Washington - The United States will bring together the world's government's for a summit on the state of the North and South Poles on Monday, in what environmentalists have billed as a chance to draw attention to some of the most visible effects of global warming. The nearly two-week gathering, which will be kicked off in Washington by US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, includes government representatives and scientists from 47 countries.
The meeting for the first time brings together the two diplomatic bodies charged with overseeing the Arctic and the Antarctic. It also comes during a key year for climate change that governments hope will climax in December with a new global agreement to curb pollution.
While dealing with the poles may not be at the top of most governments' climate agendas, environmentalists say they provide the best insight into just how damaging global warming has been to the planet.
A joint study Friday by the US government's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the University of Washington found that polar ice is melting at a much faster rate than previously thought.
The study warns that Arctic summers could be completely devoid of ice in 30 years time, which could have a dramatic effect on global sea levels and temperatures. Earlier studies had said the Arctic ice might vanish only at the turn of the next century.
"It's important that people understand that climate change in the Arctic doesn't stay in the Arctic. What happens there affects the rest of the world," Neil Hamilton, director of the Arctic programme at the World Wildlife Fund, said in a conference call.
Hamilton warned that negotiators should be using every opportunity in the run-up to the Copenhagen summit at the end of the year, where governments have resolved to reach a far-reaching deal to curb industry emissions that cause global warming.
The polar conference, which will move to nearby Baltimore, Maryland, after a brief send-off by Clinton Monday morning in Washington, will review the latest science, the impact of tourism and protecting the environment and species in the polar region.
The gathering comes on the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Antarctic Treaty, which designated the poles a peaceful "natural reserve" that could not be used by any governments for military purposes.
Evan Bloom, a State Department official who will lead the US delegation to the summit, said climate change would also be a "major focus" of the talks.
"All of these major gatherings have a relationship in a way to Copenhagen," Bloom told reporters. "Certainly climate change is a major focus of what the discussions will be."
