The Arctic is particularly sensitive to global warming and is
undergoing some of the most rapid changes on the planet. Amongst
the rapid changes being observed, air temperatures in the Arctic
have been rising at almost twice the global average; Arctic sea
ice extent and thickness has declined dramatically and the
process is accelerating; and the surface of the Arctic Ocean is
warming. On land, permafrost, which contains large stores of
carbon, is warming and thawing at the margins of its
distribution. There are also global impacts - changes in the
Arctic are currently and will affect the rest of the world into
the future. Changes in the Arctic are, amongst others, altering
atmospheric and oceanic circulation that affects weather
patterns, raising the global sea level through the increased
melting of ice sheets and glaciers; and increasing the emission
of carbon dioxide and methane through thawing permafrost. These
changes raising important policy issues at the global, regional
and local scales. In the Arctic,