Arctic
Conserving our Future Arctic
As the climate warms, Arctic sea ice is disappearing. Almost every summer, the amount of remaining ice gets smaller. That summer ice is vitally important to a whole range of animals from tiny shrimp to vast bowhead whales, and to local people. One stretch of ice is projected to remain when all other large areas of summer ice are gone. This is the Last Ice Area.
Canada is home to over a quarter of the world’s Arctic lands and waters. Over 70% of the world’s polar bears live here. The Canadian Arctic is administered by Inuit governments thanks to progressive land claim agreements signed in the last thirty years. Inuit communities still subsist on caribou, polar bear, musk oxen and ringed seals as they have for centuries.
Our nation’s challenge is to conserve species and ecosystems in a rapidly warming Arctic while ensuring local communities remain viable in the face of climate change.
© Paul Nicklen / National Geographic Stock / WWF-Canada
Canada is home to over a quarter of the world’s Arctic lands and waters. Over 70% of the world’s polar bears live here. The Canadian Arctic is administered by Inuit governments thanks to progressive land claim agreements signed in the last thirty years. Inuit communities still subsist on caribou, polar bear, musk oxen and ringed seals as they have for centuries.
Arctic Resources
Our Arctic is also rich in resources. About a quarter of the world’s remaining petroleum resources are found in the circumpolar Arctic with the richest potential in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas. Deposits of gold, silver, lead, tin, uranium, copper and zinc can be found throughout our Arctic archipelago. These resources are all becoming more accessible given the rapidly melting sea ice and modern ship-building technology. The rush is not on but a trickle is underway.Our nation’s challenge is to conserve species and ecosystems in a rapidly warming Arctic while ensuring local communities remain viable in the face of climate change.
© Paul Nicklen / National Geographic Stock / WWF-Canada
Arctic Report: Update for 2010
Arctic Report Card 2011
Issued annually, the Arctic Report Card is a timely source for clear, reliable and concise environmental information on the state of the Arctic. Watch the report now.
WWF's Work
WWF envisions an Arctic protected and adapting to climate change. WWF-Canada hosts WWF’s international Arctic program in Ottawa Ontario. Arctic program staff are located in Oslo, Norway and Gland Switzerland with field operations in Alaska, Russia, Sweden, Finland, Norway and, soon, Greenland. Within Canada, and internationally, WWF pursues three distinct objectives:- Promoting international governance solutions that set consistent high standards for governments and industry needed to safeguard the Arctic.
- Creating a science-based conservation blueprint of what needs to be conserved across the Arctic if species are to survive through this century.
- Partnering with responsible industry leaders to demonstrate how shipping, fishing, oil and gas development, and mining can take place in the Arctic, benefit local communities while respecting and reinforcing the integrity of Arctic ecosystems already under siege from climatic change.
© Kevin SCHAFER / WWF-Canon
Global Warming, Harsher Winters
In the future, cold and snowy winters could be the rule rather than the exception in parts of North America, Europe and Asia as the Arctic Ocean warms up.Read findingsfrom the International Polar Year's Oslo Science Conference.
Polar Bear Tracker
Follow radio-collared bears as they explore their sea-ice habitat in the Hudson Bay.
Tracking Narwhal
WWF-Canada worked with a 15-person field crew to fit satellite tags to 7 narwhal in the region of North Baffin Island, Canada.
Most recent Arctic blog posts
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Must watch: The Nature of Things presents Polar Bears: A Summer Odyssey
A new documentary shows a ‘teenage’ polar bear as he struggles to survive an epic migration and hardships on land during his first summer alone.
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The winter that wasn’t
I have realized that the reach of climate change has no geographic prejudice; it has quite literally hit home, my home. Climate change is now on my ...
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Green resolutions for a Living Planet
When I wanted some inspiration for how I could make a “green” resolution this new year, I turned to our conservation experts. Here, they share their ...