Rapid landscape change and human response in the Arctic — A message from Whitehorse, June 17, 2005

摘要

The prospect of substantial and ubiquitous climate change faces the Earth during the 21st century. The levels of greenhouse gases in our atmosphere are higher now than at any time in the last 20 million years. The record during and at the end of the last Ice Age, demonstrates that major shifts of climate may take only decades. Climate change will affect everyone on our planet, but particularly aboriginal people, whose sustaining culture is tied more closely to the local environment than the lifestyles of western civilization. The international conference held in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, Canada, June 15-17, 2005 urges decision-makers to improve research on past environmental change and the human response to such change, in order to prepare northern societies for the challenges we will soon face. The conference urges First Nations' governments and Western scientists to integrate their efforts so that the results of research may be utilized rapidly by northerners to prepare for the future.