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October 7, 2005

Barrow gives up on bus system

SIKU CIRCUMPOLAR NEWS SERVICE

Seven buses, which ferried residents around Barrow, population 4,500, now sit unused in a municipal garage.

The buses used to run 16 hours a day, seven days a week, but the North Slope Borough needed to trim its growing expenses, and the 20-year old transit system was chopped.

“There’s this perception that the roads are paved in gold here and that we have plenty of money,” Dennis Packer, the borough’s chief of staff, told Associated Press. “A lot of people don’t believe there’s no money and that’s unfortunate. But it’s pretty straightforward.”

Packer said the cash-strapped borough is working to find an alternative transportation system, such as a private shuttle service.

Use of the public transit system was low and fares brought in only $30,000 annually, far short of the $700,000 cost of maintaining and operating the public transit system.

October 7, 2005

Snowchange 2005 meets in Anchorage

SIKU CIRCUMPOLAR NEWS SERVICE

Snowchange 2005, a four-day conference in Anchorage, Alaska wrapped up last weekend.

Participants discussed issues such as changing snow and ice patterns, lower water levels and animal migrations.

Alaskan elders spoke about how global warming has affected their communities and culture. Margaret Opie, an Inupiat from Barrow, told how her family depends on the ocean and whaling for survival.

“Right now Barrow is in a stall due to the weather. We have a lot of winds, the ice is many, many miles away, and that is part of our Snowchange,” Opie said.

Snowchange, based out of Finland, is an organization working towards promoting an awareness on climate change and ecology. The conference in Anchorage was the third international gathering of Arctic communities, and the first one in the United States.

“The first and foremost form of action is getting people together, and if you get the indigenous people, local communities and others to come here, it’s a step forward,” said Tero Mustonen, founder of Snowchange.

Snowchange hopes to have its next gathering sometime next year in New Zealand.

October 7, 2005

Sea levels to rise, new study says

SIKU CIRCUMPOLAR NEWS SERVICE

World sea levels could rise 30 centimetres by the end of the century and extreme weather will become more common due to rapid global warming, warns a new study by a leading German research institute.

The Max Planck Institute for Meteorology in Hamburg said computer models it had created showed the average global temperatures could rise by as much as 4.1°C by 2100.

“Our research pointed to rapid global warming and the shifting of climate zones,” said project leader Erich Roeckner.

The findings will be included in a report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a group of scientists that advises the United Nations. Klaus Toepfer, head of the U.N.’s environment program, said in an interview with German broadcasters NDR that he was extremely worried about the study’s results. He stressed the need for urgent action against climate change.

For news around the circumpolar world every day, go to www.sikunews.com.

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