The Arctic

Newsletters and Bulletins

Arctic Bulletin - 2010
The Circle - April 2009
The Circle - February 2009
The Circle - January 2009
Arctic Bulletin - November 2008
Arctic Bulletin - September 2008
Arctic Bulletin – May 2008
Arctic Bulletin – February 2008
Arctic Bulletin – September 2007
Arctic Bulletin – May 2007
WWF Bering Sea Newsletters Winter 2007-2008
WWF Bering Sea Newsletters Winter 2006-2007
WWF Bering Sea Newsletters Winter 2005-2006
WWF Bering Sea Newsletters Winter 2004-Spring 2005
WWF Bering Sea Newsletters Winter 2003
WWF Bering Sea Newsletters Summer-Fall 2002
WWF Bering Sea Newsletters Summer-Fall 2001

Facts Sheets

Polar Bear Fact Sheet
Polar Bear Facts and Fallacies
Effects of Climate Change on Polar Bears
Effects of Climate Change on Arctic Ecosystems
Effects of Climate Change on Arctic Vegetation
Effects of Climate Change on Arctic Migratory Birds
Effects of Climate Change on Arctic Fish
Effects of climate change on reindeer
Illegal Fishing in Arctic Waters: Catch of Today – Gone Tomorrow?
WWF Arctic Program
Arctic Governance
Polar Bear Conservation in the Arctic
The Kamchatka Salmon Conservation Initiative factsheet

Brochures

Don't Take the Bait on Offshore Oil and Gas Drilling— This brochure shows how, at most, oil and gas drilling is expected to bring in $7.7 billion over the 25-40 years experts believe it will take to extract these finite resources from Bristol Bay and the North Aleutian Basin.

Offshore Development in Alaska's Bristol Bay: Wrong for the Right Whale — This brochure shows how the addition of offshore oil and gas activities greatly compromise the potential for right whale populations to recover from endangerment of extinction.

Oil & Gas Development in Bristol Bay: High Risk Low Return — For nearly a quarter century, Bristol Bay has been off limits to oil and gas development. But protection has been peeled away with the lifting of the Congressional moratorium in 2004 and Presidential Withdrawals in January, 2007. Act now to save Bristol Bay!

Stop Rats! — Brochure about rats as invasive species.

The Bering Sea and Kamchatka — Protecting Arctic Environments - A Call to Action!

WWF Kamchatka Salmon Conservation Initiative

Reports

Reforming Arctic Governance: Limit a Little, Save a Lot (2010) – This report concludes conclude that the best option from a legal and regulatory perspective is to develop a new international framework agreement covering the entire Arctic, across all sectors.

International Governance and Regulation of the Marine Arctic: Three Reports Prepared for the WWF International Arctic Program (2010) –
WWF commissioned these three reports to examine the current governance regime, identify governance and regulatory gaps and analyze options for improvements.

Not So Fast: Some Progress in Spill Response, but US Still Ill-Prepared for Arctic Offshore Development (December 2009) - A Review of U.S. Department of the Interior, Minerals Management Service’s (MMS) “Arctic Oil Spill Response Research and Development Program – A Decade of Achievement.”

Arctic Climate Feedbacks: Global Implications Executive Summary (August 2009) – Over the past few decades, the Arctic has warmed at about twice the rate of the rest of the globe. Human-induced climate change has affected the Arctic earlier than expected. As a result, climate change is already estabilising important arctic systems including sea ice, the Greenland Ice Sheet, mountain glaciers, and aspects of the arctic carbon cycle including altering patterns of frozen soils and vegetation and increasing methane release from soils, lakes, and wetlands. The impact of these changes on the Arctic’s physical systems, biological systems, and human inhabitants is large and projected to grow throughout this century and beyond.

Arctic Climate Feedbacks: Global Implications Report (August 2009) – In a first-of-its kind assessment incorporating the fate of the ice sheets of Greenland and West Antarctica into global sea level projections, the WWF report concludes that sea-levels will very likely rise by more than one meter by 2100 -- more than twice the amount given in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s 2007 assessment that had excluded the contribution of ice sheets from their projection. The associated flooding of coastal regions will affect more than a quarter of the world’s population.

