© Eric Baccega / naturepl.com / WWF
In brief
News from the Arctic (2024.02)
WWF sues Norway over deep-sea mining plan
A “DANGEROUS PRECEDENT”
In January, Norway approved a plan to open a large part of its seabed to mining exploration despite the uncertain environmental impacts. Now, WWF–Norway is suing the Norwegian government.
WWF says the decision breaches Norwegian law, goes against the advice of the government’s own scientific advisors, and violates several laws relating to adequate and inclusive environmental impact assessment. The proposed mining area, located in the Barents and Greenland seas, spans more than 280,000 square kilometres. It is a largely unexplored biological treasure that is home to unique forms of marine life and important marine mammal and seabed populations.
“It will set a dangerous precedent if we allow the government to ignore its own rules, override all environmental advice, and manage our common natural resources blindly,” says Karoline Andaur, CEO of WWF–Norway. “The deep-sea mining ambitions of the Norwegian government represent one of the most substantial interventions ever proposed by Norway to its natural environment—and it could alter an area the size of Italy.”
Deep-sea mining extracts metals and minerals from the seabed. Norway’s government has said these are needed to support the transition to green energy. However, Andaur says top scientists have debunked these claims and characterized them as misleading.
© Sara Falconer / WWF-Canada
New Inuit Protected Area in Canada
MARINE CONSERVATION
In March, the Canadian government and Government of Nunatsiavut (an autonomous Inuit region within the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador) announced that a feasibility study had recommended protecting almost 17,000 square kilometres of the Labrador Sea near the shores of the province’s Torngat Mountains. Known for their rugged terrain, deep fjords and significant cultural importance to Inuit, the mountains are considered one of the most remote and pristine wilderness areas in North America.
The proposed Inuit Protected Area is home to polar bears, whales and dolphins, seals, breeding and migrating seabirds, waterfowl and a variety of fish species. If established, the area will conserve a portion of the Labrador Shelf Marine Region and protect the fjords that extend into Torngat Mountains National Park. There are no settlements within the park’s borders today, but many Inuit trace their roots back to these lands and waters.
Next steps will involve ongoing consultations with rights holders, partners, stakeholders, industry and communities to negotiate elements like a final boundary and co-management structure.
A breakthrough for collective climate and ocean action
LAW OF THE SEA RULING
In late May, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, a global maritime court, found that greenhouse gas emissions constitute marine pollution under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. The court’s ruling—which stated that countries must go beyond the requirements of the 2015 Paris Agreement to protect the marine environment—is only an advisory opinion, but still provides a precedent that could shape future climate cases.
The tribunal established that to protect and preserve oceans from the impacts of climate change, countries have a duty to take all measures to prevent, reduce and control pollution of the marine environment from greenhouse gas emissions in line with the best available science.
The future of small island states and coastal communities—which are among the most vulnerable to the immediate impacts of climate change and ocean acidification—depends on decisive global action to reduce emissions and conserve the marine environment. But the benefits of tackling the climate and nature crises will be felt by all countries and communities, including in Arctic regions, where wildlife, ecosystems and people are already significantly affected.
WWF submitted an expert opinion to the court arguing that reducing emissions and protecting oceans should be a top priority.
© Sally Rangecroft (distributed via imaggeo.egu.eu) (CC BY 3.0)
Diminishing polar ice changing the Earth’s rotation
FORCES AND COUNTERFORCES
A new study has found that the melting of polar ice caused by climate change is slowing the Earth’s rotation—and could affect how we keep time. Because global warming is melting ice at both poles, it is changing where the Earth’s mass is concentrated: less solid ice at the poles means more mass around the equator. This affects the planet’s angular velocity, causing it to spin more slowly.
According to the study, published in the journal Nature, this dynamic is counteracting an opposing trend that has actually seen the Earth spin faster in recent decades. Scientists had predicted that to deal with this acceleration, clocks worldwide would need to subtract a single “negative leap second” as early as 2026. (Doing so would result in a minute being only 59 seconds long.)
Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) is used to regulate clocks and time around the world and is calculated by the Earth’s rotation. Since the 1970s, timekeepers have added about 27 leap seconds to the global clock—but never before has a second been subtracted. According to the study, computers may not need to subtract a negative leap second until 2029 now that polar ice melt is slowing the Earth’s rotation. Because this has never happened before, it is unclear whether the world’s interconnected computers will stay synchronized when it does.
By WWF Global Arctic Programme
