Arctic islands invite tourists to see climate woes

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Reuters

Arctic islands invite tourists to see climate woes
By Alister Doyle, Environment Correspondent
35 minutes ago



LONGYEARBYEN (Reuters) - A remote chain of Arctic islands is advertising itself as a showcase of bad things to come from global warming.

Visitors to Svalbard can see reindeer, seals or polar bears in the Arctic, where U.N. scientists say warming is happening twice as fast as on the rest of the planet in what may be a portent of changes further south.

Local authorities said such visits are less environmentally harmful than Russian-led tours on nuclear ice-breakers or sky-diving trips over the North Pole.

"This is one of the few ecosystems we have in the world that is functioning, with the polar bear as the top predator," said Rune Bergstrom, environmental expert at the governor's office.



Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070516/od_uk_nm/oukoe_uk_climate_arctic_showcase;_ylt=A0WTUf4NtkpGOpUAnwTtiBIF

[Massachusetts]

1. "Last summer, some previously unknown islands were found after a glacier shrank"

YIKES!

[OKIsItJustMe]

2. I just love the picture

http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=worldNews&storyid=2007-05-16T131218Z_01_L09709932_RTRUKOC_0_US-CLIMATE-ARCTIC-SHOWCASE.xml