Vulnerable Arctic Areas Need Protection as Region Warms, Report Says

A new report identifies 13 areas of the Arctic most vulnerable to the effects of climate change and calls for their protection as sea ice melts and industrial activity moves into newly accessible areas. Some of the areas identified in the report, which was published by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), include the Bering Strait; the Chukchi Beaufort Coast in Alaska; St. Lawrence Island; the Beaufort Coast/Cape Bathurst in Canada; the Great Siberian Polynya, located off Norway and the Russian Federation; Russia’s Novaya Zemlya Island; and the High Arctic islands and shelf. Lisa Speer, director of the NRDC’s International Oceans Program, said there is a small window of opportunity to plan for industrial development in what she called the world’s “last ocean frontier” as numerous nations plan offshore oil development, expanded fishing, and new shipping routes.