The Arctic

Two years after the Gulf oil spill, learn from WWF’s Layla Hughes why we are working to stop oil and gas development.

Drilling Plans Do Not Address Barriers to Spill Response Says WWF. 

Coca-Cola and World Wildlife Fund (WWF) are joining forces in a bold new campaign to help protect the polar bear’s Arctic home. Read more

On October 3, the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced that the agency has filed the Record of Decision regarding a 2008 federal oil and natural gas lease sale in Alaska’s Chukchi Sea. 

The Obama administration’s decision to affirm Chukchi Lease Sale 193 in America’s Arctic Ocean is a clear case of politics trumping science.

Just weeks before Arctic sea ice extent reaches a record or near-record annual low, observers estimate that over 20,000 walruses have hauled-out near Point Lay, Alaska. Read more

Sea ice loss from climate change is causing polar bears to swim longer distances to find stable ice or to reach land, according to a new paper co-authored by a WWF expert.

Today, World Wildlife Fund’s (WWF) Vice President of Marine and Arctic Policy Bill Eichbaum issued the following statement in response to the Final Report released by the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling.

Until America fully transitions to clean energy sources, oil and gas development must be done safely with science-based decisions that are made in the context of the full suite of potential uses of ocean resources, including fishing and tourism, as well as the maintenance of overall ecosystem health, World Wildlife Fund President and CEO Carter Roberts said today.

World Wildlife Fund’s long campaign to protect Alaska’s Arctic seas and coastlines from oil and gas development won a major victory last night when a federal court put a hold on recent leases that would have opened up the Chukchi Sea to new drilling.

President Obama today announced that new exploratory drilling off the coast of Alaska that was set to begin as soon as July 1 has been put on hold until at least 2011.

Two engineers with extensive experience in the oil industry said on Capitol Hill today that Shell Oil’s plans to begin drilling off the coast of Alaska in less than six weeks are fraught with risks that have not been adequately addressed by the company. 

World Wildlife Fund today called on President Obama to create a high-level independent commission to examine all of the factors related to the gulf oil disaster.  Further, WWF urged the administration to halt all new drilling, including Shell’s planned drilling off the Alaska coast on July 1, until the commission is able to issue its findings and recommendations.

As thousands of barrels of oil continue to gush into the Gulf of Mexico, World Wildlife Fund officials today urged the Obama Administration to put a hold on exploratory drilling that is scheduled to begin in the Arctic on July 1 until the cause of the ongoing catastrophe has been identified and new safeguards have been put in place.

The following statement was issued today by World Wildlife Fund’s Vice President for Arctic and Marine Policy William M. Eichbaum regarding the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico:

World Wildlife Fund (WWF) praises Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar’s decision today to remove Bristol Bay from the Bush Administration’s five-year offshore oil-and-gas leasing plan.  WWF now calls for permanent protection of this environmentally and economically important place and for the Obama Administration to hold off approving any additional drilling in the already fragile American Arctic until adequate safeguards are in place.

WWF applauds today’s announcement of the proposed designation of key areas of polar bear habitat across Alaska by the U.S. Department of the Interior. The requirement for the identification of “critical habitat” was triggered by the listing of polar bears as threatened under the US Endangered Species Act in 2008.

World Wildlife Fund has obtained dramatic high definition footage along the Arctic shorelines of Russia and Alaska showing the dramatic impact climate change is having on walruses.  Earlier today, an investigative team led by the US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) issued preliminary findings explaining the mass death of young walrus calves that is captured on the WWF footage. 

Ice coverage over the Arctic sea has likely reached its lowest level for 2009 – the third lowest amount of coverage on record – based on data collected by the National Snow and Ice Data Center. 

This year’s summer melt continues a trend of rapid sea ice decline over the past 30 years.  The average sea ice extent for August 2009 was 2.42 million square miles – about 540,000 square miles below the 1979 to 2000 average. That decline is larger than the states of Texas, California, Florida and Indiana combined.

Warming in the Arctic will likely have far-reaching impacts throughout the world, resulting in a sharp increase in harmful greenhouse gases and significant shifts in global weather patterns that could disrupt the lives and livelihoods of hundreds of millions of people.

World Wildlife Fund (WWF) officials today called on the incoming Obama Administration to use the Arctic policy directive issued Friday by President Bush as a starting point to revamp, reorient and strengthen US policy in the Arctic region, particularly in the areas of oil and gas development, governance and climate change. 

A report issued by the U.S. government today shows that rising temperatures in the Arctic could have disastrous impacts on the rest of the planet beyond what had previously been projected, reinforcing the urgency for a new global climate treaty, said officials with World Wildlife Fund (WWF).

An aerial survey by government scientists in Alaska’s Chukchi Sea this week found at least nine polar bears swimming in open water – with one at least 60 miles from shore – raising concern among wildlife experts about their survival. A World Wildlife Fund (WWF) polar bear expert said the bears could have difficulty making it safely to shore and risk drowning, particularly if a storm arises.

Climate change is destroying vital polar bear habitat, putting the species at risk of extinction, the U.S. government said today as it listed the polar bear as threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).  World Wildlife Fund (WWF), the world’s largest conservation organization, said the government’s decision clearly indicates that climate change impacts are already threatening the survivability of animals and habitats, and illustrates the urgency of preparing for and adapting to a rapidly changing climate.  