A Closing Window of Opportunity - Global Greenhouse Reality (2008) – Scientific evidence accumulating since the IPCC’s Fourth Assessment Report reveals that global warming is accelerating, at times far beyond projections outlined in earlier studies, including the latest IPCC Report. New modelling studies are providing updated and more detailed indications of the impacts of continued warming.

Climate change hitting Arctic faster, harder (2008) – Climate change is having a greater and faster impact on the Arctic than previously thought, according to a new study called Arctic Climate Impact Science - An Update Since ACIA - the most wide-ranging review of arctic climate impact science since the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment in 2005.

Living Planet Report (2008) – This report shows that the fastest increasing footprint globally is the carbon footprint. This is of particular concern in the Arctic, as temperature increases in the Arctic are projected to be about twice the global average.

NOAA: Arctic Report Card 2008 – The Arctic Report Card, a product introduced by NOAA’s Climate Program Office in 2006, establishes a baseline of conditions in that region in the 21st century and provides a way of monitoring the often quickly changing conditions. It is updated annually in October and tracks the Arctic atmosphere, sea ice, biology, ocean, land and Greenland.

Illegal Fishing in Arctic waters. Catch of today - Gone tomorrow? (April 2008) – Illegal fishing for Atlantic cod and Alaska pollock in the Arctic threatens the health of these globally important fisheries and their resilience to climate change. It undermines all efforts to build sustainable fisheries management regimes – a pressing objective in the Arctic, where temperatures are rising at twice the global average.

Conservation Concerns for Cetaceans in the Bering Sea and Adjacent Waters: Offshore Oil Development and other Threats — This report shows how offshore oil and gas exploration and production activities pose lethal and sub lethal impacts to endangered whale populations utilizing the Bristol Bay area.

A New Sea: The Need for a Regional Agreement on Management and Conservation of the Arctic Marine Environment (January 2008) — A paper exploring the impending changes in the arctic environment, assessing the development pressures that may be building in the region, and discussing the need for new cooperative management measures to assure that arctic wildlife and natural resources can be protected and that future development of the region can be sustainable.

Oil Spill Response Challenges in Arctic Waters (2007) - This report considers how typical conditions may contribute to an Arctic marine response gap and recommends a more formal analysis to quantify this gap for Arctic regional seas.

Trading Tails: Linkages Between Russian Salmon Fisheries and East Asian Markets (2007) — This study compares the total quantity of Russian salmon in these markets to catch estimates from the Russian Federation.

Oil Spill Response Challenges in Arctic Waters (October 2007) — This report considers how typical conditions may contribute to an arctic marine response gap, and recommends a more formal analysis to quantify this gap for Arctic regional seas.

Creating a New Future for the Arctic (2007) — Highlights from the WWF Arctic Program, a new international partnership launched in 2007 that taps the enormous resources of the WWF network together with business and industry, scientific and research institutions, and government agencies.

Offshore Oil Spill Response in Dynamic Ice Conditions (2006) — A Report to WWF on Considerations for the Sakhalin II Project

Russian Seabird Bycatch Report (2006) — Summarizing the results of the WWF project on reduction of incidental bycatch of seabirds in Russian demersal long-line fishing in the Bering Sea and Sea of Okhotsk.

2° is too much!: Evidence and Implications of Dangerous Climate Change in the Arctic (January 2005) – In order to understand some of the regional implications of dangerous climate change, we have assembled a series of papers in this report to examine the biophysical changes in the Arctic associated with a global temperature increase of 2°C above pre-industrial levels.

Ecoregion-Based Conservation in the Bering Sea (March 1999) — WWF and the Nature Conservancy’s Alaska Field Office joined in a conservation initiative to evaluate the Bering Sea for habitat conservation. This document outlines the results of the first part of that initiative - a workshop co-sponsored by WWF and TNC in Girdwood, Alaska, March 20-23, 1999.

Bering Sea Ecoregion: a Call to Action in Marine Conservation — An overview of the Bering Sea ecoregion, the environmental changes and human activities threatening its health, and proposals aimed at conserving biodiversity in this vital part of our world.

