Media Advisory - USA

MEDIA ADVISORY

New Scientific Consensus: Arctic Warming Rapidly, Affecting Global Climate Press Conference To Release Assessment Findings

WASHINGTON - The Arctic is warming rapidly, which in turn is affecting global climate, according to an ACIA assessment to be released Monday, November 8th.

The report, an unprecedented four-year scientific study of the region, was conducted by an international team of 300 scientists. The assessment finds that increasing greenhouse gases from human activities are projected to make the Arctic warmer still, that the Arctic exerts a special influence over global climate, and that changes in the Arctic can have major global impacts, including sea-level rise and intensification of global warming.

The exact scope and extant of these changes and projections are laid out in the final report of the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment (ACIA). The study was commissioned by the Arctic Council, a ministerial intergovernmental forum comprised of eight nations, including the United States, and six Indigenous Peoples federations.

The report, "Impacts of a Warming Arctic," will be released to the news media on Monday, November 8, 2004 at a press conference held at the National Press Club, Washington DC in advance of the public release Nov. 9 in Reykjavik, Iceland at the ACIA scientific symposium.

What: "Impacts of a Warming Arctic" ACIA Press Conference on Arctic Warming

When: 9:30 AM, Monday, November 8, 2004

Where: National Press Club, 529 14th Street NW, Washington, DC

Who: ACIA Chair Robert Corell and a panel of report authors

PRESS CONTACTS:

Hunter Cutting, Resource Media, wk: (415) 561-2325 x110; cell (415) 420-7498 Caleb Dardick, Resource Media, wk: (510) 704-0130; cell: (510) 504-4830