Climate 'alarm bells' are ringing, Obama says ahead of Arctic summit
US President Barack Obama will use an upcoming conference on Arctic leadership to highlight the effects of climate change already felt by US residents, he announced last week.
The Conference on Global Leadership in the Arctic: Cooperation, Innovation, Engagement and Resilience, dubbed GLACIER, will be attended by officials from China, Russia, India and the European Union at the end of the month.
Obama said he would meet with Alaskan citizens and underline the impact climate change is having on lives and jobs in the state.
Obama said the effects of warming in the state should serve as a “wake-up call” for action, warning that melting glaciers in the northernmost US state were causing homes to sink into the ground and threatening the jobs of hunters and anglers.
“Later this month, I’m going to Alaska and I’m going because Alaskans are on the front-lines of one of the greatest challenges we face this century: climate change,” he said. “In Alaska, glaciers are melting. The hunting and fishing on which generations have depended for their way of life and their jobs are being threatened.”
The president also drew attention to the effects of climate change felt elsewhere across the country, noting that warming temperatures have led to “deeper droughts, longer wildfire seasons” and floods at high tide.
The conference, although not directly connected to the upcoming pivotal Paris Climate Summit in December, will be used to help focus international attention on challenges faced by the Arctic, and the impacts of climate change.
It comes as the US government continues to face criticism for approving oil giant Shell’s plans to drill for oil in the arctic. Environmental campaigning organisation WWF last week wrote to Shell boss Ben Van Beurden warning that drilling in the Arctic “is riddled with risks for local communities and for the environment, and incompatible with tackling climate change”.
Shell, which earlier this month left the controversial ALEC lobbying group over its climate change stance, insists that it can drill safely after the arrival of its Fennica safety vessel last week.
The Conference on Global Leadership in the Arctic: Cooperation, Innovation, Engagement and Resilience, dubbed GLACIER, will be attended by officials from China, Russia, India and the European Union at the end of the month.
Obama said he would meet with Alaskan citizens and underline the impact climate change is having on lives and jobs in the state.
Obama said the effects of warming in the state should serve as a “wake-up call” for action, warning that melting glaciers in the northernmost US state were causing homes to sink into the ground and threatening the jobs of hunters and anglers.
“Later this month, I’m going to Alaska and I’m going because Alaskans are on the front-lines of one of the greatest challenges we face this century: climate change,” he said. “In Alaska, glaciers are melting. The hunting and fishing on which generations have depended for their way of life and their jobs are being threatened.”
The president also drew attention to the effects of climate change felt elsewhere across the country, noting that warming temperatures have led to “deeper droughts, longer wildfire seasons” and floods at high tide.
The conference, although not directly connected to the upcoming pivotal Paris Climate Summit in December, will be used to help focus international attention on challenges faced by the Arctic, and the impacts of climate change.
It comes as the US government continues to face criticism for approving oil giant Shell’s plans to drill for oil in the arctic. Environmental campaigning organisation WWF last week wrote to Shell boss Ben Van Beurden warning that drilling in the Arctic “is riddled with risks for local communities and for the environment, and incompatible with tackling climate change”.
Shell, which earlier this month left the controversial ALEC lobbying group over its climate change stance, insists that it can drill safely after the arrival of its Fennica safety vessel last week.
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