Human activity is behind changes in rainfall patterns around the world, according to research from Environment Canada. The report found 10 per cent more rain and snow in northern regions and the southern tropics region below the equator, and less rain in the area between the equator and 30 degrees north.

Whether you're getting more rain than you'd like or not enough, ARCTIC suggests some music for the occasion...

For the last few months I have been working on the Western Hudson Bay polar bear file for the Nunavut Wildlife Management Board [NWMB]. The NWMB was formed by the Nunavut Land Claim Agreement as a co-management board to deal with issues of limiting Inuit right to harvest wildlife. If there is to be a harvesting limit placed on Inuit in Nunavut, the NWMB investigates the best available information and decides if and why such a restriction is needed. Most limitations are made for conservation reasons.

So after wading through the relevant climate change and sea ice literature. Spending days in public hearings about the topic. Basically having a gag order placed on me about talking about these bears, the NWMB finally made a decision to reduce the total allowable harvest for the population (fewer bears killed). I still can’t talk about details because the Territorial Minister of the Environment hasn’t made his ruling on the decision yet. However, with sea ice breaking up earlier and earlier in Hudson Bay, these bears have bigger challenges to contend with than hunting.

And that brings me to the point of this note, which is frustration about mixed messages and misunderstandings. In an article on cbc.ca/north from 21 June 2007, titled Inuit reject U.S. polar bear proposal, the Director of Wildlife for the Northwest Territories makes the statement that “We feel our management regime in Canada can address the threats the U.S. listing suggests are in place for polar bears.” She was speaking as a representative of the Federal/Provincial Polar Bear Administrative Committee, an inter-jurisdictional group of wildlife managers and researchers in Canada that are charged with overseeing sound management of the species.

Firstly, when conducted properly, the polar bear management system in Canada will not jeopardize the persistence of the bears. However, the KEY point of the U.S. proposal to list polar bears as threatened is the predicted loss of habitat due to climatic changes taking place over the next 50 years or so. I’m sorry, but I don’t think polar bear managers have a giant ice-making machine stashed away up in Churchill or Resolute. No “management regime” will be able to prevent the predicted climate trends, which lead to earlier spring breakup of sea ice, thus reducing the amount of time bears have to store fat to make it through the ice free period healthy.

The true reason the U.S. proposal lacks support in the North actually is stated in the article. That is “the Inuit are afraid the listing would hurt their commercial polar bear hunting industry, which caters mostly to wealthy Americans.” This is true. A U.S. listing would disallow the importation of polar bear trophies by U.S. hunters that kill a bear in Canada. This would have a financial impact on the sport hunt guides and the communities they live in. The loss could be substantial in these communities. BUT, the proposed listing isn’t about hunting, it is about loss of habitat due to climate change. If the habitat a species must have to survive is threatened, then the species is likely also threatened.

With respect to mixed messages I will point you to another cbc.ca/north article. This one is from 1 March 2007, titled Arctic residents say U.S. carbon emissions violate human rights. If climate change is having an impact on the lives of human residents of the North, why wouldn’t it also impact the bears? We need to keep focused on the big picture.

--paul frame

ARCTIC's song "Some One Turning" has been licensed for the movie "Too Young to Marry". Catch it on Lifetime on July 9 at 9:00 pm ET/PT.

A troubling study has shown that ancient ponds in the Arctic are evaporating, affecting nearby wetlands and the water supply for wildlife. This year, about forty permanent ponds are either completely dry, or mere fractions of their usual size:

Areas that once required hip waders to study could be set on fire with a lighter.

Despite the vast quantities of reputable, scientific evidence to support man's impact on the environment and the acceleration of global warming, there are powerful lobby groups still fighting to deny it, as seen in this CBC documentary. If you want to fight back, sign up at Stop Global Warming to find out what you can do.