The polar bear has become the poster child of global warming,
but there’s more to the Arctic than ice and polar bears. Beyond
these two famous and prominent features of the Arctic
environment, there is an entire intricate ecosystem of wildlife
and plant life that will be profoundly affected by a prolonged
warming trend in the Arctic. There’s no doubt the Arctic is
warming. In fact, this extreme region has warmed faster than any
other on earth, with the Arctic temperature increasing three to
five times faster than the Earth as a whole over the past 100
years. Climate models predict that the Arctic will become an
additional 7 to 12 degrees Fahrenheit warmer during the next
century. Experts predict these rising temperatures are likely to
cause the melting of at least half the Arctic sea ice by the end
of the century. Melting ice is expected to lead to even higher
Arctic temperatures as bright white ice plays a significant role
in reflecting the sun’s radiation. As ice melts, more of the
dark ocean and land are e