Awed by America's Arctic? Take Action on Climate Change on October 24th

One of the planet's last truly wild frontiers, the America's Arctic BioGem is a landscape of dramatic mountain ranges, frozen tundra, and ice-sheets.  It is home to remarkable species capable of enduring the harshest conditions, like the polar bear, caribou, and musk ox.

Reaching back to our earliest days, NRDC has worked to shield this special place from oil and gas development.  Our focus on stopping repeated efforts to open up the Arctic Refuge has expanded to include protecting the Western Arctic and the Polar Bear Seas - the Beaufort and Chukchi. 

This pristine landscape and its rare wildlife now also face the damages of climate change.  Infact, the Arctic is more sensitive to temperature variations than any other region of the globe.  Scientists say that the entire Arctic ice-cap could melt by mid-century.  Our BioGem is already feeling the impact of climate change:

• The polar bear, so dependent on ice-sheets for its survival, would lose this crucial platform to hunt seals, and may consequently be driven to extinction.
• Similarly, the Pacific walrus, which cannot swim long distances, needs ice-sheets to rest and recover energy. Without them, walruses have to expend a great amount of energy to swim the way back to shore. In both 2007 and 2009, thousands of walruses died in stampedes as they were increased crowded together on-shore colonies.
• The Arctic marine habitat is so intimately tied to and dependent on sea-ice dynamics that the melting ice-cap affects the underlying communities as well. Abundant algae growing under the ice usually sinks to the bottom of the shallow waters, nurturing the vibrant communities there, such as crabs and clams. As the ice melts, fewer algae will be available to feed these communities, changing the balance of the entire ecosystem.
• Without these crabs, clams and other shallow-water organisms to feed on, seal and walrus populations will lose an important food source. Walruses will be forced to swim greater distances to find food, becoming separated from their calves which are left helpless on the shore.
• Ice dependent seals, such as the ringed seal, need enough ice to hide their newborns from predators. With the ice melting earlier each year, these seals are at risk of losing that necessary ice cover. The pups will be exposed before they can defend themselves, leading to a higher death rate of these baby seals.
• The Arctic fox is uniquely adapted to the cold conditions. As temperatures increase, more temperate species will move toward the poles, consuming the Arctic fox's already-limited food sources and compromising its very survival.
• As rivers thaw earlier each year, their rapids become more and more powerful. This affects the caribou populations as they migrate along their historic routes, and are now forced to forge these rapids with their newborn calves. These calves are too weak to cross the rushing rivers and so thousands are swept downstream, leaving the cows to continue to the fertile calving grounds alone.

Our BioGems Defenders and thousands of other concerned citizens have joined us in our long struggle to preserve America's Arctic.  Please join NRDC and 350.org to tell political leaders that action on climate change is necessary now to save this place and to secure a sustainable future.  There is no time to lose.  Act now!  Act on October 24!