"The Arctic is the barometer of the globe's environmental health. You can take the pulse of the world in the Arctic. Inuit, the people who live farther north than anyone else, are the canary in the global coal mine.''
These words are from an indigenous representative speaking at the United Nations, where she stressed that the peoples of the Arctic have known for decades from firsthand experience and traditional knowledge what scientists now confirm: Our world is warming at an alarming rate, bringing the prospect of new changes and threats to humanity.
Last year, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) issued their Fourth Assessment Report, according to which the amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere has risen dramatically in recent years. If present trends continue, by the end of the 21st century average global temperatures could rise by as much as 6.4 degrees C. Among other changes, the report warns of the possibility of a melting of the polar icecaps and an increased frequency of extreme weather.