The Pribilof Islands: St. George, St. Paul, Otter, & Walrus Islands, and Sea Lion Rock — Describing an essential refuge for extraordinary numbers of marine mammals, seabirds, fishes, and other marine life.

Russia's Commander Islands Nature Reserve: Islands of Biodiversity in the Bering Sea — An in-depth look at the biodiversity of Russia's Commandeer Islands.

Wrangel Island: Russian Stronghold for Beringian Biodiversity — An in-depth look at the biodiversity of Russian's Wrangel Island.

Community Science

Coastal Communities For Science: Hooper Bay
Coastal Communities For Science: St. George Island
Unalakleet Coastal Communities for Science

Testimonies and Comments

WWF Comments to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on the Polar Bear 4(d) Ruling of the Endangered Species Act (July 14, 2008)

Testimony of Thomas Dillon before the Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife And Oceans Committee on Natural Resources H.R. 4455 (June 24, 2008)

Testimony of WWF's Margaret Williams, Managing Director, Kamchatka/Bering Sea Ecoregion Program before the Committee on the Environment and Public Works U.S. Senate on Examining Threats and Protections for the Polar Bear. (January 30, 2008)

Testimony of WWF's David Sandalow on Shipping Safety Post Sinking of the Tanker Prestige (January 9, 2003)

Letters

North Aleutian Basin, Proposed Oil and Gas Lease Sale 214, Call for Information and Nominations and Notice of Intent to prepare Environmental Impact Statement(April 8, 2008)

Letter from U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer requesting immediate listing of the polar bear as threatened under the Endangered Species Act (February 1, 2008)

WWF continues to push for a decision to protect polar bears under the Endangered Species Act (January 19, 2008)

Letter to Rosa Meehan, Supervisor, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on the recently published U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) reports which present a comprehensive analysis of the world's polar bear population status and threats (October 22, 2007)

Letter to Representative Inslee on Bristol Bay Protection Act (HR 1957) (April 25, 2007)

Letter to the Minerals Management Service Opposing Proposed 5-Year Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program (November 24, 2006)

Letter to Scott Schliebe, Polar Bear Project Leader, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on the recent determination by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that formal listing and protection of the polar bear under the U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA) may be warranted. (April 10, 2006)

A 1965 letter to Rosa Meehan, Supervisor, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on the recently published U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) reports which present a comprehensive analysis of the world's polar bear population status and threats.(July 8, 1965)

Related Climate Change Publications

Arctic Climate Impact Science Report (April 2008)  — An update since ACIA. Climate change is having a greater and faster impact on the Arctic than previously thought, according to a new study by WWF

Breaking Climate Records 2007 (December 2007)  — The overview shows record lows for sea ice cover in the Arctic, some of the worst forest fires ever seen and record floods.

Your Climate, Your Future (September 2007)  — The WWF Climate Change Team has also developed a comprehensive educational curriculum that will elevate students' knowledge of the issue and spur dialogue about what each of us can do to make a difference.

Defending Nature Against Climate Change (June 2007)

Making Energy-Efficiency Happen: From Potential to Reality (May 2007)  — By 2020, we can achieve at least a 20 percent energy-efficiency improvement worldwide. WWF's May 2007 report outlines what the governments of the G8 plus 5 countries can do to save energy and reduce climate change - while promoting their energy security with sustainable economic growth.

Climate Solutions: WWF's Vision for 2050 (May 2007)  — This WWF report seeks to answer the question: "Is it technically possible to meet the growing global demand for energy by using clean and sustainable energy sources and technologies that will protect the global climate?"

Whales in Hot Water - The Impact of a Changing Climate on Whales, Dolphins and Porpoises (May 2007)  — This report highlights the growing impacts of climate change on cetaceans. They range from changes in sea temperature and the freshening of the seawater because of melting ice and increased rainfalls, to sea level rise, loss of icy polar habitats and the decline of krill populations in key areas.

Going, Going, Gone! Climate Change & Global Glacier Decline(November 2003)  — This documents how global warming is melting glaciers in every region of the world, putting millions of people at risk from floods, droughts and lack of drinking water.

Related Polar Bear Publications

Click here to see all related polar bear publications from WWF