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As polar areas warm and snow cover reduces, southern animals are taking
advantage of the mild conditions, moving northward and ousting the local
residents. Arctic fox numbers in the Fennoscandian mountains have fallen
dramatically as the red fox population has grown. Changes in the Arctic
climate are not only impacting the natural ecosystem, but the human
environment as well. The Inuit of northern Russia, Alaska, Canada, and
Greenland, whose traditional knowledge of the land, sea, and ice dates
back thousands of years, are being affected. As the sea ice becomes
thinner and more dangerous, animal intruders from the south, such as the
grizzly bear and moose, are penetrating further north than ever before,
disrupting the delicate balance. Indirectly, the melting Arctic
threatens the Inuit lifestyle and culture. Warmer weather leads to more
tourists, more sport hunters, and perhaps, most seriously, more ships.
Many of the shipping routes that join the northern continents are
dramatically shorter across the top of the earth, and less sea ice makes
Arctic shipping more economically attractive. With lower transportation
costs comes increased resource extraction and the threat of oil spills
and other pollution development that this fragile land is ill-suited
to withstand. Global warming is thus threatening Arctic ecosystems and
their peoples from all sides as never before in history. Unless urgent
actions are taken to control fossil fuel burning, we may witness the end
of an ecosystem in the next few generations.
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