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June 23, 2006

Homelessness hits Murmansk

"Urgent help to homeless" - that's the name of a project spearheaded by the volunteers of the organization "Red Cross" in Murmansk in northwestern Russia.

Volunteers and social workers are driving in a special bus to the places where most of the homeless people live to distribute kits with food, medicine and other supplies.

They're trying to find out how many homeless people there are in Murmansk, an Arctic city of about one million, and what kind of help they need.

The majority of the homeless in Murmansk are men (80 per cent), 40 to 50 years old, and are former prisoners or sailors. Nearly all of them suffer from alcoholism. Most of them have no relatives in Murmansk, no work and no place to stay. They sleep in the streets, in cellars or attics. A lot of them lack ID-documents.

To ease the homeless situation, Murmansk has opened its social centre and added extra places in the isolation hospital.

At the city's tuberculosis treatment centre, 109 homeless people are registered. However, they need money to get to the clinic and receive care.

Beluga found up-river near Fairbanks, Alaska

Scientists are baffled by the rotting carcass of a young beluga whale, which was found found in a river in central Alaska, reports the Anchorage Daily News.

The first guess is the beluga swam away from the ocean in search of food.

"What are the alternatives?" Link Olson, curator of the University of Alaska Museum of the North, told the Anchorage Daily News.

It was highly unlikely that someone was perpetrating a hoax along a remote section of river with a whale carcass, he said.

"If you were ever close to a dead marine mammal, even for a few hours, you would know why no one in their right mind would do that."

Canoeists found the whale June 9 on the Tanana River about 70 kilometres southwest of Fairbanks.

Sylvia Brunner, a marine mammals researcher at the museum in Fairbanks, identified the decomposing carcass.

The "bloated, black thing on the beach" was about three metres from the river's edge, she told the ADN.

It could have died in the river last fall and frozen during the winter, Brunner said. On the other hand, the whale could have entered the river this spring seeking fish before heading for the ocean.

Saami seek traditional leave

Manus Trosten, leader of the Norwegian Saami National Association, wants to give all Saami, the indigenous people of northern Europe, two weeks more vacation time.

The proposed vacation period would help Saami "get better acquainted with their cultural heritage."

"The state has deprived the Saami population their language and culture by means of suppression. Now the state has to make up for it," said Trosten, who said the proposed holiday time should be called "cultural revitalization."

Trosten heads the Norwegian Saami National party in the Saami Parliament.

The association is the biggest Saami organization in Norway. There are about 80,000 Saami in Norway.

Scientists call for listing of polar bear as endangered

A climate scientist at University of Chicago and 30 of her colleagues from across North America and Europe are urging the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to list the polar bear as a threatened species.

"As scientists engaged in research on climate change, we are deeply concerned about the effect of Arctic warming on the polar bear habitat," said a letter submitted to the Fish and Wildlife Service on June 15. "Biologists have determined that sea-ice is critical in the life cycle of the polar bear and the survival of the polar bear as a species."

The letter is not a petition, said Pamela Martin from the University of Chicago, who organized the effort, "rather, it was a letter summarizing some key aspects of the best available science on global warming and, in particular, Arctic warming."

The Center for Biological Diversity, a conservation group, filed a petition with the Fish and Wildlife Service in February 2005, to list the polar bear as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act.

A year later, the Fish and Wildlife Service announced that it would initiate a status review of the polar bear to determine if the species should be proposed for listing.

The letter says "the best available observations demonstrate that Arctic warming is rapid, persistent, and widespread," and that only a reduction of technologically generated greenhouse gases can prevent further Arctic warming and sea-ice melting.

The scientists summarize evidence on global warming trends, especially in the Arctic, including an increase in surface temperatures, warming of the world's oceans, the thinning of ice, and thawing of the northern high latitude permafrost.

The letter says for "immediate reductions of greenhouse gas emissions well beyond those that may be considered by some measures 'sustainable' emissions rates are therefore imperative. We urge the Fish and Wildlife Service to acknowledge the threat of Arctic warming on the polar bear."

Permafrost melting may increase global warming

Carbon that has been locked away for thousands of years could escape into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide if global warming thaws large patches of frozen ground in Alaska and Siberia, a new study warns.

This permafrost or the frozen ground contains large amounts of carbon-rich grass and animal bones.

The new study looked at the effects of global warming on permafrost in Siberia, called "yedoma."

The researchers estimate that if global warming continues at its current pace, about 90 percent of the carbon in yedoma permafrost could be released. Most of it would go into the atmosphere as either carbon dioxide or methane, the researchers say.

The study, led by Sergey Zimov from the Russian Academy of Sciences, is in the July 15 issue of the journal Science.

The study notes that about the same amount of carbon is locked away in other permafrost areas around the world, and that global warming could have similar effects on these areas as well.

