D. The ACIA reckons that in recent decades average temperatures have increased almost twice as fast in the Arctic as they have in the rest of the world. Skeptics argue that there are places, such as the high latitudes of the Greenland ice sheet and some buoys at sea, where temperatures seem to have fallen. On the other hand, there are also places, such as parts of Alaska, where they have risen far faster than average. Robin Bell, a geophysicist at Columbia University who was not involved in the reports compilation, believes that such conflicting local trends point to the value of the international, interdisciplinary approach of this weeks report. As he observes, climate change, like the weather, can be patchy and you can get fooled unless you look at the whole picture.
E. And there is other evidence of warming to bolster the ACIAs case. For example, the report documents the widespread melting of glaciers and of sea ice, a trend already making life miserable for the polar bears and seals that depend on that ice. It also notes a shortening of the snow season. The most worrying finding, however, is the evidence still preliminary that the Greenland ice sheet may be melting faster than previously thought.
F. That points to one reason the world should pay attention to this weeks report. Like a canary in a coal mine, the hypersensitive Polar Regions may well experience the full force of global warming before the rest of the planet does. However, there is a second and bigger reason to pay attention. An unexpectedly rapid warming of the Arctic could also lead directly to greater climate change elsewhere on the planet.
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