OTTAWA, Nov. 1 (UPI) -- A study to be released in Iceland reportedly says pollution will make profound changes in climate, wildlife habitat and living condition in the Far North.
The Toronto Globe and Mail says the four-year study suggests the loss of polar bears from Hudson Bay and the Northwest Passage becoming a busy shipping lane. And researchers say such changes in the North will be a harbinger of changing climate conditions that, if left unchecked, will alter living conditions everywhere on Earth.
The 1,400-page report by 250 scientists is to be released Nov. 9 in Reykjavik, Iceland, dring a meeting of the Arctic Council, which is comprised of scientists from Canada, Iceland, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Russia and the United States.
European scientists -- who said they were trying to thwart efforts by the Bush administration to keep the study secret until after the U.S. presidential election -- leaked portion of the study Friday to the New York Times.
The newspaper said the study indicates greenhouse gases from factory and vehicular emissions are accelerating environmental changes in the Arctic, resulting in glaciers shrinking, melting sea ice, thawing permafrost and changes in the planet's weather patterns.