Quebec hatches plan to combat climate change

Quebec plans to charge a royalty on petroleum products in an effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The $200-million-a-year generated by this tax will go into a "green fund" to fight climate change.

This is among 24 measures announced last week as part of a plan, Quebec and Climate Change - A Challenge for the Future.

The plan also wants to reduce energy consumption in public buildings and calls for higher emissions standards for passenger vehicles

The goal is to reduce greenhouse gases in Quebec by 10 million tonnes a year by 2012 - and nearly meet its target for cuts under the Kyoto Protocol.

But Quebec needs $328-million from Ottawa get its plan into action.

The Canadian Petroleum Products institute said fuel firms will end up passing on the extra cost at the pump.

Premier Jean Charest said industry and businesses should see the tax and other changes required as their contribution to a cleaner environment.

"If they don't see it that way, I'd regret that. I think they'd be totally wrong. They're going to be on the wrong side of this issue," Charest said.

North Pole teams airlifted to Resolute

After three months on the ice, the last two teams heading from the North Pole to Canada were taken off rapidly melting ice on June 9.

Paul Landry’s team, which included his daughter Sarah McNair-Landry of Iqaluit, and their dogs were evacuated along with trekkers Bettina Aller and Jean-Gabriel Leynaud, and airlifted back to Resolute Bay.

Both teams were forced to abort after large amounts of open water made it impossible for them to continue their Arctic crossings. They were about two degrees away of completing their expeditions from Russia to Canada, via the North Pole.

“Don’t look out,” Landry reportedly said as the plane was going to take off. “If we spot good ice ahead, we will all regret to have been lifted.”

According to Aller’s home team, all they saw from the plane was poor ice and large open leads. “They could have stayed, but it would have been only to face death,” supporters at home stated.

Still on the go in the opposite direction towards the North Pole are Lonnie Dupré and Eric Larsen for the “One World” team. The two are also reporting soft ice and warmer temperatures. But their sledges are prepared to work as canoes, permitting them to paddle across open water.

The two men have been reporting warm weather and generally bad ice conditions, many open leads and soft ice sections.

June 16, 2006

UArctic celebrates fifth birthday

On June 12, 2001 the University of the Arctic officially came into being.

That day, about 200 people gathered together in Rovaniemi, Finland to celebrate the launch of the “university without walls.”

“In five short years we have grown from an academic cooperation to an educational community,” said Sally Webber of Yukon College, who recently stepped down as chair of the Council of UArctic. “Our students now circle the North, and we have begun to create a new generation of leaders for this great global region.”

The organization now has about 100 member institutions, including Nunavut Arctic College, and offers 13 programs.

UArctic’s Circumpolar Studies Program has so far received 1,300 student registrations since 2001, while north2north has sent 236 students on exchanges.

“UArctic is one important tool for creating a strong, sustainable circumpolar region,” said Mary Simon, Canada’s former ambassador of circumpolar affairs, and a member of UArctic’s board of governors.

June 9, 2006

The High Arctic: from hot to cold

A 400-metre-long ice core recovered near the North Pole provides additional proof that the High Arctic region was subtropical about 55 million years ago.

And it’s provided even more evidence about climate swings when carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere change.

In 2004, the Arctic Coring Expedition used two icebreakers equipped with drilling rigs on the Lomonosov ridge on the Arctic seabed, about 250 kilometres north of Ellesmere Island.

In three studies in last Thursday’s issue of the journal Nature, researchers tell how the region went from greenhouse to snowhouse conditions.

First, the Arctic Ocean went through a period with temperatures of 23°C, like those of a warm bath.

The remains of this warmer period can still be found in Nunavut’s High Arctic. Axel Heiberg’s so-called fossil forest contains mummified stumps and other vegetation from when tropical vegetation flourished in the high latitudes.

“It probably was (a tropical paradise) but the mosquitoes were probably the size of your head,” geology professor Mark Pagani of Yale University, a study co-author, told Reuters.

Then, about 49 million years ago, freshwater was released into the Arctic, cooling it to about 10°C.

The amount of salt in the water was still low enough for freshwater ferns called Azolla to cover much of the surface of the water in the summer.

These ferns likely absorbed carbon dioxide quickly, helping to cool the Arctic over a period of about 800,000 years, said Henk Brinkhuis of Utrecht University, a co-author of one of the papers.

June 9, 2006

We want your photos on climate change

Have you noticed strange weather, or unusual melting in your community? Have you found more plants than usual, or rare kinds of birds? If so, Nunatsiaq News wants to hear about it.

Send your photos to the newspaper along with a short description of where the photo was taken and why it was unusual, and the best will be published in our new Climate Change section.

Digital photos should be high resolution (at least 330 dpi at five to six inches wide). Email photos to editor@nunatsiaq.com.

