THE HEAT IS ON FOR US

The text deals with the problems of ecology and weather. The article in “The Observer” speaks about how global warming may affect the whole planet's eco-system.

John Arlidge joined scientists on a polar expedition to investigate the threat posed to the earth's eco-system.

The Arctic, the world's last great wilderness, is facing an environmental catastrophe — with potentially devastating consequences for humanity.

A unique polar study has discovered that Arctic ice Floes are melting at an unprecedented rate as the earth heats up, destroying the natural habitat of bears, migrating whales, seals, walruses and seabirds. As scientists predicted that rising sea levels could plunge many of the world's most famous cities below water in the next century, environmentalists warned last week that the Arctic crisis is a «wake-up call» to Western governments to take swift actions to reduce the fossil fuel cause global warming.

The scale of the crisis was clear when The Observer journeyed to the freezing polar ice edge hundreds of miles north of Alaska with a team of international scientists.

The expedition, aboard the ice-breaker Arctic Sunrise, uncovered shocking new evidence of how global warming is threatening the Arctic — and the planet. If the big thaw continues, the North Atlantic Ocean will cool, transforming weather patterns thousands of miles away.

Britain will be among the worst affected. Our mild climate will develop extremes of hot and cold, bringing more storms and floods. Sea levels could rise by up to three feet, engulfing coastal towns and low-lying villages.

Large areas of East Anglia and Essex could be sub­merged, including the Fens, Ipswich, Norwich and Col­chester.

Across the channel the entire French, Dutch, Belgian and German coastline is threatened. Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Antwerp could disappear. Also at risk are some of the biggest cities on America's eastern seaboard, including New York, Washington, and Miami.

The Arctic Sunrise study uncovered clear evidence that as temperatures rise, the ice is melting.

The Arctic is now the fastest warming area of the globe, with ice floes up to one third thinner than twenty years ago. An area the size of France has melted.

As their feeding grounds retreat north, polar bears, seals and walruses, can no longer find food for their young. Once-great populations of sea mammals and se­veral species of seabird could die out within twenty years.

The polar bear and seal populations are thought to world's largest land predator could be extinct by 2020.

Land animals, including grizzly bears, caribou, Arctic foxed, wolves and musk oxen, are also at risk from the rising temperatures. Warmer winters, drier tundra and freak cold snaps are killing off their food sources and disrupting migration patterns.

As herds of land and sea mammals decline, Eskimos, who have survived in the world's most hostile environment for thousands of years, say they can no longer sustain their traditional lifestyle. People living on remote islands off the Alaskan coast told the Sunrise crew their communities were dying. «Our animals, our people, our world are dying and the rest of the world does not care», said a fisherman from St Lawrence Island.

Steve Sawyer, chief Arctic campaigner for Greenpeace, who monitored the polar study, said: «The Arctic is the world's thermostat. What happens here regulated the oceans and determines weather patterns everywhere».