Canada should lead

The eight-nation Arctic Council’s 1,400 page report on global warming and the Arctic, known as the “Arctic Climate Impact Assessment,” won’t be formally released until Nov. 9, at an international symposium in Reykjavik, Iceland.

But its main findings have been known for many months — Nunatsiaq News first began reporting on them in February, and provided updates as recently as last week. And those findings confirm not only that the Arctic is getting warmer. They confirm that the Arctic is getting warmer at a faster rate than anyone previously thought possible.

The 250 or so scientists who did the work found, for example, that annual average temperatures in the Arctic are rising five to 10 times faster than average temperatures elsewhere on the planet. They predict that the treeline will move north, glaciers and sea-ice will retreat, and that new species of wildlife will move in to replace species that Arctic peoples are used to, and depend on, for their livelihoods.

Political leaders around the world are beginning to take notice. This week, the British prime minister, Tony Blair, called for “a green industrial revolution for the 21st century” to head off the human catastrophes that might occur if global warming doesn’t slow. Blair said the G8 group of nations — of which Canada is a member — should play the lead role in making this happen.

But where is Canada in all of this? As usual, playing follow the leader. It’s true that Canada has agreed, grudgingly, to sign the Kyoto Accord. But as a country that has stewardship over one-third of the planet’s Arctic region, Canada should be a bold leader on this issue, not a follower. JB