satellite information indicates the September 2004 sea ice extent
was 13.4 per cent below average, a reduction in area nearly twice the size of
Nunavut, said Mark Serreze of the university's National Snow and Ice Data Center.
In 2002, the decline in Arctic sea ice during September, which traditionally
marks the end of the summer melt season, was about 15 per cent, a record low.
The decline in sea ice extent during September has averaged about eight per
cent over the past decade, said Serreze.
"This is the third year in a row with extreme ice losses, pointing to
an acceleration of the downward trend," he said.
October
8, 2004
More plants in the Arctic, more global warming
SIKU CIRCUMPOLAR NEWS
Larger Arctic plants are more likely to speed up climate change than slow it
down, a study published last week in the scientific journal Nature says.
According to previous studies on global warming, a warmer climate will lead
to bigger plants in the Arctic. These larger plants will absorb more carbon
dioxide, one of the "greenhouse gases" warming up the atmosphere.
But the researchers found that much more carbon was released from the deep
layers of soil than was absorbed by the plants.
In 2000, researchers measured plants at the Toolik Field Station on Alaska's
North Slope that have been used for the past 20 years as part of an experiment
to monitor long-term changes to Arctic plants due to warming trends.
Experimenters fertilized the plants to simulate one of the expected long-term
effects of warmer soil. The plants grew bigger with the added nitrogen and were
storing more carbon. This process could lead to an even more rapid warming of
the atmosphere.
October
8, 2004
Norway to approve seal-hunting tourists
SIKU CIRCUMPOLAR NEWS
Three years ago Norway's minister of fisheries dreamed up the idea to let tourists
come to Norway to shoot seals.
The program is due to start when the ordinary hunting season begins early next
year, the Dagsavisen newspaper reports.
Norway's fishery authorities say coastal seals are a problem for the fish population
and the fishing industry, and, as Norwegian hunters do not harvest their quotas,
the idea of seal-hunting tourism was born.
Visitors may have to pass Norwegian shooting tests to get permission to hunt
seals.
But some Norwegians are worried a seal hunt could give the country negative
publicity.
Truls Gulowsen, campaign leader at Greenpeace, said the proposed seal hunt
is an embarrassment.
"Most of the tourists that come to Norway are interested in unspoiled
nature. Many will find this loathsome. This is about attitudes and how we market
this country. This hunt can be mistaken for target practice," Gulowsen
said.
October
8, 2004
Obesity hits Finland
SIKU CIRCUMPOLAR NEWS
Obesity among children in Finland is on the increase. The latest figures show
that 15 to 20 per cent of Finnish children over 10 are overweight.
Of 12- to 18-year-old boys, 20 percent are fat, while 12 per cent of girls
are overweight. This means the number of overweight children has doubled or
even tripled from the late 1970s.
A study of the eating habits of students revealed that the "snacking culture"
is gaining ground even in Finland, with most boys having candy, cookies, and
soft drinks for a snack at least twice a week.
October
1, 2004
Kotzebue jail closing justified, court rules
SIKU CIRCUMPOLAR NEWS
An Alaskan Superior Court judge has ruled that Kotzebue was justified when
it shut down the northwest Alaska's only regional jail last year rather than
continue to subsidize the facility, reports the Anchorage Daily News.
Until last year, Kotzebue was one of 15 communities that operated jails for
Alaska's department of corrections. The department paid for its operations,
but hadn't raised its subsidy rates in years. The community had to absorb the
difference.
Kotzebue used other money to subsidize its jail, but when this funding disappeared
due to Alaska's ongoing fiscal crisis, Kotzebue asked for an additional $331,000
to cover costs, for a total of $920,000. Alaska said $589,000 should be enough
to operate the 14-bed facility. Kotzebue disagreed and closed the jail on July
1, 2003.
Now lawyers say it's more difficult to talk with their clients. Prisoners can't
meet with Kotzebue-area family members or friends. Alaska State Troopers must
fly inmates to Kotzebue from Nome, about 300 kilometres away, for every court
date.
While in Kotzebue, prisoners are confined in small, chain-link cells. Measuring
six feet by seven feet, the chain-link pens have no toilets or sinks; prisoners
must be escorted to use the bathroom. At times, two or three people share a
cell. If weather keeps them in Kotzebue overnight, mattresses are placed on
the floor.
October
1, 2004
Japan ready for Greenland
Tourists from Japan will come to Greenland, says the Japanese ambassador to
Denmark.
"If Japanese tourists can learn about Greenland, then they will visit
Greenland," said Gotaro Ogawa after a recent visit to Greenland.
Every year, millions of Japanese travel, but they usually decide to visit New
York, Paris or London.
"Now they are looking for different places. And I think that Greenland
can offer many attractive things to the Japanese tourist," Ogawa said.
Tourists who want to see the northern lights have already started to come to
Greenland.
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