Whose Emissions? Our Emissions! Inuit's on the front lines of global warming!

Nigerian Environment Minister Sani Zangon Daura, who chairs the Group of 77 (G77), a bloc of 133 developing nations and China, warned poorer countries would resist demands to limit their own emissions of so-called greenhouse gases so long as the richer world failed to live up to their own promises.

Output of these "greenhouse gases" is racing ahead in many developed countries just three years after they had signed the Kyoto Protocol, in which they pledging to reduce the emissions, Daura said in a speech Monday.

And the financial help they had promised the developing world to help it convert to cleaner technology had yet to show up.

Global warming is a man-made phenomenon, caused by the burning of oil, gas and coal.

Carbon dioxide and other gases released by these fuels builds up in the lower atmosphere, acting like a blanket that helps to store up the heat from the Sun, causing a potentially catastrophic rise in temperature.

The biggest single offender is the United States, which has only four percent of the world's population but accounts for a quarter of greenhouse gas emissions.

The Hague negotiations, scheduled to conclude on November 24, have been overshadowed by bitter squabbles between the United States and the European Union over US demands for "flexibility mechanisms."

The EU sees these as loopholes that would soften the cost for Washington of meeting its commitments.

From AFP article "Third World blasts rich countries at UN climate talks" 11/15/00


Inuit Observations on Climate Change

On Banks Island in Canada's High Arctic, Inuvialuit hunters and trappers have a close relationship with the natural world. As they travel over the tundra or harvest fish from the sea, they notice even the smallest changes to their environment. Recently, the changes have been significant and worrying. The climate has become unpredictable; the landscape unfamiliar.

Autumn freeze-up occurs up to a month later than usual and the spring thaw seems earlier every year. The multi-year sea-ice is smaller and now drifts far from the community in the summer, taking with it the seals upon which the community relies for food. In the winter the sea-ice is thin and broken, making travel dangerous for even the most experienced hunters. In the fall, storms have become frequent and severe, making boating difficult. Thunder and lightning have been seen for the first time.

Hot weather in the summer is melting the permafrost and causing large-scale slumping on the coastline and along the shores of inland lakes. The melting has already caused one inland lake to drain into the ocean, killing the freshwater fish. Around the town of Sachs Harbour, it is causing building foundations to shift.

From International Institute for Sustainable Development © 2000

IISD spent a year studying and documenting the changes witnessed by the people of Sachs Harbour who have lived on the land and learned its patterns for generations. A video documentary was made of this experience. It is being presented to the squabbling nation-states in The Hague during their current meeting. The complete article and a 14 minute version of the video is available at: http://www.iisd.org/casl/projects/inuit_video.htm