WASHINGTON D.C. - Today, Alaska Native and conservation groups voiced their opposition to Department of Interior’s (DOI) controversial Lease Sale 193, comprising nearly 30 million acres of pristine waters in the Chukchi Sea of Alaska. The Chukchi Sea is critical habitat for polar bears, walrus, whales, seals, and migratory birds and is experiencing some of the most rapid loss of sea ice in the world due to global warming. Minerals Management Service (MMS), an agency within the DOI, announced its intention to sell oil and gas leases in this critical part of the Arctic Ocean on January 2. Less than one week after that announcement, a different DOI agency, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), announced it would miss a legally required January 9 deadline for making its final decision on whether to list polar bears as “threatened” or “endangered” under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).

Washington D.C.- World Wildlife Fund (WWF) is alarmed that a decision to list the polar bear under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) to protect the species and its fragile Arctic environment has been plagued with delays while an oil lease sale of nearly 30 million acres of the prime polar bear habitat in the Chukchi Sea is scheduled for February 6 in Alaska.

Washington D.C.– Margaret Williams, WWF’s Director of the Bering Sea ecoregion program, called for urgent action to save polar bears at the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works hearing entitled “Examining Threats and Protections for the Polar Bear” on Wednesday, January 30, 2008. The hearing was convened to examine the status of and legal protections for the polar bear, including the Endangered Species Act (ESA), and the status of listing the species under the act.

WASHINGTON D.C. – World Wildlife Fund (WWF) expressed disappointment over the announcement by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) on January 7, 2008 that it will delay by up to one month a final decision on  whether to list the polar bear as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.

The Minerals Management Service (MMS), an agency within the Department of Interior (DOI), issued its Final Notice of Intent for the Chukchi Lease Sale 193 opening approximately 29.7 million acres of the pristine Chukchi Sea to oil and gas activities on January 2.

Bali, Indonesia – A move by the U.S. government could push the Bali climate negotiations to the brink of failure, WWF officials warned tonight. The U.S. proposal would eliminate language that called upon developed nations to consider specific, internationally binding, quantified reduction commitments, replacing it with text that calls upon countries to adopt any measures they deem appropriate.

Bali, Indonesia – Officials with World Wildlife Fund (WWF) said landmark climate change legislation sent to the floor of the US Senate by the Environment and Public Works Committee this week will help put the US on the path towards meaningful reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.

Bali, Indonesia– The past year has seen yet more weather records smashed as extreme weather events take a firmer hold of the planet, says WWF.

WASHINGTON--East Asian countries are importing between 50 and 90 percent more Russian Sockeye salmon thanRussia is reporting as caught and much of it is destined for theU.S. according to a new report from TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring network, and WWF.

WASHINGTON, October 16, 2007 -In the new fantasy adventure film "The Golden Compass," polar bears protect themselves with suits of armor. In the real world, threats to polar bears are not so easily abated. This majestic species is one of many in danger of extinction due to harsh changes in climate, which is why New Line Cinema has launched a unique partnership today with the World Wildlife Fund to help educate the public about the impact global warming is having on animals throughout the world.

WASHINGTON— A new report on the fate of polar bears in a world of rapid climate change predicts disaster for one of the world's most charismatic species, World Wildlife Fund said today.

Kamchatka, Russia—Following today’s discussion of dynamiting or using heavy machines to remove landslide mud and debris from Kamchatka’s Valley of the Geysers at a special commission meeting in the capitol of Kamchatka, World Wildlife Fund states that natural transformation of the valley must take its course.

Kamchatka, Russia—One of only five places on Earth where a concentration of geysers punch holes through the Earth’s crust to spew boiling water and steam skyward disappeared under water within hours after a massive slide of boulders, gravel, snow and ice choked the Geyser River in the world-famous Valley of the Geysers in Kamchatka’s Kronotsky Nature Preserve, according to World Wildlife Fund. The four other places are in Yellowstone National Park, Chile, Iceland and New Zealand.

WASHINGTON - Bill Eichbaum, managing director and vice-president of the marine portfolio at World Wildlife Fund, issued the following statement following President Bush's lifting of a ban on oil and gas drilling in Bristol Bay which has been protected since 1989 through the Presidential Withdrawal first declared by President George Herbert Bush. The U.S. government has spent $95 million to buy back the oil and gas leases it sold in Bristol Bay prior to the withdrawal.

WASHINGTON, December 28, 2006 - The following is a statement by World Wildlife Fund's vice president Bill Eichbaum on the release of information about the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's decision to propose listing the polar bear as "threatened":

WASHINGTON - President Bush is expected to remove protections within the next week for Bristol Bay, opening what many call America's "Fish Basket" to oil and gas drilling. Bristol Bay has been protected from offshore drilling since 1989 through the Presidential Withdrawal first declared by President George Herbert Bush in 1990. But the area is currently included in the Minerals Management Service's 5-year plan to develop the Outer Continental Shelf for oil and gas development.

Thanks to support from World Wildlife Fund activists, the U.S. Senate voted on Dec. 21, 2005, to strip a provision allowing oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge from an unrelated bill appropriating funding to the Defense Department. Republican Sens. Mike DeWine (Ohio) and Lincoln Chafee (R.I.), as well as Independent Jim Jeffords (Vt.), voted with the majority of Democratic senators to achieve this big win. Only four Democratic senators voted wrong: Mary Landrieu (La.), Daniel Inouye (Hawaii) Ben Nelson (Nebr.), and Daniel Akaka (Hawaii.). Efforts in Congress to open the refuge to drilling in 2005 appear to be over, but the issue may return in 2006.

Washington, DC - The Arctic and its wildlife are increasingly contaminated with chemicals and pollutants that were never produced or used in that region, warns World Wildlife Fund in a new report.

A new report from World Wildlife Fund (WWF) says that Arctic wildlife such as reindeer (known as caribou in North America), polar bears, ringed seals, and a host of plant species and migratory birds are all threatened by global warming and its effects -- earlier springs, loss of pack ice, and dwindling/shifting food supplies.