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| Along the Chukchi Sea near Wainright, Alaska, scientists working for Shell fanned out in summer 2011 in preparation for the company's offshore drilling, which began this weekend. One archaeologist uses a GPS device to record the precise location of a Native American sod house on the shore. |
On August 27, after a scorching summer of record-breaking drought and heat across the U.S., scientists reported that summer sea ice in the Arctic Ocean had shrunk to its lowest extent in recorded history—worrisome news to those concerned about polar bears or eroding Inupiat villages or other impacts of climate change.
Scramble at the Top of the World
Climate scientists have long said there will be winners and losers from climate change. Nations with territory in the Arctic, where temperatures are warming four times faster than the global average, could be the biggest winners by far. The Arctic could contain as much as 22 percent of the world's hydrocarbon deposits, with some 29 billion barrels of oil and more than 200 trillion cubic feet of natural gas thought to lie off the Alaska coast alone. North America's largest oil field, Prudhoe Bay, in comparison, held an estimated 25 billion barrels.
In my opinion, this phenomena will affect the ecosystem of the Arctic. It might affect the animal in that area and cause them to go extinct.
National Geography
Pictures:Beneath Melting Arctic Ice, Stores of Oil
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