You can also mail photos to: Nunatsiaq News, PO Box 8, Iqaluit, Nunavut, X0A 0H0. Or drop them off at our Iqaluit office in building 157, next to The Snack.

June 9, 2006

Arctic microbes may speed global warming

McGill University microbiologist Lyle Whyte and his research team are studying the unique organisms in two environments in Nunavut’s High Arctic islands: those that live in Axel Heiberg’s perennial salt springs and those in the permafrost on Ellesmere.

Whyte and graduate student Nancy Perreault have detected never-before-seen micro-organisms that produce hydrogen sulphide and methane, while others may be using those compounds as energy.

The researchers believe these micro-organisms could have a real impact on the environment, especially on global warming.

“It is possible that following permafrost melting, the activities and populations of these bacteria will increase. They will produce more methane and/or carbon dioxide, creating a positive feedback loop on global warming,” Whyte said in a McGill University publication.

June 9, 2006

Tropical vegetation flourished in the High Arctic for millions of years. The fossils of ancient wood can still be found on Nunavut’s High Arctic islands. Pictured here is a piece of mummified wood about 55 million years old. (PHOTO BY JANE GEORGE)

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June 2, 2006

Sacred island to become protected park

The nomadic, reindeer-herding Nenet people in the oil-rich region of Yamal in Russia plan to make Vaigach Island a national park, to protect one of their most sacred places.

The Nenets’ regional government and the World Wildlife Fund recently signed an agreement on collaboration, which obliges the regional authorities to protect certain zones.

Unfortunately, most of the Nenet shrines on Vaigach have already been ravaged or even destroyed, although untouched idols in the middle of the island were reportedly visited and bowed to even in the beginning of 20th century.

During the Soviet period, most of the unique religious monuments were destroyed and visits prohibited.

A Gulag prisoner camp was built in the southwestern part of Vaigach where prisoners mined zinc, and hundreds of the Nenets were forced to relocate.

About 10 years ago, Vaigach became a natural reserve and the destruction of its monuments was stopped. Vaigach now attracts poachers from Murmansk and Arkhangelsk Oblasts, who illegally hunt for walrus and polar bear.

June 2, 2006

Pink salmon moving north

In recent years, salmon have turned up in the Arctic Ocean at the top of Alaska.

Scientists say salmon and other marine life are responding to warmer waters and reduced ice in the Bering Sea and the Beaufort Sea.

Last summer near Nome, Alaska, fishery biologists noted a huge increase in pink salmon runs in the region’s rivers and streams: on the North River, a record 1.6 million pink salmon passed a counting station.

A survey conducted in the mid-1990s in the Barrow area counted six king salmon and 51 pink salmon. A 2003 survey there found 439 king salmon and 18,048 pink salmon.

A team of U.S. and Canadian researchers, in the March 10 edition of the journal Science, said shrinking ice and warmer air and water temperatures in the northern Bering Sea are leading to an expansion in pollock, a bottom-feeding fish used to make fish sticks, and in pink salmon, which feed on pollock.

“Local observations indicate that pink salmon are now colonizing rivers that drain into the Arctic Ocean north of Bering Strait,” the article says.

The article also says migratory gray whales are extending their Arctic stays, with listening devices at Barrow detecting the sound of whale calls during winter.

June 2, 2006

Kyoto countries plan next steps

Last week, Canada and other countries that signed the Kyoto Protocol re-affirmed plans to set new, tougher caps on greenhouse gas emissions after 2012.

A conference of these 160 countries in Bonn, Germany set no timetable for agreeing on the targets, but talks are planned for the next two years.

It was the first meeting of a group set up by Kyoto countries last December in Montreal to work out a roadmap for emissions cuts beyond 2012.

Kyoto obliges 35 industrialized nations to cut emissions by at least 5.2 per cent below 1990 levels by 2012.

Also last week, Rona Ambrose, the federal environment minister, announced a new plan to make all gas at least five per cent renewable fuel by 2010.

Environmental groups said the strategy to promote ethanol is an attempt to distract Canadians from their lack of commitment to fight global warming.

June 2, 2006

Congress approves Alaskan oil drilling

The U.S. House of Representatives voted last Thursday to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling.

Those in favour of drilling the oil reserves say ANWR would reduce the need for oil imports, while environmentalists argue the region should remain a protected wildlife refuge for caribou, polar bears and migratory birds.

The refuge was set aside for protection in 1960 and expanded in 1980, with a demand that its oil could be developed if Congress approved.

Meanwhile, the North Slope village of Kaktovik, a supporter of oil drilling in ANWR, is opposing offshore drilling by a giant oil company, Shell.

Kaktovik’s City Council has passed a resolution calling Shell “a hostile and dangerous force” and authorizing the mayor to take legal or other actions necessary to “defend the community.”

