MSNBC: In Arctic report card, U.S. cites 'rapid changes'

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21347288/

MSNBC staff and news service reports
Updated: 4:26 p.m. ET Oct. 17, 2007

WASHINGTON - While some indicators have stabilized, the Arctic is seeing significant changes from warming temperatures and shrinking sea ice, the Bush administration said Wednesday in an annual report card on the region.

Sea ice fell well below the previous record, caribou are declining in many areas and permafrost is melting, according to the State of the Arctic report issued by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.


The illustration at left shows the extent of Arctic sea ice on Sept. 16.


"The bottom line is we are seeing some rapid changes in the Arctic," said Richard Spinrad, assistant administrator for oceanic and atmospheric research at NOAA.

And unlike Las Vegas, "what happens in the Arctic actually does not stay in the Arctic," he added, playing on a well-traveled slogan of the gambling mecca.

Scientists have expected polar regions to feel the first impacts of global warming and the 2006 State of the Arctic report provided a benchmark for tracking changes.

Red and yellow marks
Wednesday's follow-up was the first update, marking the atmosphere and sea ice indicators in red. The other indicators — Greenland, ocean, biology and land — were marked in yellow, or caution.

Winter and spring temperatures were all above average throughout the whole Arctic, said James Overland of NOAA's Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory in Seattle.

"This is unusual and looks like the beginning of a signal from global warming," Overland said in a telephone briefing.

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