World Environment Day Theme is Global Warming - VOA Story

June 5th World Environment Day. The United Nations declared 2007 the "International Polar Year" to promote research at the North and South Poles and awareness about the effects of global warming on their ice packs. To support that, the theme of this year's World Environment Day is "Melting Ice - A Hot Topic?"

In an accompanying report from the United Nations, scientists estimate the Arctic is warming at twice the global rate, with sea ice retreating a little each of the last several years due mainly to global warming.

The Executive Director of the U.N.'s Environment Program, Achim Steiner, says, "The latest data that we have is truly of great concern to all of us, not least because of the implications for sea level rise. Secondly, it's going to affect human beings. We need to understand how their lives, the basis of their lives are going to change fundamentally and in some cases disappear."

The polar ice sheets hold about 99 percent of the world's fresh water ice. The report says the annual shrinking of the Greenland ice sheet doubled in the 1990s and continues to melt at a dramatic pace. Melting ice sheets endanger hundreds of thousands of indigenous people and as well as plant and animal species.

The world's polar regions provide some of the earliest signs of climate change. "The collective actions of peoples all over the world have (a) tremendous impact on the Arctic regions. And everyone can play a role in reducing the problems of climate change. On our website, we call it WED for World Environment Day, we have the W.E.D. alphabet, 77 ways to celebrate, and it's 77 actions that an individual can take. And individual action matters, collective actions magnifies the impact and that's where the U.N. can come in.

A series of World Environment Day events are taking place around the world beginning June fifth. You can learn more about them and the critical role the Earth's Arctic regions play in the environment at the United Nations, World Environment Day website - www.unep.org.

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• Warming
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[xlr8up]

GLOBAL WARMING/CLIMATE CHANGE IS A MYTH. YOU PEOPLE ARE PUPPETS WHO NEED A DISASTER TO JUSTIFY HOW YOU MAKE A LIVING, THAT IS ALL.

[panicbuildgod]

haha kut milieu!

[neothomist1275]

"In searching for a new enemy to unite us we came up with the idea that pollution, the threat of global warming, water shortages, famine and the like, would fit the bill." -- Club of Rome members Alexander King and Bertrand Schneider in their book "The First Global Revolution"

[theeProphet]

YES GO BREAK UP THE ICE to see why its melting, OH WONDERFUL GREAT BRAINLESS ASSHOLE... break ice it MELTS FASTER!!!!!!!!!!

2 planes built in the late 30's early 40's landed in greenland during WW2 and ice formed over them, hundreds of layers, if those layers are ANUAL, those planes were there HUNDREDS OF YEARS... HMMMM whos trying mess up the FACTS???? the planes are in seattle now... check it out...

[RSVPBUY]

Yeah... be somebody! Great Video! Share your upcoming events!