U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry used the backdrop of a rapidly warming Arctic to call for "a heightened sense of urgency" in global efforts to fight climate change. "What we can decide here," Kerry said Aug. 31 in Anchorage, Alaska, at the opening of an international meeting of policy makers, scientists and businesses, and "what we [can] make real in Paris and beyond, will profoundly impact the future of life on this planet." The meeting, organized by the U.S. State Department, focused on the many changes felt by the region, from melting ice to thawing permafrost, and how to deal with them. It comes less than 100 days before negotiators from around the world will gather at a United Nations summit in Paris to hammer out a climate deal that would for the first time commit both developed and developing countries to curb greenhouse gas emissions. Climate change is hitting especially hard in the Arctic, which is warming twice as fast as the rest of the globe.
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