Smithsonian takes on climate change issue
Washington - It's becoming harder to find the right snow to build an igloo, and melting permafrost is turning land into mud. With climate change the nature of the Arctic is changing, too, in ways that worry the people who live there.The Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History opens a pair of exhibits on Saturday: "Arctic: A Friend Acting Strangely" and "Atmosphere: Change Is In The Air", discussing what is happening to the climate and how it affects people living in the planet's northernmost areas.
"They are truly concerned," anthropologist Igor Krupnik said on Tuesday of the Arctic natives.Indeed, the Arctic exhibit title comes from an Inuit word natives have used to describe the changing climate - uggianaqtuq - suggesting unexpected behaviour or "a friend acting strangely".
The ocean is eating their land as sea ice melts and storms erode shorelines and wash away fishing communities, changing climate means new plants in some areas and changes in migratory routes of animals people depend on for food, weather is stormier and food sources for polar bears and caribou change.
Since the 1950s, air temperatures have warmed over much of the Arctic, rain and snowfall have increased and sea ice is in decline.While some government scientists have reported political pressure to limit their comments on climate change, Robert Sullivan, the museum's associate director for public programs, said that did not happen in the development of this exhibit.
"Here's the data," Sullivan said. "This is not a political position, it's just scientific data."
check out the smithsonian exhibit here...
"They are truly concerned," anthropologist Igor Krupnik said on Tuesday of the Arctic natives.Indeed, the Arctic exhibit title comes from an Inuit word natives have used to describe the changing climate - uggianaqtuq - suggesting unexpected behaviour or "a friend acting strangely".
The ocean is eating their land as sea ice melts and storms erode shorelines and wash away fishing communities, changing climate means new plants in some areas and changes in migratory routes of animals people depend on for food, weather is stormier and food sources for polar bears and caribou change.
Since the 1950s, air temperatures have warmed over much of the Arctic, rain and snowfall have increased and sea ice is in decline.While some government scientists have reported political pressure to limit their comments on climate change, Robert Sullivan, the museum's associate director for public programs, said that did not happen in the development of this exhibit.
"Here's the data," Sullivan said. "This is not a political position, it's just scientific data."
check out the smithsonian exhibit here...
posted by The Constant Skeptic at 8:30 PM
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