1 A Forum for Natural, Cultural and Social Studies A Forum for Natural, Cultural and Social Studies

There is a growing consensus that the world is getting warmer and that, over the next century, this additional warming will have serious consequences for the global environment. As the planet warms, changes in average temperatures are expected to be greatest in the Arctic. By 2100, winters in the Canadian Arctic are projected to aver-age 5-8ºC warmer than they are now (Gov-ernment of Canada 1999), which may re-sult in a decrease in Arctic Ocean ice cover. While some northern fauna may benefit from such a change by exploiting new habi-tats, others, such as ringed seals and polar bears, may be in jeopardy because they ar