Author Gwynne Dyer predicts climate change will bring grim future to the Arctic – “The North will be the victims of what is happening elsewhere”

Desdemona Despair

By Beth Brown
5 September 2017

NUNAVUT (Nunatsiaq News) – The world’s average global temperature is only one degree Celsius away from a potential climate catastrophe to which few regions would be more vulnerable than the Arctic.

That’s according to well-known author, historian and journalist Gwynne Dyer, who is a frequent commentator on international affairs, security and climate change.

Dyer plans share his knowledge of climate change as it relates to the North in Iqaluit Sept. 7 during a talk at the Unikkaarvik Visitor Centre.

Globally, there’s time for a reversal of global warming, said Dyer, speaking to Nunatsiaq News, in advance of that event.

But in the North, the average atmospheric temperature is already two or three degrees C. higher than in lower latitudes.

It’s not news to northerners that sea ice is getting thinner and melting more quickly, and that permafrost is more prone to thaw, but Dyer said this change in overall global temperature is the primary reason these are taking place.

“All the effects are magnified in the North,” he said. “You’re getting more warming and the effects on permafrost and sea ice are bigger than similar effects on the rest of the planet,” Dyer said.

Dyer, originally from Newfoundland, is on a speaking tour to promote an upcoming book, as well as past titles including Climate Wars.

Nunatsiaq News spoke with Dyer on 31 August 2017 to get a sense of what he plans to talk about. [more]

Author predicts climate change will bring grim future to the Arctic