LORIENT, France, July 12 (UPI) -- Calling the Arctic region "nature's early warning system," the U.N. Environmental Program is supporting an expedition there to study the impacts of pollution.
The polar schooner Tara departed Lorient, France, Tuesday for the Arctic, where it will be locked in ice floes and drift across the region, providing an unprecedented platform for scientific observations and research on how the Arctic environment is changing.
The two-year scientific mission, Tara Arctic 2007-2008, will provide early warnings on human-induced climate change, the thinning of the ozone layer and the impact of persistent chemical pollution, the UNEP said.
"They are helping relay the message that what happens at the poles should be of utmost concern to us all," UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner said of the Tara Expeditions and the Arctic Drift Project, which co-organized the mission.
Two years ago, the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment, an unprecedented four-year scientific study by an international team of 300 scientists, provided evidence that the Arctic climate is now warming rapidly, and that even larger changes are projected for the future. ACIA predicted that Arctic vegetation zones and animal species will be affected.
Retreating sea ice is expected to reduce the habitat for polar bears, walrus, ice-inhabiting seals and marine birds, threatening some species with extinction.
Such changes will also affect indigenous communities who depend on such animals, not only for food, but also as the basis for cultural and social identity, UNEP said.
The mission will be part of the International Polar Year that begins in March 2007.
