Global warming talks begin
2005-08-16 15:17
Copenhagen - Environment ministers from 25 countries are meeting for a conference on global warming opening on Tuesday in Greenland, Denmark's Arctic territory heavily affected by rising temperatures around the globe.
The meeting, described as informal, came after a study, the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment, showed that the Arctic had been heating up twice as fast as the rest of the earth over the past decade due to the so-called greenhouse effect.
The study said less than a century from now, Arctic ice could melt completely during the summer, threatening many species and the lifestyle of the indigenous Inuit population.
Danish Environment Minister Connie Hedegaard picked Ilulissat, in the Disko bay in western Greenland, 250km north of the polar circle, as a venue for the four-day conference to show colleagues how fast Greenland's glaciers were already melting.
Hedegaard said: "Climate change is not a theoretical threat. We can already feel it in Greenland's fragile nature."
The Greenland conference was to help prepare for the 11th United Nations climate conference in Canada in December.
- SAPA