Arctic fox numbers in the Fennoscandian mountains have fallen dramatically as the red fox population has grown. Changes in the Arctic climate are not only impacting the natural ecosystem, but the human environment as well. The Inuit of northern Russia, Alaska, Canada, and Greenland, whose traditional knowledge of the land, sea, and ice dates back thousands of years, are being affected. As the sea ice becomes thinner and more dangerous, animal intruders from the south, such as the grizzly bear and moose, are penetrating further north than ever before, disrupting the delicate balance. Indirectly, the melting Arctic threatens the Inuit lifestyle and culture.
Warmer weather leads to more tourists, more sport hunters, and perhaps, most seriously, more ships.
Many of the shipping routes that join the northern continents are dramatically shorter across the top of the earth, and less sea ice makes Arctic shipping more economically attractive. With lower transportation costs comes increased resource extraction and the threat of oil spills and other pollution development that this fragile land is ill-suited to withstand. Global warming is thus threatening Arctic ecosystems and their peoples from all sides as never before in history. Unless urgent actions are taken to control fossil fuel burning, we may witness the end of an ecosystem in the next few generations.