Polar Research

The global climate is changing. The impacts of climate change are being observed earlier in the Arctic, and with more immediate and severe consequences, than in most of the rest of the world. The Arctic is warming at a rate almost twice the global average and reductions in Arctic sea ice and permafrost and changes in weather are increasingly visible.

Without urgent action to cut greenhouse gas emissions, the world will continue to feel the effects of a warming Arctic: rising sea levels, changes in climate and precipitation patterns, and increasing severe weather events. Moreover, declines in the amount and thickness age of sea ice are creating more opportunities for human activity in the Arctic, with resulting impacts on loss of fish stocks, birds and marine mammals.