"A Quickly-Warming Arctic Is the Climate’s Early-Warning System"

"The latest report on the health of the Arctic reveals melting ice, shifting habitats and changes that may one day be mirrored around the world."

"The Arctic has warmed more than 5 degrees Fahrenheit since 2000 because of human-driven climate change, scientists announced Tuesday. This has caused drastic declines in sea ice, marine animals and vegetation, and threatened the overall health and viability of the world's northernmost ecosystem.

"The impacts of a persistent warming trend over the last 30 years is clearly evident both in the sea and on land," Kit Kovacs, a biologist at the Norwegian Polar Institute, said at a press conference. "And we can expect to see continued, widespread and systematic change to the Arctic" in the coming decades as the world continues to warm.

Kovacs is a co-author of the 10th annual Arctic Report Card, a peer-reviewed scientific analysis of the region by 72 researchers from 11 countries, organized by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration which was published Tuesday."

Katherine Bagley reports for InsideClimate News December 15, 2015.