In a news release issued with the resolution, Mayor Lon Sonsalla said Shell had failed to address village concerns about how it would keep seismic testing scheduled for this summer from disturbing migratory bowhead whales and how the company would operate safely in unpredictable sea ice.

June 2, 2006

Greenland bears loaded with pollutants

Polar bears from East Greenland contain the highest recorded concentrations of organo-halogen contaminants of any mammals in the world, says a new study.

Among the 75 polar bears examined in the study, seven different types of renal lesions were found.

The study suggests that contaminants could be partially to blame.

The study, published in the Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry journal, shows the impacts to polar bears from long-term exposure to OHCs, which include DDT, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and polybrominated diphenylethers (PBDEs).

PCBs and PBDEs are known as flame-retardants. These compounds are used in electronic circuit boards and cases, furniture, building materials, pesticides and lubricants.

In polar bears, OHCs are transferred from mother to fetus and to offspring by breast-feeding.

The study raises the possibility of OHC transfer among people who live in the Arctic.

And they criticized the ethanol plan because the refineries that turn corn into fuel use energy sources that emit greenhouse gas emissions, such a gas or coal.

June 2, 2006

Greenland talks about Hans in Ottawa

Josef Motzfeldt, the finance and foreign affairs minister for Greenland, was in Ottawa late last month, where he met Peter Van Loan, the parliamentary secretary to Peter MacKay, Canada’s foreign affairs minister.

The two continued discussions on which country may lay claim to Hans Island, the tiny, disputed hunk of rock between northern Ellesmere Island and Greenland.

Motzfeld said Canada and Denmark-Greenland were likely to conduct a scientific survey of the area to help decide jurisdiction.

“The scientists will tell us Hans Island belongs to Greenland. If the Canadians don’t agree with that decision, then we have to add a third institution, like the United Nations, to make the decision,” he told Reuters in an interview.

June 2, 2006

Whale watching by webcam in Barrow

Scientists in Alaska recently installed a radar and web camera on the tallest building in Barrow, as well as sounding probes at sites above and below the ice.

That’s so whalers can download data on ice thickness and strength as well as the location of leads where whales surface, reports the Anchorage Daily News. On the web site, there’s also historical data and new information on sea level and tide charts.

According to Eugene Brower, head of the Barrow Whaling Captains Association, the information is important this year because low temperatures and winds from the north have pushed the pack ice toward shore, building a frozen shelf that extends eight miles.

The few open paths of water through the pack ice keep slamming shut, delaying the whaling season. When whaling does begin for Barrow’s quota of 22 bowhead, support camps for 41 crews may have to wait near the forward edge of that shorefast ice.

Volunteers in Barrow are working round-the-clock to relay information to whalers to make their whale hunt safer and more successful.

To see the Web cam, go to: www.gi.alaska.edu/brwice/.

June 2, 2006

AIDS, development on UN indigenous agenda

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan launched the action plan for the Second International Decade of the World’s Indigenous Peoples on May 15, as representatives from around the world gathered at U.N. headquarters in New York City to meet on this issue.

The fifth annual session of the U.N. Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues met through May 26 and started developing recommendations for the Second International Decade.

“Let us aim to make it mean something positive — a change for the better — in the life of every indigenous person, wherever he or she may live,” Annan said.

Annan pledged to present a U.N. declaration on indigenous peoples’ rights for adoption as soon as possible.

In some countries, where the rights of indigenous peoples have been barely acknowledged, the declaration will be particularly important, Forum chairperson Victoria Tauli-Corpuz said.

“Let us pledge in this Hall of the U.N. General Assembly our commitment to achieve these objectives, so that in the year 2015 we will come back and be proud of what we have achieved in terms of ending discrimination, marginalization, oppression and extreme poverty of indigenous peoples, because we took seriously the challenge to create partnerships for action and dignity,” she said.

During the forum, members discussed the absence of information on HIV/ AIDS in indigenous communities.

The meeting also looked at the inclusion of traditional knowledge and full participation of indigenous peoples in decisions that impact their lives, “based on the principle of free, prior and informed consent.”

June 2, 2006

New self-government movement in Greenland

Greenland has a new movement, Inussuk.

Launched on May Day, the group will fight for more autonomy for Greenland.

Mininnguaq Kleist, the secretary and adviser to Lars Emil Johansen, one of two MPs representing Greenland in the Danish parliament, said Inussuk is a network where national organizations and parties will co-operate to strengthen Greenland’s move towards independence.

“The goal is to involve people, because it is the people who decide which way we shall go,” Kleist said.

Inussuk’s member organizations represent about 20,000 to 30,000 Greenlanders, and include everything from youth groups to powerful economic and commercial interests, Kleist said.

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