The Arctic: a hot topic

Been a bit blowy in the UK this week, hasn't it? Strange for early September. But down under, Australia has been experiencing its hottest-ever winter, with some places getting higher temperatures than in summer! Barmy!

However, if you need a true indication that climate change is happening (and it is... quickly), take a look at the Arctic. It was revealed this week that Arctic temperatures are now higher than any time in the last 2,000 years.

Fancy graphs show that there have been peaks and troughs of warmer and cooler times in the Arctic - but it's never been as bad as now. And what happens there is not merely a local or global problem - there are ramifications for the whole world in terms of rising sea levels and changes to ocean currents.

I've been recently reading about the Arctic in New Internationalist magazine - fascinating articles about the importance of that white splodge at the top of the spinning globe, which is often overlooked. The area contains a quarter of the world's remaining oil and gas reserves, and superpowers and energy giants are squabbling over these precious resources without a thought for local people and wildlife.

I very much hope the plight of the Arctic - and the impact on the rest of the world - is a focus at December's UN climate summit. UN General Secretary Ban Ki-Moon visited the region last week to see the crisis first-hand - I trust his reports will influence others in taking positive action on carbon emissions. The situation has a real feeling of now or never about it.

(Photo credit: P J Hansen)